Acts 21:35

35 But when they got to the Temple steps, the mob became so violent that the soldiers had to carry Paul.

Acts 21:35 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 21:35

And when he came upon the stairs
Or steps, which led up to the castle; for it was built upon a very high place, as appears from the account of it in the preceding verse; to which agrees what Aristaeas ^F7 says of it in the following words;

``in order to have knowledge of all things, we went up to a castle adjoining to the city, which is situated in a very high place, fortified with very high towers, built with large stones, as we supposed for the preservation of the places about the temple, if there should be any lying in wait, or tumult, or enemies should enter; so that none might be able to make way in at the walls about the temple; for in the towers of the castle lay very sharp darts and various instruments, and the place was upon a very great eminence.''

So it was that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the
people:
the sense is, either that the crowd of the people was so great, and they so pressed upon Paul and the soldiers that conducted him, that he was even thrown upon them, and bore up by them; or else such was the rage of the people against him, that the soldiers were obliged to take him up in their arms, and carry him, in order to secure him from being tore in pieces by them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Hist. de 70 Interpret. p. 36. Ed. Oxon.

Acts 21:35 In-Context

33 The captain came up and put Paul under arrest. He first ordered him handcuffed, and then asked who he was and what he had done.

34 All he got from the crowd were shouts, one yelling this, another that. It was impossible to tell one word from another in the mob hysteria, so the captain ordered Paul taken to the military barracks.

35 But when they got to the Temple steps, the mob became so violent that the soldiers had to carry Paul.

36 As they carried him away, the crowd followed, shouting, "Kill him! Kill him!"

37 When they got to the barracks and were about to go in, Paul said to the captain, "Can I say something to you?"