Acts 21:16

Certain of the disciples (twn maqhtwn). The genitive here occurs with tine understood as often in the Greek idiom, the partitive genitive used as nominative (Robertson, Grammar, p. 502). Bringing (agonte). Nominative plural participle agreeing with tine understood, not with case of maqhtwn. One Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge (par wi xenisqwmen Mnaswni tini Kupriwi arcaiwi maqhth). A thoroughly idiomatic Greek idiom, incorporation and attraction of the antecedent into the relative clause (Robertson, Grammar, p. 718). Mnaswni is really the object of agonte or the accusative with para or pro understood and should be accusative, but it is placed in the clause after the relative and in the same locative case with the relative wi (due to par, beside, with). Then the rest agrees in case with Mnaswni. He was originally from Cyprus, but now in Caesarea. The Codex Bezae adds ei tina kwmhn (to a certain village) and makes it mean that they were to lodge with Mnason at his home there about halfway to Jerusalem. This may be true. The use of the subjunctive xenisqwmen (first aorist passive of xenizw, to entertain strangers as in Acts 10:6 Acts 10:23 Acts 10:32 already) may be volitive of purpose with the relative (Robertson, Grammar, pp. 955, 989). The use of arcaiwi for "early" may refer to the fact that he was one of the original disciples at Pentecost as Peter in Acts 15:7 uses hmerwn arcaiwn (early days) to refer to his experience at Ceasarea in Acts 10:24-48 . "As the number of the first disciples lessened, the next generation accorded a sort of honour to the survivors" (Furneaux).