Acts 21:35

35 But when he got upon the stairs it was so that he was borne by the soldiers on account of the violence of the crowd.

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 Then the chiliarch came up and laid hold upon him, and commanded [him] to be bound with two chains, and inquired who he might be, and what he had done.

34 And different persons cried some different thing in the crowd. But he, not being able to know the certainty on account of the uproar, commanded him to be brought into the fortress.

35 But when he got upon the stairs it was so that he was borne by the soldiers on account of the violence of the crowd.

36 For the multitude of the people followed, crying, Away with him.

37 But as he was about to be led into the fortress, Paul says to the chiliarch, Is it allowed me to say something to thee? And he said, Dost thou know Greek?