Acts 21:19

19 After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

Acts 21:19 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 21:19

And when he had saluted them
James and the elders with him; which was either done by a kiss, as the Arabic version adds; or by asking of their health, and wishing a continuance of it, and all prosperity to attend them: the Ethiopic version reads,

they saluted him;
and no doubt the salutations were reciprocal:

he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the
Gentiles by his ministry;
it is very likely that this account begins where that ends, which he had delivered in the presence of James, and others, some years ago, ( Acts 15:12 ) and takes in all his travels and ministry, and the success of it; not only in Syria, Cilicia, and Lycaonia, after he had set out from Antioch again, but in Macedonia, Achaia, and Asia; as at Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, and elsewhere: he declared, what multitudes of souls were converted, and what numbers of churches were planted; and this he ascribes not to himself, but to the power and grace of God, which had attended his ministry; he was only an instrument, God was the efficient, and ought to have the glory.

Acts 21:19 In-Context

17 When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us warmly.
18 The next day Paul went with us to visit James; and all the elders were present.
19 After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 When they heard it, they praised God. Then they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law.
21 They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.