Acts 21:4

And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days.—The word for “finding” implies a previous search. They inquired, when they landed, amid the crowded streets of the still busy port, whether any Christians were to be found there. It will be remembered that St. Paul had passed through that region at least once before. (See Note on Acts 15:3.) The church had probably been planted by the labours of Philip, as the Evangelist of Cæsarea. It is clear that the believers there were prepared to welcome St. Paul and his companions, and showed a warm interest in their welfare.

The “seven days’ ” stay, as at Troas (see Note on Acts 20:6), and afterwards at Puteoli (Acts 28:14), was obviously for the purpose of attending one, or possibly more than one, meeting of the church for the Lord’s Supper on the Lord’s Day. The utterances through the Spirit implied the exercise of prophetic gifts at such a meeting. It seems, at first, somewhat startling that St. Paul should reject what is described as an inspired counsel; or, if we believe him also to have been guided by the Spirit, that the two inspirations should thus clash. We remember, however, that men received the Spirit “by measure,” and the prophets of the churches at Tyre, as elsewhere (Acts 20:23), though foreseeing the danger to which the Apostle was exposed, might yet be lacking in that higher inspiration which guided the decision of the Apostle, and which he himself defines as the spirit “of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2Timothy 1:7). This is, it is believed, a much more adequate explanation than that which sees in the Apostle’s conduct a somewhat self-willed adherence to his own human purpose, and finds a chastisement for that self-will in the long delay and imprisonment that followed on the slighted warnings. He was right, we may boldly say, to go to Jerusalem in spite of consequences. The repeated warnings are, however, an indication of the exceeding bitterness of feeling with which the Judaisers and unbelieving Jews were known to be animated against him.

Benson Commentary

Acts 21:4-6. Finding disciples, we tarried there seven days — In order to spend a sabbath with them. Who said to Paul, through the inspiration of the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem — The meaning seems to be, that these disciples foreseeing, through the spirit of prophecy, the troubles which Paul would meet with in Jerusalem, if he went thither, themselves advised him not to go. It is necessary to understand the words thus, to account for Paul’s conduct; for had the Spirit absolutely forbidden his journey to Jerusalem, he doubtless would have obeyed, and not have gone thither. But he, considering it as being their own advice only, rejected it and went. Indeed, they seemed to have understood their prophetic impulse to be an intimation from the Spirit, that Paul, if he were so minded, might avoid the danger and trouble of which they warned him, by not going to Jerusalem. And when we had accomplished those days — Namely, the seven spoken of above; we departed and went our way — Fully purposing, notwithstanding all these admonitions, to embark again and proceed to Jerusalem; Paul deliberately judging that all the sufferings he might meet with in the course of his ministry would tend to the furtherance of the gospel; and that it was his duty to fulfil his engagements to the churches, in delivering their alms to the brethren there, whatever might happen. And they all brought us on our way, &c. — For though Paul did not yield to the persuasions of these his friends at Tyre, yet they showed him every imaginable token of respect; with their wives and children — Attending him and his company till they were out of the city, and had reached the shore — Where, before they parted, they kneeled down and prayed together — And then took leave of one another, as Paul and the elders of Ephesus had done.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

21:1-7 Providence must be acknowledged when our affairs go on well. Wherever Paul came, he inquired what disciples were there, and found them out. Foreseeing his troubles, from love to him, and concern for the church, they wrongly thought it would be most for the glory of God that he should continue at liberty; but their earnestness to dissuade him from it, renders his pious resolution the more illustrious. He has taught us by example, as well as by rule, to pray always, to pray without ceasing. Their last farewell was sweetened with prayer.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And finding disciples - Christians. This is the first mention of there being Christians at Tyre, but there is no improbability in supposing that the gospel had been preached there, though it is not expressly recorded by Luke.

Who said to Paul - Compare Acts 21:12. Their deep interest in his welfare, and their apprehension of his danger, was the reason why they admonished him not to go.

Through the Spirit - There is some difficulty in understanding this. In solving this difficulty, we may remark:

(1) That it is evident that the Holy Spirit is meant, and that Luke means to say that this was spoken by his inspiration. The Holy Spirit was bestowed on Christians at that time in large measures, and many appear to have been under his inspiring guidance.

(2) it was not understood by Paul as a positive command that he should not go up to Jerusalem; for had it been, it would not have been disobeyed. He evidently understood it as expressive of their earnest wish that he should not go, as apprising him of danger, and as a kind expression in regard to his own welfare and safety. Compare Acts 21:13. Paul was in better circumstances to understand this than we are, and his interpretation was doubtless correct.

(3) it is to be understood, therefore, simply as an inspired prophetic warning, that if he went, he went at the risk of his life a prophetic warning, joined with their individual personal wishes that he would not expose himself to this danger. The meaning evidently is that they said by inspiration of the Spirit that he should not go unless he was willing to encounter danger, for they foresaw that the journey would be attended with the hazard of his life. Grotius renders it, "That he should not go unless he was willing to be bound." Michaelis and Stolzius; "They gave him prophetic warrant that he should not go to Jerusalem." Doddridge, "If he tendered his own liberty and safety, not to go up to Jerusalem, since it would certainly expose him to very great hazard." The inspiration in the case was that of admonition and warning, not of positive command. Paul was simply apprised of the danger, and was then left to the free determination of his own will. He chose to encounter the danger of which he was thus apprised. He did not despise the intimations of the Spirit, but he judged that his duty to God called him thus to meet the perils of the journey. We may be apprised of danger in a certain course, either by our friends or by the Word of God, and still it may be our duty to meet it. Our duty is not to be measured by the fact that we shall experience danger, in whatever way that may be made known to us. Duty consists in following the will of God, and encountering whatever trials may be in our way.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4-6. finding disciples—finding out the disciples, implying some search. They would expect such, from what is recorded, Ac 11:19. Perhaps they were not many; yet there were gifted ones among them.

who said to Paul … that he should not go up to Jerusalem—(See on [2080]Ac 20:23; also see on [2081]Ac 21:11-14).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Seven days; they tarried the rather so long, that they might worship and serve the Lord on his day together.

Through the Spirit; by the Spirit of prophecy they foretold his sufferings at Jerusalem, which afterward accordingly befell unto him; and they, being ignorant of his undertaking that journey at God’s command, out of commiseration and pity dissuade St. Paul from going to such a place, where they foresaw that he should suffer so much: and this, it is said, they did

through the Spirit, because they had that foreknowledge of all his sufferings from the Spirit; and knowing but in part, being ignorant of that special command Paul had had to go to Jerusalem, they did, according to what they knew, dissuade Paul from that journey. But, they knowing that their prophecy about St. Paul’s sufferings must be fulfilled, and the Spirit by which they spake could not err or be mistaken, how came they to dissuade St. Paul from going to Jerusalem? It may be answered, that they might think this prediction of his sufferings to be only conditional, in case he went to Jerusalem; as David was told, that the men of Keilah would deliver him to Saul, 1 Samuel 23:11,12; that is, in case he had trusted himself amongst them.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And finding disciples,.... At Tyre, for the Gospel had been preached in Phoenicia by the ministers of the word, who were scattered by the persecution raised at the death of Stephen; and here were brethren, such as had believed in Christ, embraced and professed his Gospel, and were baptized in his name; see Acts 11:19 and who also had extraordinary gifts, as appears by what follows; and there was no doubt a Gospel church founded in this place, though who presided over it in the first century, we have no account; in the "second" century there was a church here, and Cassius was bishop of it (q); in the "third" century there were some martyrs in this place, who suffered under Dioclesian, and bore innumerable stripes with great courage and constancy, and after that fought with beasts, as bears, leopards, boars, and bulls, and at the same time Tyrannio, bishop of this church, also suffered martyrdom (r); in the "fourth" century there was a synod at Tyre under Constantine, to which he wrote a letter (s). There was a bishop of this church present at the council of Nice, in the times of the said emperor; in this age Paulinus and Dorotheus were bishops of Tyre; in the "fifth" century Irenaeus was bishop of Tyre, and then it was the metropolitan of Phoenicia; and in the "sixth" century, there was a bishop of the same church present at the fifth council of Rome and Constantinople (t). Of the bishops of Tyre in the several centuries, the learned Reland (u) gives a more particular account; according to him, Cassius, bishop of this church, was in the synod held at Caesarea, about the year 198. Paulinus, another bishop of Tyre, was in another council held at the same place, in the year 318. Zeno subscribed in the council of Nice, in the year 325, the first among the bishops of Phoenicia; Vitalis was in the council at Sardica, in the year 347. Uranius subscribed in the council held at Seleucia by the Semiarians, in the year 359; another Zeno bishop of this church was present at the second council at Constantinople, in the year 381; and mention is made of Photius bishop of Tyre, in the acts of the Chalcedon council, held in the year 451, as is also Eusebius in the acts of the council at Constantinople, in the year 553:

we tarried there seven days; either waiting for a ship to proceed on further; or in choice, to enjoy the conversation of the disciples, which was very delightful, and to confirm them in the faith:

who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem; not that the Spirit of God in these persons contradicted his own impulse in the apostle, by which he was moved to go to Jerusalem, see Acts 20:22. The sense is, that these disciples, by the spirit of prophecy, knew that if the apostle went to Jerusalem, many evil things would befall him; wherefore of their own spirit, and out of love to him, they advise him not to go.

(q) Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 5. c. 25. (r) Ib. l. 8. c. 7, 12. (s) Ib. de Vita Constantin. l. 4. c. 41, 42. (t) Magdeburg. Hist. Eccl. cent. 4. c. 2. p. 2. c. 10. p. 553, 554. cent. 5. c. 2. p. 3. c. 7. p. 417. cent. 6. c. (u) Palestina Ilustrata, l. 3. p. 1054, 1055.

Geneva Study Bible

And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the {a} Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.

(a) They foretold through the Spirit what dangers were about to befall Paul, and this they did as prophets: but they misdirected him away from Jerusalem because of a fleshly affection.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Acts 21:4. Ἀνευρόντες] See on Luke 2:16. The Christians there (τοὺς μαθ.) were certainly only few (see Acts 11:19, Acts 15:3), so that they had to be sought out in the great city of Tyre. πάντων … τέκνοις, Acts 21:5, also points to a small number of Christians.

διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος] so that the Holy Spirit (speaking within them) was the mediating occasion. The Spirit had testified to them that a fate full of suffering awaited Paul in Jerusalem, and this in their loving zealous care they took as a valid warning to him not to go to Jerusalem. But Paul himself was more fully and correctly aware of the will of the Spirit; he was certain that, in spite of the bonds and sufferings which the Spirit made known to him from city to city, he must go to Jerusalem (Acts 20:22).

Expositor's Greek Testament

Acts 21:4. ἀνευρόντες τοὺς μ.: more than simply to find, quærendo reperire, Blass; “having found out,” as colloquially “having looked up”; only in Luke, cf. Luke 2:16, but in middle, 4Ma 3:14.—τοὺς μαθ.: W.H[349] The article indicates that the existence of the disciples was known, but it was difficult to find out their whereabouts in a great town, cf. Acts 15:3; Acts 15:41.—ἐπεμείναμεν, see on Acts 10:48.—ἡμέρας ἑπτά: the period would at all events enable Paul to enjoy a first day of the week with the Church. Apparently he and his went on in the same ship, Acts 21:6, evidently it was a trading vessel of the larger size, as it took this time to unload; on the genuineness of the narration here see Salmon, Introd., p. 300.—διὰ τοῦ Π.: there it no contradiction between this statement and St. Paul’s assertion that he was proceeding to Jerusalem under the same divine guidance. That the prophets at Tyre should foresee the Apostle’s danger was only in accordance with his own words in Acts 20:23, and their affectionate regard for him might well prompt them to dissuade him from such perilous risks. There is therefore no occasion to suppose that the clause has been interpolated into the “We” source. Hilgenfeld refers οἵτινες … Ἱερ. (Acts 21:4), as also the whole of Acts 21:9, τούτῳ δὲ … προφ. to his “author to Theophilus,” on the ground that this writer had already spoken of Paul’s tribulations as awaiting him in city by city, Acts 20:23, and that the notices in Acts 21:4; Acts 21:9 here are added by him in confirmation. But Hilgenfeld (with Clemen and Jüngst) retains Acts 21:10-14, the episode of Agabus, as belonging to the “We” source, and sees a fitness in the prophecy of Agabus foretelling, after the manner of the O.T. prophets, in the last station before Jerusalem, the imprisonment of the Apostle, whilst Paul in spite of all entreaties is unmoved in his determination. But (1) it is quite arbitrary to refer the whole speech at Miletus (see above, chap. 20) to the “author to Theophilus,” and (2) although it was quite fitting that the warning of danger should be more vivid on its approach, yet one fails to see why the more definite symbolical act of Agabus should exclude previous intimations of danger on the part of affectionate friends speaking of the Holy Ghost. In Acts 21:9 nothing is said as to the prophecies of the daughter of Philip and Paul’s imprisonment, but see below.

[349] Westcott and Hort’s The New Testament in Greek: Critical Text and Notes.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

4. And finding disciples] Better, “And having found the disciples” with Rev. Ver. This means the members of the Christian church of Tyre, not some disciples who by chance happened to be at Tyre. That there was already a Christian congregation there is probable from the account of the spread of the Gospel given in Acts 11:19, and as brethren in Phœnicia are spoken of in Acts 15:3. If there were such anywhere in that country, they would presumably be in Tyre.

we tarried there seven days] The Apostle now finds that he can easily accomplish his journey to Jerusalem in time, and so he no longer hastens as he did when all the probable mishaps of a coasting voyage were before him.

who said to Paul through the Spirit] Rev. Ver. “and these said, &c.” The Apostle himself was urged by some inward prompting to go on to Jerusalem “not knowing what might befall him.” The Spirit warns these disciples of the dangers which would come upon him. We need not judge that these things are contrary one to the other. The Apostle knew that bonds and afflictions were to be his lot everywhere, and though the Spirit shewed to his friends that he would suffer, yet the impulse of the same Spirit urged him forward, because it was God’s will that he should suffer thus in the cause and for the greater furtherance of the gospel.

that he should not go up to Jerusalem] The oldest texts give a reading which the Rev. Ver. represents “should not set foot in.”

Bengel's Gnomen

Acts 21:4. Ἀνευρόντες) finding again, when we bad sought them. At one time they were alone, at another time with the brethren.—ἑπτὰ, seven) so that they enjoyed even a Sabbath there. Paul was in haste, but in a good way.—ἔλεγον, said) The Spirit was signifying that bonds awaited Paul: in consequence of this the disciples begged him not to go.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 4. - Having found the disciples for finding disciples, A.V. and T.R.; and these for who, A.V.; set foot in for go up to, A.V. and T.R. Having found the disciples, If the R.T. is right, the meaning is that they had sought out the Christians, apparently not a large body, scattered in the city, and perhaps with some difficulty found them and their place of meeting. This would look as if they were not Jews, as the synagogue was always known. He should not set foot in Jerusalem. The R.T. reads ἐπιβαίνειν for ἀναβαίνειν. It is true that, in the LXX. of Deuteronomy 1:36, Τὴν γῆν ἐφ η}ν ἐπέβη means "The land that he hath trodden upon;" and that in Joshua 1:3 again, ποδῶν ὑμῶν means "Every place on which you shall tread with the sole of your feet;" but the phrase ἐπιβαίνειν εἰς Ιερουσαλήμ must surely mean simply "to go to Jerusalem." Through the Spirit. The Holy Spirit revealed to them, as he did to many ethers (ver. 11 and Acts 20:23), that bonds and affliction awaited St. Paul at Jerusalem. The inference that he should not go to Jerusalem was their own. Acts 21:4

Vincent's Word Studies

Finding disciples (ἀνευρόντες τοὺς μαθητὰς)

The verb means to discover after search; and the article, the disciples, refers to the disciples who lived and were recognized members of the church there. The A. V. overlooks both the preposition and the article. The verb might be rendered strictly by our common phrase, "having looked up the disciples." See on Luke 2:16. A small number of disciples is implied in Acts 21:5.