Acts 21:20 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Acts 21:20
And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
to hear (in various senses) · verb — aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
glorified
ἐδόξαζονedoxazon
G1392
to render (or esteem) glorious (in a wide application) · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person plural
Lord
κύριοςkýrios
G2962
supreme in authority
and
τεte
G5037
both or also (properly · conjunction
said
εἶπόνeipon
G2036
to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
him
αὐτῷ·autō
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular masculine
seest
θεωρεῖςtheōreis
G2334
to be a spectator of · verb — present active indicative, 2nd person singular
brother
ἀδελφέ,adelphe
G80
a brother (literally or figuratively) near or remote (m… · noun — vocative singular masculine
many
πόσαιposai
G4214
interrogative pronoun (of amount) how much (large · correlative or interrogative pronoun — nominative plural feminine
thousands
μυριάδεςmuriades
G3461
a ten-thousand · noun — nominative plural feminine
Jews
ἸουδαίοιςIoudaiois
G2453
Judæan · noun — dative plural masculine, a people name
are
εἰσίeisí
G1526
they are
which
οἱhoi
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — nominative plural masculine
believe
πεπιστευκότωνpepisteukotōn
G4100
to have faith (in · verb — perfect active participle, genitive plural masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
are
ὑπάρχουσιν.huparchousin
G5225
to begin under (quietly) · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person plural
all
πάντεςpantes
G3956
all · adjective — nominative plural masculine
zealous
ζηλωταὶzēlōtai
G2207
a "zealot" · noun — nominative plural masculine, a title
law
νόμουnomou
G3551
law (through the idea of prescriptive usage) · noun — genitive singular masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Romans 10:2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
Galatians 1:14 And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
Acts 22:3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught accordi…
Acts 11:18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto l…
Acts 15:1 And certain men which came down from Judæa taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be s…
Acts 15:5 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them t…
Psalms 22:23 Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
Psalms 22:27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 21:15-26
In these verses we have,
I. Paul's journey to Jerusalem from Caesarea, and the company that went along with him. 1. They took up their carriages, their bag and baggage, and as it should seem, like poor travellers or soldiers, were their own porters; so little had they of change of raiment. Omnia mea mecum porto - My property is all about me. Some think they had with them the money that was collected in the churches of Macedonia and Achaia for the poor saints at Jerusalem. If they could have persuaded Paul to go some other way, they would gladly have gone along with him; but if, notwithstanding their dissuasive, he will go to Jerusalem, they do no say, "Let him go by himself then;" but as Tho…
they glorified the Lord, &c.--constrained to justify his course, notwithstanding the Jewish complexion of the Christianity of Jerusalem.
Adam Clarke on Acts 21:20
How many thousands - Ποσαι μυριαδες; How many myriads, how many times 10,000. This intimates that there had been a most extraordinary and rapid work even among the Jews; but what is here spoken is not to be confined to the Jews of Jerusalem, but to all that had come from different parts of the land to be present at this pentecost.
They are all zealous of the law - The Jewish economy was not yet destroyed; nor had God as yet signified that the whole of its observances were done away. He continued to tolerate that dispensation, which was to be in a certain measure in force till the destruction of Jerusalem; and from that period it was impossible for them to observe their own ritual. Thus God a…
And when they heard it,.... The narrative of the wonderful spread of the Gospel among the Gentiles, and the numerous conversions of them:
they glorified the Lord; or "God", as the Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions read; as Paul ascribed all to God, so they give the glory of it to him, and in this they were both agreed:
and said unto him; perhaps James in the name of them all, and as their mouth:
thou seest, brother; for so he was to James, both as a believer, and a minister of the word, and as an apostle:
how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; there were many thousands converted at Jerusalem upon the first preaching of the Gospel, after Christ's asce…
The Church Fathers
"You see, brother, how many thousands." They advise, they do not impose this upon those around James; therefore they persuade. For it was condescension of economy, not of legislation. Therefore this was not a cutting off of the preaching, but an economy. For those in Jerusalem who believed from among the Jews wished still to observe the legal customs. [CHRYSOSTOM]
Now, if the apostle had even absolutely permitted marriage when one's partner has been lost subsequently to (conversion to) the faith, he would have done (it), just as (he did) the other (actions) which he did adversely to the (strict) letter of his own rule, to suit the circumstances of the times: circumcising Timotheus on account of "supposititious false brethren; "and leading certain "shaven men" into the temple on account of the observant watchfulness of the Jews-he who chastises the Galatians when they desire to live in (observance of) the law. But so did circumstances require him to "become all things to all, in order to gain all; " "travailing in birth with them until Christ should be formed in them; " and "cherishing, as it were a nurse," the little ones of faith, by teaching them some things "by way of indulgence, not by way of command"-for it is one thing to indulge, another to bid-permitting a temporary licence of re-marriage on account of the "weakness of the flesh," just as Moses of divorcing on account of the "hardness of the heart."
See accordingly: "when they heard it," it says, "they glorified God," - not praised nor admired Paul: for in such wise had he narrated, as referring all to Him - "and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believed." Observe with what modest deference they too speak: "they said to him:" not James as Bishop discourses authoritatively, but they take Paul as partner with them in their view; "Thou seest, brother:" as though immediately and at the outset apologizing for themselves, and saying, "We did not wish this. Seest thou the necessity of the thing? 'How many thousands,' say they, 'of Jews there are which' have come together." And they say not, "how many thousands we have made catechumens," but, "there are. And these," say they, "are all zealous for the law." Two reasons - the number of them, and their views. For neither had they been few, would it have been right to despise them: nor, if they were many and did not all cling to the law, would there have been need to make much account of them.
Dictionary and topics
John — (1.) One who, with Annas and Caiaphas, sat in judgment on the apostles Peter and John (Acts 4:6). He was of the kindred of the high priest; otherwise unknown. (2.) The Hebrew name of Mark (q.v.). He…
Bigotry · In opposing the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles — In opposing the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles
Brother · .Used by disciples — .Used by disciples
Jews, The · Many of, believed the gospel — Many of, believed the gospel
Judaism · 2. — 2.
Law Of Moses, The · The Jews: Jealous for — The Jews: Jealous for
Meekness · .Paul — .Paul
Missionary Work By Ministers · Success of: A cause of praise — Success of: A cause of praise
Opinion, Public · .James and the Christian el — .James and the Christian el
Tact · The group — The group
Zeal · Sometimes not according to knowledge — Sometimes not according to knowledge
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Acts 21:15-25
15. And after these days, having taken up our burdens, we went up to Jerusalem. 16. And there came together with us certain of the disciples from Cesarea, bringing with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge. 17. And when we were come unto Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. 18. And on the morrow Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. 19. Whom after we had saluted, he told by order all things which God had done among the Gentiles by his ministry. 20. But when they had heard, they glorified the Lord, and said to him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousand Jews the be which believe; and they all are earnest follow…
The Jerusalem church leaders urged Paul to strengthen his credibility by demonstrating that he was not teaching Jews to turn their backs on the laws of Moses. At the same time, no attempt was made to force Jewish rules on Gentile converts—those terms had been set previously (15:22-29) and were simply to be honored.
