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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Acts 21:31 - 21:34
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The captain of the Roman band interferes:
v. 31. And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.
v. 32. Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them; and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul.
v. 33. Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was and what he had done.
v. 34. And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude; and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle.
It was a typical mob, without reason and sense, that was surging back and forth in the Court of the Gentiles, every one trying to lay hold on the prisoner and do violence to him, all of them eager to kill him. But now someone brought the report to the Roman officer in the Tower of Antonia, which overlooked the Temple and its courts, that the entire city of Jerusalem was in confusion, that a riot had taken hold of all the inhabitants. And this officer, the military tribune, or chiliarch, having a thousand men under his command in the garrison, lost no time, but took several hundred men with their centurions, or officers, with him and ran down upon the seething mob, from the castle to the lower platform of the court, where the center of the riot was situated. This quick action probably saved Paul's life; for when the people saw the tribune, they stopped beating their prisoner. As the commanding officer then came nearer, he saw that Paul was the center and, in some way, the occasion of the disturbance, and therefore very naturally concluded that he was a criminal upon whom the Jews were inflicting speedy punishment. Since this was not the time to make inquiry, he took the prisoner in charge and gave command that he be bound with two chains. Having secured him thus and shielding him at least in part against the furious onslaught of the mob, the chiliarch now tried to determine who he was and what he had done. But, as usual with mobs, there no longer was any clear notion of what it was all about; one yelled one thing, someone else another, and it soon became clear to the officer that it was impossible to learn the facts on account of the tumult. So he commanded that Paul be led to the barracks of the Tower Antonia. Thus God had once more saved the life of His servant, since He wanted him to give testimony of the Gospel before some of the mighty ones of this earth.