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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Acts 21:21 - 21:21
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21. κατηχήθησαν δὲ περὶ σοῦ, and they have been informed concerning thee. κατηχέω is a very significant verb. It is the root of our English ‘catechize.’ It implies, therefore, that the process of educating public opinion in Jerusalem about St Paul had been a diligent business. The Pharisaic party had taught the lesson persistently till their hearers were fully trained in it. We can hence understand the great hostility which the Apostle experienced, and his strong language about these Judaizers. They must have had their partizans at work in preparation for his visit, and have poisoned men’s minds against him.
ὅτι ἀποστασίαν … πάντας Ἰουδαίους, that thou teachest all the Jews that are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses. The calumniators made use of the Apostle’s earnest words to Gentile converts, that they should not accept Judaism first as a door to Christianity, to bring a charge that, to Jews also, he spake of the Law as no longer to be regarded. We can see from what we know of his words and actions how false this was, but at such a time and amid such a populace the charge would rouse great animosity, and have no chance of being refuted.
ἀποστασία is found 1Ma 2:15, of those who were being compelled to forsake the Law and the ordinances and to sacrifice unto idols. οἱ παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως οἱ καταναγκάζοντες τὴν ἀποστασίαν … ἵνα θυσιάσωσι.
λέγων μὴ περιτέμνειν αὐτοὺς τὰ τέκνα, telling them not to circumcise their children. Circumcision had so long been the mark of the Jew, and the expression ‘uncircumcised’ meant something so abhorrent to his mind, that we cannot wonder that this is put in the forefront of the charge. For the sense of contempt and abomination in the name ‘uncircumcised,’ cf. 1Sa 17:26; Eze 28:10; Eze 32:29-30.
μηδὲ τοῖς ἔθεσιν περιπατεῖν, nor to walk after the customs. The customs are the ceremonial laws of the Jews. The recurrence of words = ‘to walk after’ gives quite an Old Testament ring to the language of these speeches.