Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Acts 21:23 - 21:23

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Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Acts 21:23 - 21:23


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23. τοῦτο οὗν ποίησον, do therefore this. They advise St Paul to take a part in the ceremonies of a Nazirite vow. He could not go through the whole course of the observance, for these men had already for sometime had the vow upon them, but it was permitted among the Jews, to anyone who wished, to join in the final purification ceremonies of this vow; and this was the more readily permitted, if the person wishing to take a share only in this concluding portion bore the charges of the person or persons to whom he joined himself. It is significant of the intense clinging to the older ceremonial in the Jewish Church that among the Christian congregation there were men found who had taken this vow upon them. If the authorities knew of St Paul’s previous observance of a like vow (Act 18:18) they would have no scruple in urging him to take part in a similar service again. For an account of the Nazirite’s vow, see Num 6:1-21. It is not there specified how long the observance of the vow lasted, and the time may have varied in different cases, but the final ceremonies here appear to have lasted seven days.