The Apostle Paul, Servant of Christ

Transcript

1 The Apostle Paul, Servant of Christ Overview Study Guide Unit II, Chapter 8 Captivity and Death Boiling Springs, NC clv@cranfordville.com All rights reserved by Lorin L Cranford Introduction Paul s Final Period of Ministry Arrest in Jerusalem Arrival in Jerusalem Arrest in the Temple Quick Links to Study Imprisonment in Caesarea The Voyage to Rome House Arrest in Rome Release and Resumption of Ministry Subseuent Arrest and Execution Conclusion Chapter 8: Captivity and Death Introduction Once Paul arrived back in Jerusalem he delivered the relief offering from the Diaspora churches in the northern Mediterranean region from the three missionary journeys. He had strong anticipation of facing trouble in the city, and sure enough troubles came his way. These difficulties would change the direction of his life. His plans for the future would be altered drastically from what he had expressed earlier in Romans 15 and elsewhere. But God remained in control of Paul s life, and sustained him through these turbulent years at the end of his life Paul s final period of ministry This phase of Paul s life covers the time of his arrival back in Jerusalem around 57 AD at the end of the third missionary journey to his martyrdom at the hands of Emperor Nero in the mid-sixties. The Acts narrative from chapter twenty-one through twenty-eight provides the greatest description of the first major segment of Jerusalem to Roman house arrest. Depending on how the so-called Captivity Letters of Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon are understood as to their setting, they contribute supplementary glimpses into this period of ministry. The Pastoral Epistles of First and Second Timothy, along with Titus, are our only biblical sources of information for what happens to Paul toward the end of the two plus year period of house arrest in Rome. For more details in reconstructing the chronology of this period from about 61 AD to his death a few years later, we must turn to the church fathers for understanding. The challenge here is going to be a wide variety of differing and sometimes contradictory perspectives Arrest in Jerusalem (AD 57), Acts 21:17-23:22 How Luke narrates this last trip of Paul to Jerusalem is interesting. He begins with a signaling of positive reception of Paul by the Christian leaders in Jerusalem, but also indicates considerable nervousness on their part with Paul s presence in the city because of rumors about his work with non-jews in the larger Jewish population in Jerusalem (21:17-26). This leads to a decision by Paul that eventually proves disastrous. He gets involved Page 490

2 in a Jewish vow that leads to his arrest (21:27-36). He tries in vain to defend himself (21:37-22:29), and ends up being brought before the Sanhedrin (22:30-23:10) where another attempt to defend himself is presented by Luke. A plot by the Jewish leaders to kill Paul (23:12-22) puts his life in jeopardy even though God has assured the apostle of giving testimony in Rome (23:11). This results in Paul being taken in the middle of the night under heavy Roman military escort from the city to the provincial capital at Caesarea (23:23ff). This narration is a combination of narrative episodes and speech material presented by Luke. The dominating tone is largely negative with a growing sense of danger and huge apprehension for the life of the apostle Paul. Strangely enough, Luke never mentions the major reason for Paul traveling to Jerusalem: to deliver the massive relief offering collected among the Gentiles churches for the Jewish brothers in Jerusalem and Judea. Some isolated hints suggest he was aware of this, but for some unexplained reason he chose not to inject it into his depiction of this trip by Paul to Jerusalem. What Luke does seem to focus on is the contrasting reception of Paul in this last visit of the apostle to the city. The Christian community now warmly welcomes him, even though somewhat nervous about his presence in the city. On the other hand, the Jewish leadership sees Paul as a great corrupter of Judaism who needs to be executed, and goes about seeking to achieve this goal. When the apostle first left the city for Damascus in the early 30s, he was the hero of the Jewish leaders, and the feared persecutor of Christians. Now on his last visit to the city in the late 50s, less than twenty-years later, the attitudes have completely reversed themselves. The Jewish leaders hate him, while the Christians esteem him as a great servant of God. Paul, the Pharisee, in years gone by, despised the Romans who controlled Jerusalem. Now these very Romans are his source of protection against assassination by the Jewish leaders. What a huge difference Christ has made in Paul s life! Friends have become enemies, and enemies have become friends. A completely new, and totally different, lifestyle has emerged. Instead of becoming a settled, well to do Pharisaical teacher and leader of Judaism in the city, Paul has lived a rather bag a von life style as a Christian missionary. Totally dependent on the generosity of others for food and shelter, he has seldom lived in one place for more than a few months. He has been persecuted and opposed almost every place he traveled. His friendships have been largely with non-jews, the kind of people he hated as a Pharisee. From a modern materialistic perspective, Christianity has not brought Paul success in life. Just the opposite. It has ruined his life. But spiritually, Christ has brought to this Jewish man, a richness of life and a contentment about life not even imaginable in the Judaism of his childhood and youth. It has pushed him to see beyond the tip of his noise in unselfish service to a sinful world desperately needing a different kind of life. It has lifted his eyes above the intense and destructive racial prejudice that dominated the Jewish people of his day. This last trip to Jerusalem would be remarkable in its contrastive reception of the apostle. It would dramatically change the direction of his life in the few remaining years before martyrdom in Rome Paul s Arrival in Jerusalem, Acts 21: Γενομένων δὲ ἡμῶν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα ἀσμένως ἀπεδέξαντο ἡμᾶς οἱ ἀδελφοί. 18 Τῇ δὲ ἐπιούσῃ εἰσῄει ὁ Παῦλος σὺν ἡμῖν πρὸς Ἰάκωβον, πάντες τε παρεγένοντο οἱ πρεσβύτεροι. 19 καὶ ἀσπασάμενος αὐτοὺς ἐξηγεῖτο καθʼ ἓν ἕκαστον, ὧν ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν διὰ τῆς διακονίας αὐτοῦ. 20 Οἱ δὲ ἀκούσαντες ἐδόξαζον τὸν θεὸν εἶπόν τε αὐτῷ θεωρεῖς, ἀδελφέ, πόσαι μυριάδες εἰσὶν ἐν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις τῶν πεπιστευκότων καὶ πάντες ζηλωταὶ τοῦ νόμου ὑπάρχουσιν 21 κατηχήθησαν δὲ περὶ σοῦ ὅτι ἀποστασίαν διδάσκεις ἀπὸ Μωϋσέως τοὺς κατὰ τὰ ἔθνη πάντας Ἰουδαίους λέγων μὴ περιτέμνειν αὐτοὺς τὰ τέκνα μηδὲ τοῖς ἔθεσιν περιπατεῖν. 22 τί οὖν ἐστιν; πάντως ἀκούσονται ὅτι ἐλήλυθας. 23 τοῦτο οὖν ποίησον ὅ σοι λέγομεν εἰσὶν ἡμῖν ἄνδρες τέσσαρες εὐχὴν ἔχοντες ἐφʼ ἑαυτῶν. 24 τούτους παραλαβὼν ἁγνίσθητι σὺν αὐτοῖς καὶ δαπάνησον ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς ἵνα ξυρήσονται τὴν κεφαλήν, καὶ γνώσονται πάντες ὅτι ὧν κατήχηνται περὶ σοῦ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἀλλὰ στοιχεῖς καὶ αὐτὸς φυλάσσων τὸν νόμον. 25 περὶ δὲ τῶν πεπιστευκότων ἐθνῶν ἡμεῖς ἐπεστείλαμεν κρίναντες φυλάσσεσθαι αὐτοὺς τό τε εἰδωλόθυτον καὶ αἷμα καὶ πνικτὸν καὶ πορνείαν. 26 Τότε ὁ Παῦλος παραλαβὼν τοὺς ἄνδρας τῇ ἐχομένῃ ἡμέρᾳ σὺν αὐτοῖς ἁγνισθείς, εἰσῄει εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν διαγγέλλων τὴν ἐκπλήρωσιν τῶν ἡμερῶν τοῦ ἁγνισμοῦ ἕως οὗ προσηνέχθη ὑπὲρ ἑνὸς ἑκάστου αὐτῶν ἡ προσφορά. 17 When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us warmly. 18 The next day Paul went with us to visit James; and all the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 When they heard it, they praised God. Then they said to him, You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law. 21 They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs. 22 What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 So do what we tell you. We have four men who Page 491

3 are under a vow. 24 Join these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay for the shaving of their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself observe and guard the law. 25 But as for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication. 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having purified himself, he entered the temple with them, making public the completion of the days of purification when the sacrifice would be made for each of them. The first thing Luke stresses is the warm welcome that Paul and his group received when they arrived in Jerusalem at the end of the third missionary journey. They had been escorted by the brothers from Caesarea to the house of Mnason of Cyprus (v. 16, ἄγοντες παρʼ ᾧ ξενισθῶμεν Μνάσωνί τινι Κυπρίῳ). 1 This has some interesting implications since this Christian brother (ἀρχαίῳ μαθητῇ) came from Cyprus as did Barnabas who also had made his home in Jerusalem earlier, and perhaps still lived there. Thus a fellow Cyprian Jewish Christian in Jerusalem was warmly welcoming Paul and this delegation in spite of the early tension between Paul and fellow Cyprian Jewish Christian Barnabas. Perhaps this indirectly signals a reconciliation between Paul and Barnabas after some six or seven years of going their separate ways. Clearly it says something about Mnason who had a large enough home to provide lodging for a group of a dozen or so individuals. Another interesting angle is the possibility that Paul had first met Mnason on the island of Cyprus during the first missionary journey at his home there, and during subsequent trips to and through Jerusalem from that point on was able to utilize Mnason s additional home in Jerusalem. What Luke then describes in verse seventeen can be understood as either the initial welcome by those connected to Mnason or as a general statement regarding the response of the entire Christian community over a period of several days as Paul began meetings with the Christian leaders in the city. The use of the participle (Genitive Absolute) construction, Γενομένων δὲ ἡμῶν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, is not the normal way to express an arrival at a place, which is reflected in later copyists efforts at modifying it. 2 More likely it refers to the initial welcome 1 The name Mnason, possibly a Hellenized form of Manasseh (Bruce 1985: 99), may be derived from mnasion a word used in ancient Cyprus for a measure of grain. Sinaiticus replaces Mnason with Jason, a rather common name among Hellenized Jews. Mentioned only in Acts 21:16, Mnason provided lodging for Paul and his gentile companions. Mnason was a native of Cyprus like Barnabas (Acts 4:36). Munck (Acts AB, 209) suggests that he may have been among the Cypriots who left Jerusalem after the stoning of Stephen and preached the gospel directly to the Greeks at Antioch (Acts 11:19, 20). The fact that Mnason is called an early disciple has engendered considerable discussion. Rengstorf (TDNT 4:458, n280) considers Mnason a personal disciple of Jesus. Hughes (ISBE 3: 388) suggests that he was one of the 120 in Acts 1:15. Knowling (1912: 448) proposes that he was a convert of Barnabas from among the Hellenized Jews in Jerusalem. The matter is not easily resolved. Luke did not consider Jesus circle of disciples to be small (Luke 6:17; 19:37), therefore Mnason s discipleship could go back to the days of Jesus ministry. However, in Acts 15:7 Peter uses the term early (archaiô) to refer to the time when Cornelius was converted (Acts 10:1 11:18). Thus, Mnason s conversion may have occurred at any time from early in Jesus ministry through the early years of the Jerusalem church. A textual problem in Acts 21:15 17 betrays some uncertainty as to where Mnason lived. According to D and a handful of Syriac manuscripts, Mnason s house was in a village between Caesarea and Jerusalem. The arrival of Paul and his companions in Jerusalem is then described in v 17 where the brethren (presumably the whole Christian church) received them gladly. But the most natural reading of the vast majority of manuscripts (contra Knowling 1912: 447) suggests that the brethren were limited to Mnason and his associates in Jerusalem and that Paul was received gladly by only a few. It was not until the next day that Paul met James and the elders (Acts 21:18). Verse 22 implies that the bulk of Jewish Christians were still unaware that Paul had arrived. While Delebecque (1983: ) considers D Luke s own clarification of an earlier text, it is more likely D s copyist attempted to smooth over the Jerusalem church s apparent snub of Paul. If Mnason was living in Jerusalem at that time, it is likely, as Haenchen (1965: 607) and Stählin (Apostelgeschichte NTD, 275) suggest, that he identified himself with the Hellenists of Acts 6 and the theology of Stephen (Acts 6:14). Most of Paul s eight gentile companions were uncircumcised (cf. Acts 20:4). The typical Christian in Jerusalem would find hospitality problematic under such circumstances. But as a Hellenist, Mnason would be open to such hospitality. As an early disciple he was known and respected by the church at Jerusalem. As a Cypriot he had connections with people Paul knew and trusted. Thus, the disciples of Caesarea (Acts 21:16) considered Mnason the logical choice to host Paul and his companions in Jerusalem. The mention of Mnason s name and the reference to his being an early disciple suggest that he may have been a source of information about events in Caesarea and Jerusalem that are reported in Acts (see Bruce Acts NICNT, 402 3; Foakes Jackson and Lake 1933: 270 and Ramsay 1911: 309n). [Jon Paulien, Mnason (Person) In vol. 4, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), ] 2 {A} ξενισθῶμεν Μνάσωνί 17 Γενομένων δὲ ἡμῶν (with other minor variants) P 74 א) Ἰάσονι) A B C E Ψ (181 αὐτῶν for ἡμῶν) Byz [L P] l 1178 it ar, c, dem, gig, p, ph, ro, (w) vg syr p, h, pal cop sa, bo arm eth geo slav Chrysostom // ξενισθῶμεν. καὶ παραγενόμενοι εἴς πινα κώμην ἐγενόμεθα παρὰ Νάσωνι κακεῖθεν Ἀξιόντες ἤλθομεν Dvid according to old editions and it d (syr hmg ) Page 492

4 received at the house of Mnason when several local believers gathered there in order to greet Paul and those traveling with him. Although ἀσμένως is used in a later alternative reading in Acts 2:41, this is the only use of the adverb in the entire NT. It signals a very warm greeting of another. 3 This would prove to be very important for Paul in light of the difficulties he would have while in the city during the coming days. What a contrast to his reception the first time he came to the city as a Christian when the believing community was very skeptical of the sincerity of his professed Christian commitment. Even now in 57 AD with the mounting tensions between the Jews and the Romans all over Palestine, a Jew perceived to have compromised his Jewish religious heritage through free association with non-jews would not generally have been welcomed in the city of Jerusalem. Luke indicates that Paul did not waste any time after arriving in Jerusalem before beginning a series of meetings with the leaders of the Christian community in the city: Τῇ δὲ ἐπιούσῃ εἰσῄει ὁ Παῦλος σὺν ἡμῖν πρὸς Ἰάκωβον, πάντες τε παρεγένοντο οἱ πρεσβύτεροι, and on the next day Paul went with us to James, and all the elders were present. Luke has an interesting way of depicting the meeting: εἰσῄει ὁ Παῦλος σὺν ἡμῖν πρὸς Ἰάκωβον: Paul went with us to James. It is as though the delegation set up a meeting with James and Paul decided to go with them for the meeting. Some commentators believe this was done by Luke as a signal that the delegation was presenting the relief offering to James and the other leaders. 4 Possibly, but no clear indications emerge that this was Luke s motive. 5 From the Jerusalem council meeting on (cf. Acts 15) in approx AD Luke has indicated that James, the Lord s brother, has served as the spiritual leader of the various house church leaders scattered across the city, whom Luke consistently refers to as οἱ πρεσβύτεροι (cf. 11:30; 14:23; 15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23; 16:4; 20:17; 21:18). This is his term for local church leaders, and it is modeled somewhat on the Jewish temple and synagogue model where in Acts Luke uses the identical term in reference to these leaders in Judaism (cf. 4:5, 8, 23; 6:12 ;23:14; 24:1; 25:15). 6 In reference to the leadership of the Christian community in Jerusalem, Luke tends to use a compound phrase οἱ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι, the apostles and the elders (cf. 15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23; 16:4), with the πρεσβύτεροι being more localized while ἀπόστολοι is more broadly based on regions. Of course, ἀπόστολοι is consistently a reference to the Twelve (cf. 6:2). 7 [Kurt Aland, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini et al., The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition (With Apparatus); The Greek New Testament, 4th Revised Edition (With Apparatus) (Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft; Stuttgart, 2000).] 3 ἀσμένως adv. fr. ἄσμενος (Aeschyl.+; SIG 742, 52; PGrenf II, 14, 17f; UPZ 110, 160; 145, 31; 2 and 3 Macc; EpArist 5; Jos., Bell. 1, 309 al.; Just., D. 1, 2 al.) gladly ἀ. ἀποδέχεσθαι receive someone gladly (Cebes 26, 1 ἀσμ. ὑποδέχεσθαί τινα; Philo, Rer. Div. Her. 295 v.l.; Jos., Ant. 4, 131 ἀ. δέχ. τ. λόγους) Ac 2:41 v.l.; 21:17. DELG s.v. ἄσμενος. M-M. [William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 144.] 4 εἰσῄει ὁ Παῦλος σὺν ἡμῖν πρὸς Ἰάκωβον. The verb, with πρός, conveys a hint of entering the presence of a great person (Xenophon, Cyropaedia 2:4:5, ὁ δʼεἰσῄει πρὸς τὸν Κυαξάρην; Herodotus 1:99:1, εἰσιέναι παρὰ βασιλέα), or of coming into a law court. We are now distinguished from Paul as witnesses of the scene (though it may be has been conjectured that we were present to convey the collection to the leaders of the Jerusalem church Stählin 276). The first person plural does not return till 27:1, but this is because now Paulus steht beherrschend im Mitelpunkt der Szene (Haenchen 582). [C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2004), 1005.] 5 What is strange at this juncture in Acts is that Paul arrives in Jerusalem, and there is no mention of the collection that he has had taken up in Gentile Christian churches for the poor Christians of Jerusalem (see Gal 2:10; 1 Cor 16:1 4; 2 Cor 8:1 7; 9:1 5; Rom 15:25 27, 31). Later on, it will be mentioned (24:17), but in a subdued way and hardly given the importance that it receives in Paul s own letters. [Joseph A. Fitzmyer, vol. 31, The Acts of the Apostles: A New Translation With Introduction and Commentary, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 692.] 6 It is interesting to note that οἱ πρεσβύτεροι as a Christian leadership label is bracketed by the same term as a Jewish leadership label: Jewish leaders (chapters four through six): Christian leaders (chapters eleven through twenty-one): Jewish leaders (chapters twenty-three though twenty-five). I m not sure that anything significant about this exists apart from the contextal frame of reference due to the narrative subjects being discussed. But the one clear implication of this is that the example of Jewish leadership patterns played an important role in the development of early Christian leadership styles. By inference it would have been a much more influential role among Jewish Christians in Palestine than in the Christian churches of the Pauline mission with a mixture of both Jews and Gentiles. This same label, οἱ πρεσβύτεροι also functioned to designate leaders of social, political, and religious groups in the non-jewish world of the first century Roman empire. In those churches the non-jewish styles of leadership would clearly have played an influential role. How much a role is difficult to determine. But as has become increasingly clear from our detailed studies of the three missionary journeys of Paul, the mixture of Jew and non-jew inside these Pauline churches was overwhelmingly non-jewish with only minimum numbers of Jewish converts. 7 Although οἱ δώδεκα, the Twelve, is only found in Acts 6;2 rather than οἱ ἀπόστολοι, the apostles, οἱ δώδεκα is the dominant way of referring to this group in the Lukan gospel: 6:13; 8:1, 42, 43; 9:1, 12, 17; 18:31; 22:3, 30, 47. Page 493

5 One note of significance here to not overlook. The direct discourse that runs from verse 20b through 25 is introduced by εἶπόν τε αὐτῷ, and they said to him. Luke narrates this as though both James and the entire group of elders are speaking to Paul with one voice. In all likelihood it was James who did the actual speaking, but Luke s emphasis is on the fact that what James said represented not just his opinion, but a consensus of the entire group. Thus later on which this decision reflects a mistake being made it is the entire group and not just James who are culpable for giving bad advice here. 8 Often among commentators James is the one who gets the blame rather than the entire group. How lines of communication functioned among Christians inside Jerusalem at this period of time are not clearly defined. In the comments concerning their meeting with Paul (cf. v. 20), clear indication is given that large numbers of Jews, especially in Jerusalem, had become Christians. The strong implication from Luke s narrative depiction of this meeting suggests that believers stayed in touch with one another largely through the house church leaders periodically coming together to discuss issues, as well as to meet with visiting Christian guests like Paul and his delegation. With the rather hostile atmosphere toward Christians in the city, this would have allowed them to stay in contact but also maintain a rather low profile throughout the city. Verses 19 through 25 describe in summary fashion the exchange between Paul and these Jerusalem leaders. The narrative takes the form of a report (v. 19) with a response (vv ). The meeting begins with the customary greetings (καὶ ἀσπασάμενος αὐτοὺς; cf. Acts 18:22; 21:7), and then Paul recounts the ministry among the Gentiles: ἐξηγεῖτο καθʼ ἓν ἕκαστον, ὧν ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν διὰ τῆς διακονίας αὐτοῦ, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. The language here echoes earlier reports that Paul had given about ministry to the Gentiles. 1) To the Jerusalem Christian community in the late 40s at the council meeting: παραγενόμενοι δὲ εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ παρεδέχθησαν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας καὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων, ἀνήγγειλάν τε ὅσα ὁ θεὸς ἐποίησεν μετʼ αὐτῶν, When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them (Acts 15:4). 2) To the church at Antioch at the end of the first missionary journey: παραγενόμενοι δὲ καὶ συναγαγόντες τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἀνήγγελλον ὅσα ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς μετʼ αὐτῶν καὶ ὅτι ἤνοιξεν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν θύραν πίστεως. When they arrived, they called the church together and related all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles (Acts 14:26). Luke feels no need for detailing this work by Paul here since his depictions of the third missionary journey, along with the two previous ones, provides more detailed accounting of what Paul shares with the Jerusalem Christian community leaders in this meeting. The response of these Jewish Christian leaders is positive: Οἱ δὲ ἀκούσαντες ἐδόξαζον τὸν θεὸν, And upon having heard this they began rejoicing in God. When Paul made his earlier report to the Jerusalem Christians at the end of the first missionary journey, most of the Christians rejoiced in what God was doing, but not all of the Christians were happy about this (cf. 15:5). This time at the end of the third missionary journey only the leadership was assembled to hear Paul s report. And their response was very positive. But these leaders were also very much aware that a good segment of the Christian community was unhappy with Paul s ministry, at least with the false version of it being circulated as rumor among Christians in Jerusalem. The earlier leaders had settled the issue of Jewish demands for circumcism and Torah obedience regarding non-jews coming into Christianity. The twisting of that issue over the following decade had produced the now current rumor that Paul was discouraging Diaspora Jews coming into Christianity from continuing to practice their Judaism. The dilemma now was how to correct this false report about Paul s ministry. Here is where Luke gives most of his attention in reporting on this meeting (vv ). James and the local elders make several points here to the apostle. 9 First, they call attention to the 8 This negative assessment of the advice given here is normally based on the reality that by entering into this vow Paul ended up being arrested and his life placed in serious jeopardy. Likely this would have been avoided had he not entered into this ritualistic vow. 9 Form-critically considered, the episode is again a narrative. The first two verses continue the second We-Section (20:13 21:18). Luke introduces into this passage, which is derived in part from the Pauline source (especially vv 19 20a), a speech of James (21:20b 25), a Lucan composition. This is one of the passages in Acts that contributes much to what has been called the Paulinism of Acts, because it depicts Paul carrying out prescriptions of the law that would normally seem to be contrary to his preaching about justification by grace through faith and not through deeds prescribed by the law (see Introduction 173). Luke has already depicted Paul consecrating himself by a vow (18:18). Now Paul even pays the expenses of others who are performing the rites of such a vow, perhaps because they were too poor to pay for themselves, but on the recommendation of James. [Joseph A. Fitzmyer, vol. 31, The Acts of the Apostles: A New Translation With Introduction and Commentary, Anchor Yale Page 494

6 massive success the Gospel has had in Jerusalem in reaching large numbers of Jews: θεωρεῖς, ἀδελφέ, πόσαι μυριάδες εἰσὶν ἐν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις τῶν πεπιστευκότων καὶ πάντες ζηλωταὶ τοῦ νόμου ὑπάρχουσιν, You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law (21:20b). Luke is fond of hyperbole as πόσαι μυριάδες literary meaning how many tens of thousands. What Luke is claiming here is that while Paul was reaching growing numbers of non-jews on his missionary travels, Jewish Christianity in Jerusalem and Judea continued to make substantial gains as well. The Christian community in Jerusalem continued to grow during the 50s as well. And, -- this is important -- these new converts to Christianity continued to practice their Jewish religious heritage as well. That is, their Christian commitment was not perceived to stand in opposition to their being religious Jews. Thus these οἱ πρεσβύτεροι who were sharing this good news with Paul represented the same group of leaders who had listened to his early report a decade earlier (Acts 15:3-4). It would indeed be interesting to know just how many of these leaders had attended that earlier meeting where Paul and Barnabas shared what God was doing among the Gentiles. But this substantial outreach among the Jews in the city and surrounding region also presented a problem. Evidently from Diaspora Jews traveling to Jerusalem for religious observances at the temple, they had been led to believe that not only was Paul bringing uncircumcised Gentiles into the church as believers, but more importantly, he was encouraging Diaspora Jews to give up their Jewish religious practices: κατηχήθησαν δὲ περὶ σοῦ ὅτι ἀποστασίαν διδάσκεις ἀπὸ Μωϋσέως τοὺς κατὰ τὰ ἔθνη πάντας Ἰουδαίους λέγων μὴ περιτέμνειν αὐτοὺς τὰ τέκνα μηδὲ τοῖς ἔθεσιν περιπατεῖν, They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs. The church leaders had previously agreed on uncircumcised Gentiles coming to faith commitment through the Gospel, but to persuade religiously practicing Jews to give up their Jewish religion was another major issue. 10 How could such a rumor as this find traction among Christians in Jerusalem? Although Luke does not specify the source of the rumor about Paul, one would logically conclude that it most likely came from Diaspora Jews traveling from the Roman provinces where Paul was working to Jerusalem in order to worship in the temple. In cities such as Pisidian Antioch, Ephesus, Thessalonica, and Corinth at the synagogues, they had heard Paul present the Gospel message, and had seen some fellow synagogue Jews follow Paul into meetings at private homes after being forced out of the synagogue. Having witnessed many of the Gentile God-fearers who were attending the synagogue follow Paul into these meetings as well, they could have easily concluded that these people were mixing together apart from strict Jewish regulations regarding contact with Gentiles. Probably word came back to the synagogues that Paul had proclaimed all the people to be right with God without any demands for obeying the Torah. The conclusion came quickly that Paul was disregarding the demands of the Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), ] 10 Did Paul in fact teach Jews to abandon circumcision and other provisions of the Law? It was in fact so (Calvin 2:200). Opinions differ. Blass (229): Falsum erat crimen, cf. 1 Cor. 7:18; tamen illi non sine causa metuebant, quia haec ἀδιάφορα esse Christianis ille docebat. Schmithals (197) argues that Paul would not have taught Jews to abandon the Law because this would have made life intolerable for Christian Jews in Palestine. In successive editions of NTD: Beyer (129), was ja durchaus der Wirklichkeit entspricht ; Stählin 277, Dieser Vorwurf ist ungerecht. Luke appears to assume that Paul did not do what he was alleged to do; the charge was not believed by the elders, it was false, and Paul will proceed by his actions to demonstrate his innocence. It is certain that the epistles contain no explicit instruction that the circumcision of Jewish children should cease, and at 1 Cor. 7:18 Paul tells already circumcised Jews not to undo the marks of their circumcision. If he asserts that circumcision is nothing he asserts equally that uncircumcision is nothing (1 Cor. 7:19; Gal. 6:15). It is clear moreover that there is a great difference between the practice in which devout Jewish parents offer their children to God in circumcision, and the insistence that Gentile converts must be circumcised if they are to be saved. It is hard to believe that Paul forbade Jewish parents to circumcise their children, but he probably classed those who insisted on and made much of the rite as weak (Rom. 14; 15; 1 Cor. 8; 10). Here however circumcision is mentioned as the outstanding example of practising the customs generally, and it is undoubtedly true that Paul taught his fellow Jews to sit loose to legal regulations, since he evidently believed (Gal. 2:12 14) that Jewish Christians might, and should, eat with Gentile Christians without any compromise on the part of the latter, and that they could buy and eat meat of any kind without making scrupulous inquiry (1 Cor. 10:25, 27). Luke was probably aware (cf. Begs. 4:271) of a body of Jewish Christians who continued to practise Jewish customs without objection from their Gentile brothers (cf. Justin, Trypho 47) and assumed that since this state of things existed it must have been not merely tolerated but supported by Paul. Delling (Studien 309), thus fails to touch the point when he writes: Paulus ist in Apg. 21:21 jedenfalls dann richtig verstanden wenn von ihm behauptet wird, nach seiner Unterweisung (διδάσκεις) sei die Beschneidung der Abkömmlinge jüdischer Eltern überflüssig sofern dieser Satz zumal Kinder christlicher Eltern meint d.h. für Paulus: nicht heilsnotwendig. The allegation is not that Paul taught that circumcision was superfluous but that he said that it should not be done. Weiser s statement (598), Dadurch aber, dass Lukas den Vorwurf mit dem Begriff Bräuche (ethē) wiedergibt, deutet er selbst an, dass es sich hier nicht um die Gefährdung der religiösen Identität Israels handelt, sondern um den Bereich kulturbedingter Normen, seems to presuppose an underestimate of the weight of ἔθος. [C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2004), ] Page 495

7 Jewish Law and urging these Jewish converts to do the same thing. With Paul s clearly stated insistence in his letters that circumcism possessed no spiritual benefit before God (1 Cor. 7:19; Gal. 6:15), it was not a great leap to conclude that he then was telling Jews to not bother with having their sons circumcised. Given the emerging ultra nationalistic fervor in Palestine by the late 50s, any Christian Jew perceived as doing anything to discourage Jews to obey the Torah could pose a huge threat to the entire Christian community. Paul s long time reputation in Jerusalem would easily make him a target for all kinds of rumor. Who was spreading such false rumors? 11 A text variation (D* 104 gig) in verse 21 of switching κατηχήθησαν in the passive (they have been told) to the active voice κατήχησαν (they told) puts emphasis on assumed informants inside the Christian community. Perhaps Luke is assuming the Pharisee Judaizers inside the church described in Acts 15:1, 5 are the culprits and are spreading this false report about Paul and that he is now present in the city. At least, this was the clear assumption of a few of the later copyists of this text. These οἱ πρεσβύτεροι in Jerusalem felt they had a real problem on their hands with Paul s presence in the city. In verses 22-25, Luke describes their proposed solution to solve this problem: Paul needs to get involved in one of the Jewish traditions regarding a vow of purification at the temple. Their proposal is introduced very clearly as such: 22 τί οὖν ἐστιν; πάντως ἀκούσονται ὅτι ἐλήλυθας. 23 τοῦτο οὖν ποίησον ὅ σοι λέγομεν, Therefore what is (the situation)? For certain, they will hear that you have come. Thus this which we tell you is what you must do. The initial rhetorical question τί οὖν ἐστιν; poses the issue in light of the false rumor being spread about the apostle, which Luke has described in the previous verse (v. 21). The second statement, πάντως ἀκούσονται ὅτι ἐλήλυθας, asserts that news of Paul s presence in the city among these folks is a foregone conclusion. The rumor mill worked effectively in first century Jerusalem as it tends to do in our world. The third statement, τοῦτο οὖν ποίησον ὅ σοι λέγομεν, puts their solution on the table in very strong terms before the apostle. It has the clear tone of a demand rather than a request. Their specific instructions to Paul are contained in vv. 23b-25, and it contains three primary elements: vv. 23b-24a; v. 24; v The demand for Paul to enter a vow, v.v. 23b-24a: εἰσὶν ἡμῖν ἄνδρες τέσσαρες εὐχὴν 13 ἔχοντες ἐφʼ ἑαυτῶν. τούτους παραλαβὼν ἁγνίσθητι σὺν αὐτοῖς καὶ δαπάνησον ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς ἵνα ξυρήσονται τὴν κεφαλήν, We have four men who are under a vow. 14 Join these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay for the shaving 11 κατηχήθησαν (κατήχησαν, the active, in D* 104 gig, gives a different picture the Jewish Christians of v. 20 have been spreading the report that Paul is a dissident; see below) is used in a different sense from that of the same verb in 18:25: they have been informed. No informers are named; Luke may be thinking of those mentioned in 15:1, 5. Since Luke evidently believed the charge to be false (see below on this) he must be thinking of trouble-makers who spread false reports. But he does not name them; they do not appear on stage. The general picture of a harmonious apostolic age is retained, but it is clear that at most only the surface is smooth. Of the passive verb Page (222) writes, The word certainly describes Paul s opponents as acting with deliberate purpose, and suggests that they were in a position of authority and teachers. This impression is strengthened if the active (see above) is read, but it is quite possible that two letters, ηθ, dropped out by accident. The reader knows this [report] to be a canard, for Paul has from the very start himself shown a commitment to the Jewish ethos by circumcising his coworker [Timothy] (Johnson 290). This is a fair observation as far as Luke s own understanding and intention are concerned. [C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2004), 1007.] 12 The story presupposes that Jewish Christians in Palestine, in Luke s day and before it, continued to observe the provisions of the Law. This is brought out by Fitzmyer (Essays 280), Jewish practices were still admitted as part of the Christian way of life in Jerusalem as late as c. AD 58, when Paul after a long apostolate among the Gentiles went through the rite of the Nazirite at James s request (21:23 26). Cf. Black (Scrolls, 15, 82f.). The point is perhaps more strongly made if Paul did not go through the rite of the Nazirite. [C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2004), 1013.] 13 To vow, to dedicate, vow. It is not always possible to distinguish this sense sharply from 1 [prayer]. 9 It appears twice in the NT at Ac. 18:18; 21:23, 10 the noun alone being used. Since the reference is to Jews, 11 and to the shaving of the hair of the head, it must refer to the Nazirite vow. Two different details in 21:23ff. make this conclusion unavoidable (cf. Str.-B., II, 80 ff., 747 ff., 755 ff.). 12 [Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley and Gerhard Friedrich, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964-), 2:777.] 14 vow, a promise to abstain from something not ordinarily prohibited (e.g., the vow of the Nazirite, Num. 6), or, more commonly, an offer to pay God for help he gives. The first vow mentioned in the OT is Jacob s, who promised God worship and tithing in return for his protection (Gen. 28:20; 31:13). Similar vows are the vow of Israel to devote (i.e., sacrifice) all of Arad to God (Num. 21:1-3), Jephthah s vow of a living being (Judg. 11:30), Hannah s vow of Samuel s service (1 Sam. 1:11), Absalom s of worship (2 Sam. 15:7-8), and the unspecified vow of sailors for safety from shipwreck (Jon. 1:6). Apostate Israel is said to have vowed to offer incense to the queen of heaven (Jer. 44:25). Animals sacrificed in payment of vows must be without blemish (Lev. 22:17-25; Mal. 1:14), must not be firstlings (who already belong to God; Lev. 27:16-28), and are a communion sacrifice that must be eaten in two days (Lev. 7:16-17; see the sacrificial Page 496

8 of their heads. 15 In the first century Jewish system of merits as key to earning one s salvation, the making and keeping of vows played an important role. 16 Although Jewish Christians had come under God s grace in faith surrender to Christ, the traditions of their ancestors continued to impact their expressions of religious devotion to God. One of those areas that surface in the pages of the New Testament is in regard to various kinds of vows that were a part of the Jewish religious tradition in the first century. From all indication this particular vow is anchored in the temporary Nazaritic vow described in Num. 6:2-21. The exact intention of the vow by these four Jewish Christian men is not stated. Thus we don t know the motives behind their participation in this religious rite. They evidently were nearing the end of a minimum thirty day vow (m. Nazir 6:3; cf. Josephus, War 2.313) and needed help with the expenses of completing the vow with the ritualistic shaving of their head by the priest in the temple etc. Paul is urged to τούτους παραλαβὼν ἁγνίσθητι σὺν αὐτοῖς καὶ δαπάνησον ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς ἵνα ξυρήσονται τὴν κεφαλήν, Join these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay for the shaving of their heads. It would not have been possible for Paul to have undertaken a Nazaritic vow due to the time constraints. Instead, what he was urged to do was something he most likely would have done anyway: to undergo a seven rite of purification required of all who came from outside the Promised Land in order to worship in the temple (cf. Num. 19:12). 17 Whether or not this was a good idea has been debatted by commentators for many centuries in light of how subsequent events unfolded. From all indication Paul felt that it was completely within the framework of his Christian commitment and would help alleviate problems for the Jewish Christian brothers in Jerusalem. The Gospel was impacting large numbers of Jews in the city; Paul would desire to contribute to that outreach rather than hinder it. Remember his earlier words to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 9: specifications in Num. 15:1-16). Payment can be made in money with set values for each animal (Lev. 27), with adjustments made for the poor. Payment of vows was ultimately centralized (Deut. 12). Vows did not have to be made (Deut. 23:22), but once made, they had to be paid (Num. 30; Deut. 21:21-23). A woman s vow could be cancelled by her husband or, if she lived in her father s house, by her father, if the man acted the same day (Num. 30). Psalms such as 56:12-13 and 66:13-15 mention the individual offering and payment of vows (cf. Pss. 22:26; 61:8; 116:14, 18). In the NT, Acts records that the apostle Paul, to fulfill a vow, cut his hair (18:18), but we are given no details about the nature or purpose of that vow. [Paul J. Achtemeier, Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature, Harper s Bible Dictionary, 1st ed. (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985), 1115.] 15 The account which follows certainly raises difficulties if we look closely at Jewish prescriptions about vows, but these result from Luke s inexact knowledge of these prescriptions. Considered in itself, his account contains no contradiction. εὐχή, vow, can mean a Nazirite vow (Num 6:1 21; Philo Ebr. 2); 5 shaving the head is a part of the Nazirite vow. 6 After four men who have taken a vow (RSV, are under a vow ), the reading ἐφʼ ἑαυτῶν, upon themselves (P 74 A C D), as opposed to ἀφʼ ἑαυτῶν, on their own initiative (B,(א is to be preferred (cf. Num 6:7; 30:7). 7 The vow was considered as a good work. Its duration was at least thirty days. The release from the vow (shaving the head and bringing the hair as an offering, plus other offerings, Num 6:13 21) entailed a considerable expense. Making this contribution on behalf of a Nazirite also counted as a good work (Josephus Ant ). [Hans Conzelmann, Acts of the Apostles: A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, ed. Eldon Jay Epp and Christopher R. Matthews, trans. James Limburg, A. Thomas Kraabel and Donald H. Juel, Hermeneia a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1987), 180.] 16 The construction εὐχὴν ἔχοντες ἐφʼ ἑαυτῶν at 21:23 is influenced by the LXX (Nu. 6:7; 30:7; Mal. 1:14) and also by the view that in his long hair the Nazirite bears on his head a sacrificial gift dedicated to God (Nu. 6:9, 19 etc.). The particularly common expressions εὔχεσθαι εὐχήν and ἀποδιδόναι εὐχήν show us how strong was the impulse to transfer εὐχή to the dedicated gift itself, e.g., Lv. 22:23; 23:38. So also on inscr., Ditt. Syll.3, 1142 (l/2nd cent. A.D.), Ditt. Or., II, 716 (3rd cent. A.D.), Milet., I, 7 (1924, No. 304 (late) (εὐχὴν ἀνέθηκεν or ἀνέστησεν). Often εὐχήν means as the gift of dedication, as the sacrifice at a vow (cf. LXX Lv. 7:6; Ditt. Or., II, 655, 7 [24 B.C.]; Annales du Service des Antiquités de l Égypte, 20 [1920], 238 f., Theadelphia, 2nd cent. B.C.).13 Mostly κατʼ εὐχήν and (late) ὑπὲρ εὐχῆς signify in virtue of a vow (Preisigke Sammelbuch, IV, 7287 [23 B.C.]; Ditt. Or., I, 418, 3 [41 A.D.]; IG, XII, 1, 902 and 911 f.; Publications of the Princeton Univ. Archaeol. Expeditions to Syria in 1904/1905 and 1909, III B (1922) 925, late. Nazirite, Jos. Ant., 4, 72; Bell., 2, 313; Philo Spec. Leg., I, 247 ff. εὐχ- for to vow or vow is rare in Philo. [Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley and Gerhard Friedrich, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964-), 2:777.] 17 Haenchen is likely correct that Paul is undertaking different sort of ritual of purification, the sort required of those who come from foreign, unclean lands (m. Oholot 2:3; 17:5; 18:6). This sort of rite could be completed in seven days (cf. Num. 19:12), and thus Paul would have been in position to accompany the four to the temple at the end of their vow, pay the expenses for the closing sacrifices of these men (Num. 6:13 20), as well as conclude his own rite. As Larkin says, both the LXX and Luke use purification terminology (αγνισθητι here) to refer to both the process of removing ritual impurity (Num. 19:12) and undergoing a Nazaritic vow (Num. 6:3, 5).23 Thus Paul can be said to join them in a purification rite. 24 [Ben Witherington, III, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998), 649.] 18 1 Cor. 9: For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am Page 497

9 The perceived benefit of doing this, v. 24b: καὶ γνώσονται πάντες ὅτι ὧν κατήχηνται περὶ σοῦ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἀλλὰ στοιχεῖς καὶ αὐτὸς φυλάσσων τὸν νόμον, Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself observe and guard the law. 19 The objective stated by James and the elder leadership in Jerusalem was for Paul to disprove this false rumor by these actions of ritualistic observance and to demonstrate his commitment to Jewish traditions. Their thinking was that Paul needed to debunk this false rumor by concrete action. One might question the wisdom of this thinking in light of what happened in the temple later. Could the same apostle who had bluntly accused Peter at Antioch years before of being hypocritical over refusing table fellowship with Gentiles 20 now submit to this demand without himself becoming a hypocrite to the Gentiles? Scholars debate the answer to this question, 21 but Paul didn t as v. 26 illustrates. Reaffirmation of earlier agreement concerning the Gentile believers, v. 25: περὶ δὲ τῶν πεπιστευκότων ἐθνῶν ἡμεῖς ἐπεστείλαμεν κρίναντες φυλάσσεσθαι αὐτοὺς τό τε εἰδωλόθυτον καὶ αἷμα καὶ πνικτὸν καὶ πορνείαν, But as for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication. Concerning the Gentiles, the Jerusalem leadership and James simply allude to the council meeting not free from God s law but am under Christ s law) so that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings. 19 Ἐλεύθερος γὰρ ὢν ἐκ πάντων πᾶσιν ἐμαυτὸν ἐδούλωσα, ἵνα τοὺς πλείονας κερδήσω 20 καὶ ἐγενόμην τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ὡς Ἰουδαῖος, ἵνα Ἰουδαίους κερδήσω τοῖς ὑπὸ νόμον ὡς ὑπὸ νόμον, μὴ ὢν αὐτὸς ὑπὸ νόμον, ἵνα τοὺς ὑπὸ νόμον κερδήσω 21 τοῖς ἀνόμοις ὡς ἄνομος, μὴ ὢν ἄνομος θεοῦ ἀλλʼ ἔννομος Χριστοῦ, ἵνα κερδάνω τοὺς ἀνόμους 22 ἐγενόμην τοῖς ἀσθενέσιν ἀσθενής, ἵνα τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς κερδήσω τοῖς πᾶσιν γέγονα πάντα, ἵνα πάντως τινὰς σώσω. 23 πάντα δὲ ποιῶ διὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, ἵνα συγκοινωνὸς αὐτοῦ γένωμαι. 19 The structure of the verse is complicated by a variant reading. ξυρήσονται (future indicative) is read by P 74 א B* D c E al; ξυρήσωνται (aorist subjunctive) is read by A B 2 C D* (so NA26; D* seems in fact to read ξυρῶνται so e.g. Ropes s text of D in Begs. 3:207). All witnesses appear to have as the next verb the future indicative, γνώσονται. If a subjunctive is read in immediate connection with ἵνα it seems natural to separate it from γνώσονται: Pay their expenses in order that they may shave ; and (then) all will know If however both verbs are future it becomes more natural (though by no means necessary) to coordinate them: in order that they may shave and that all may know The difference in meaning is perhaps not very great. According to BDR 442:2d the καί (before γνώσονται) may be nach Konjunktiv das Futur verbindend zur Bezeichnung des weiteren Ergebnisses. They add (n. 8) Durch καί wird die Folge gewissermassen verselbständigt, ohne dabei aber ein selbständiger Satz zu werden (die Folge gehört in den ἵνα-satz hinein ). Here undoubtedly that all should know is the intention of the proposed action. [C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2004), ] 20 Gal. 2: But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; 12 for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. 11 Ὅτε δὲ ἦλθεν Κηφᾶς εἰς Ἀντιόχειαν, κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτῷ ἀντέστην, ὅτι κατεγνωσμένος ἦν. 12 πρὸ τοῦ γὰρ ἐλθεῖν τινας ἀπὸ Ἰακώβου μετὰ τῶν ἐθνῶν συνήσθιεν ὅτε δὲ ἦλθον, ὑπέστελλεν καὶ ἀφώριζεν ἑαυτὸν φοβούμενος τοὺς ἐκ περιτομῆς. 21 Did Paul στοιχεῖν, φυλάσσων τὸν νόμον? Would he have done so even on one special occasion with the intention of proving to Palestinian Jewish Christians that he like them was still a good Jew as well as a Christian? According to Bornkamm (4:160f.) this was no more than an application of the principle stated in 1 Cor. 9: So zeigt Apg 21:10 26 wenigstens an einem historisch gesicherten Beispiel, was Paulus mit seiner 1 Kor 9:19ff. erklärten Bereitschaft, frei von allem allen zum Knecht zu werden, gemeint hat. Bekanntlich isr gerade diese letzte Handlung des Paulus im Tempel für ihn zum Verhängnis geworden. Mit anderen Worten: seine Treue zu dem 1 Kor 9:20 formulierten Wort hat ihn in Gefangenschaft und Tod geführt (161). Davies takes a similar view: That the apostle no longer recognized the authority of the Jewish Law did not signify that every legal observance was closed to him when he was among Jews: his very freedom from the Law enabled him to submit to it when he so desired He was merely practising in Acts 21:17ff. his policy, or rather strategy, as revealed in 1 Cor. 9:19ff. Acts does not contradict the Epistles on Paul s attitude to the Temple (192). (The epistles show no attitude to the Temple!). See also Begs. 4:273: in what way was he a Jew to the Jews if not by observing the Law when he was with them? So also many others; but the real question here is not whether on occasion Paul would do what Jews did: 1 Corinthians 9 proves conclusively that he was prepared to do this. The question is whether Paul was prepared to use a special occasion such as the one described in order to suggest something that was not true, namely that he too (καὶ αὐτός, he just like the ardent Jews who suspected his loyalty) was regularly observant of the Law as understood within Judaism. Readiness to do this is not covered by 1 Corinthians 9. The issue is not only a moral one. Paul, one would think, must have observed that a single action such as that suggested to him could not prove the point, and that if his motives were suspected this would enrage the Jews even more than simple apostasy. Undoubtedly the plan, as described in Acts, misfired. That is, the demonstration proposed by James was ill adapted to its purpose unless indeed we are to suppose (cf. Brandon, Fall 135) that James s real but secret motive was to discredit Paul in the eyes of the Gentile church. Occasional conformity is an arrangement that does little credit to the parties on either side of the contract. For Haenchen s suggestion regarding what took place see above, p. 1000f. [C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2004), ] Page 498