Acts 21:39

Act_21:39

Paul said, I am a man which am … a citizen of no mean city.

Citizenship

1. Paul might well be proud of his birthplace, for historically, geographically, intellectually, and commercially it was no mean city. All that could be said about Tarsus can be said of many a modern town, and if as much cannot be said about that in which we live, still surely there are some features which may fill us with honourable pride. If this pride is at times chastened by the thought of its evils, let it be no fault of ours that we cannot claim to be citizens of no mean city.

2. This love of city has characterised and been the inspiration of some of the noblest of minds. Think how Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, were loved, and what this love wrought in their citizens--not to speak of modern instances.

3. We owe much to our city. It provides us with a home, means of subsistence, society, culture; all its trade, thought, and activity, in one way or another make for our good. Let us pay our debt--

I. By knowing our city. The crass ignorance of the average citizen of the place in which he lives is proverbial. Features which strike a stranger at once, names which challenge curiosity, historical facts which have contributed to the making of the nation, the great men who have lived or died in the vicinity--of all this he usually knows next to nothing. Of facts which have transpired, men who have flourished, things which command attention elsewhere, he has read and perhaps has seen in his travels. He can tell you what is worth seeing and what has happened in a continental city--but you inquire in vain about these if they lie within a few yards of his own door. This is not fair to our city, nor ourselves, nor our friends who come to visit us. Let us explore our city, study its history, inspect its ecclesiastical or secular monuments or institutions, examine into its relations past and present with other places, trace the origin of its customs, and thus many an evening will, without much effort, be spent in a pleasant and profitable way.

II. By working for our city.

1. By industry in our own business. Every article we sell enlarges by so much the area of its trade. This may not be a very powerful motive, since there is already one sufficiently strong. But it is an elevating one, and will lift trade out of the sordid selfishness into which it is so prone to sink.

2. By encouraging its trade. The habit of sending for nearly everything elsewhere is not a commendable one. Our fellow citizens have to live, and it is only by dealing with them that they can live. But things are dearer. Let there be more buyers at home and that will make them cheaper.

3. By interesting ourselves in its government. The number of citizens who fail here is appalling. No wonder, then, that the management of our towns falls into incompetent or unworthy hands. Not everyone, of course, can aspire to civic honours, but everyone can help to prevent those honours falling where they will be abused. Just think what depends on apathy or interest, on an unintelligent or enlightened public opinion--disease or health through bad or good drainage and water supply; inconvenience or comfort through the state of the roads, domestic appointments, etc.; heavy or light rates through waste or economy in finance.

4. By the support of intellectual or humanitarian institutions. Libraries, art galleries, baths, hospitals, etc.

III. By promoting religion in our city. This is the salt without which every other improvement will be but as a covering for corruption. We may promote this--

1. By personal piety, without which all religious effort will be deprived of a good deal of its value. The mere example which a Christian citizen sets at home, behind the counter, in the council chamber or elsewhere, is of incalculable worth.

2. By the godly upbringing of the citizens of the future. What is seen and heard in the nursery today will determine the character of our town five-and-twenty years hence.

3. By cordial support of and cooperation, with our own Church. Here principles are inculcated, the adoption of which makes our city mean or noble; and here bad citizens may be influenced for good.

4. By generous union with other Churches. It is the combined force of Christianity in any given town that tells. There should be no isolated or discordant voices when flagrant wrong is to be rectified, or obvious good to be encouraged. (J. W. Burn.)

Pauls birthplace

Caesar boasted of his native Rome; Lycurgus of Sparta; Virgil of Andes; Demosthenes of Athens; Archimedes of Syracuse; and Paul of Tarsus. I should suspect a man of base heartedness who had no feeling of complacency in regard to the place of his residence; who gloried not in its arts, behaviour, prosperity, embellishments, and its scientific attainments. Men never like a place where they have not behaved well. Swarthout did not like New York; nor Dr. Webster, Boston. Men who have free rides in prison vans never like the city that furnishes the vehicle. When I see in history Argos, Rhodes, Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, and several other cities claiming Homer, I conclude that Homer behaved well. (T. De Witt Talmage.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 21:39. Μὲν) Μὲν imparts ἦθος to the beginning of a speech: ch. Act 22:3, ἐγὼ μέν εἰμι ἀνήρ.—[λαλῆσαι, to speak) With what great prudence did the apostle forthwith avail himself of the opportunity afforded by circumstances! Wheresoever he beheld a multitude, the desire of speaking took possession of him: ch. Act 19:30.—V. g.]

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_21:39-40. I am indeed (μέν)not the Egyptian, buta Jew from Tarsus (and so apprehended by thee through being confounded with another), yet I pray thee, etc.

ἄνθρωπος] In his speech to the people Paul used the more honourable word ἀνήρ (Schaefer, ad Long. p. 408). See Act_22:3.

οὐκ ἀσήμου] See examples of this litotes in the designation of important cities, in Wetstein ad loc. Comp. Jacobs, ad Achill. Tat. p. 718. A conscious feeling of patriotism is implied in the expression.

κατέσ. τ. χ.] See on Act_12:17.

πολλῆς δὲ σιγῆς γενομ.] Conticuere omnes intentique ora tenebant, Virgil. Aen. ii. 1.

τῇ Ἑβρ. διαλ.] thus not likewise in Greek, as in Act_21:37, but in the Syro-Chaldaic dialect of the country (Act_1:9), in order, namely, to find a more favourable hearing with the people.

We may add, that the permission to speak granted by the tribune is too readily explainable from the unexpected disillusion which he had just experienced, Act_21:39, to admit of its being urged as a reason against the historical character of the speech (Baur, Zeller), just as the silence which set in is explainable enough as the effect of surprise in the case of the mobile vulgus. And if the following speech, as regards its contents, does not enter upon the position of the speaker towards the law, it was, in presence of the prejudice and passion of the multitude, a very wise procedure simply to set forth facts, by which the whole working of the apostle is apologetically exhibited.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 21:39 . Ἐγὼ ἄνθρωπος μέν εἰμι Ἰ .… δέομαι δέ …: there is no strict antithesis, “I am indeed a Jew of Tarsus” (and therefore free from your suspicion); but without speaking further of this, and proceeding perhaps to demand a legal process, the Apostle adds “but I pray you,” etc. Mr. Page explains, from the position of μέν : “I ( ἐγώ ) as regards your question to me, am a man ( ἄνθρωπος μέν ), etc., but, as regards my question to you, I ask ( δέομαι δέ …),” see reading in [363] . On St. Paul’s citizenship see note below on Act 22:28 . St. Paul uses ἄνθρωπος here, but ἀνήρ , the more dignified term, Act 22:3 , in addressing his fellow-countrymen; but according to Blass, “vix recte distinguitur quasi illud ( ἄνθρωπος ) ut ap. att. sit humilius,” cf. Mat 18:23 ; Mat 22:2 . λαλῆσαι : Blass has a striking note on Paul’s hopefulness for his people, and the proof apparent here of a man “qui populi sui summo amore imbutus nunquam de eo desperare potuit,” Romans 9-11 Ἰουδ . not only Ταρ ., which would have distinguished him from Ἀιγ ., but Ἰουδ ., otherwise the chiliarch from his speaking Greek might have regarded him as no Jew, and so guilty of death for profaning the Temple. οὐκ ἀσήμου πόλεως : litotes , Act 20:29 , on Tarsus see Act 9:11 . The city had on its coins the titles μητρόπολις αὐτόνομος . For ἄσημος , cf. Mal 3:1Mal 3:1 , and in classical Greek, Eurip., Ion. , 8. οὐκ ἄσ . Ἑλλήνων πόλις , i.e. , Athens (Wetstein), see further Act 22:27 . Hobart (so too Zahn) mentions ἄσημος as one of the words which show that Luke, when dealing with unprofessional subjects, shows a leaning to the use of professional language; ἄσημος is the technical term for “a disease without distinctive symptoms,” and Hippocrates, just as Luke, says, μία πόλεων οὐκ ἄσημος , Epis. , 1273. So again in Act 23:13 , ἀναδιδόναι , a word applied to the distribution of nourishment throughout the body, or of blood throughout the veins, is used by Hippocrates, as by Luke, l.c. , of a messenger delivering a letter, Epis. , 1275 (see Hobart and Zahn); but it must be admitted that the same phrase is found in Polybius and Plutarch. Still the fact remains that the phraseology of St. Luke is here illustrated by a use of two similar expressions in Hippocrates, and it should be also remembered that the verb with which St. Luke opens his Gospel, ἐπιχειρεῖν , was frequently used by medical men, and that too in its secondary sense, just as by St. Luke, e.g. , Hippocrates begins his treatise De Prisca Med. , ὁκόσοι ἐπειχείρησαν περὶ ἰατρικῆς λέγειν ἢ γράφειν (see J. Weiss on Luk 1:1 ); so too Galen uses the word similarly, although it must be admitted that the same use is found in classical Greek and in Josephus, c. Apion. , 2

[363] R(omana), in Blass, a first rough copy of St. Luke.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

a citizen of no mean city--(See on Act 16:37).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 39. I am a man which am a Jew] A periphrasis for, I am a Jew. See Clarke on Ac 7:2.

Of Tarsus - no mean city] In Clarke's notes on "Ac 9:11", I have shown that Tarsus was a city of considerable importance, and in some measure a rival to Rome and Athens; and that, because of the services tendered to the Romans by the inhabitants, Julius Caesar endowed them with all the rights and privileges of Roman citizens. When St. Paul calls it no mean city, he speaks a language that was common to those who have had occasion to speak of Tarsus. XENOPHON, Cyri Anabas. i., calls it, πολιν μεγαλην και ευδαιμονα, a great and flourishing city. JOSEPHUS, Ant. lib. i. cap. 6, sec. 6, says that it was παρ' αυτοις των πολεων ἡ αξιολογωτατη μητροπολις ουσα, the metropolis and most renowned city among them (the Cilicians.) And AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, xiv. 8, says, Ciliciam Tarsus nobilitat, urbs perspicabilis: "Tarsus, a very respectable city; adorns Cilicia."

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(39) A citizen of no mean city.—The boast was quite a legitimate one. In addition to all its fame for culture, the town of Tarsus bore on its coins the word METROPOLIS-AUTONOMOS (Independent).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

39. But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus] The A. V. does not often follow the Greek so closely as this. And here it is better to read with the Rev. Ver., “I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia” (see Act_6:9, notes).

a citizen of no mean city] Tarsus was the metropolis of Cilicia, and a city remarkable for its culture, and the zeal of its inhabitants for philosophic studies.

and … people] An objection has been here raised that it is extremely improbable that the chief captain could have held this conversation with St Paul amid the tumult, and also that he would have granted permission to speak to a man whom he had just taken as his prisoner, and whom he afterwards arranges to examine by scourging (Act_22:24). But we have only to remember that the Apostle and his interlocutor were high up above the crowd, and so away from the noise; that the staircase crowded with soldiers, who could not rapidly be withdrawn because they were restraining the multitude, made some delay absolutely unavoidable, and that, added to this was the surprise of the chief captain that his prisoner could speak Greek, and we have enough warrant for accepting the story as it is here told. Moreover the Greek which the Apostle used was of a very polished character, shewing the education and refinement of the speaker, and making good his claim to respect.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus,.... And not that Egyptian; he was not of that country, much less that man; but a Jew, both by birth and religion; he was born of Jewish parents, and brought up in the Jewish religion; though his native place was Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, where it is placed by Pliny (n), Ptolomy (o), and Mela (p); and is by some thought to be the same with the Tarshish of the Old Testament:

a citizen of no mean city; Pliny (q) calls it a free city, and Solinus (r) says it is the mother, or chief of cities, and Curtius (s) speaks of it as a very opulent one; which when Alexander drew near to with his army, the inhabitants of it set fire to, that he might not possess their riches; which he understanding, sent Parmenio to prevent it: through this city, as the same historian, in agreement with Pliny and others, observes, ran the river Cydnus; and it being summer time when Alexander was here, and very hot weather, and being covered with dust and sweat, he put off his clothes, and cast himself into the river to wash himself; but as soon as he was in, he was seized with such a numbness of his nerves, that had he not been immediately taken out by his soldiers, and for the extraordinary care of his physician, he had at once expired. Josephus (t) calls this city the most famous of the cities in Gallicia; and derives it, and the whole country, from Tarshish, the grandson of Japheth, Gen 10:4 his words are,

"Tharsus gave name to the Tharsians, for so Cilicia was formerly called, of which this is an evidence; for the most famous of the cities with them, and which is the metropolis, is called Tarsus; Theta being changed into Tau for appellation sake.''

Though some say it was built by Perseus, the son of Jupiter and Danae, and called Tharsus, of the hyacinth stone, which is said to be found about it: others think it was so called, , because the places of this country were first dried up after the flood: it was not only a city of stately buildings, as it was repaired by Sardanapalus, and increased after the times of Alexander; but there was a famous academy in it, which, for men of learning, exceeded Athens and Alexandria (u); though these exceeded that in number of philosophers: here it is thought lived Aratus the poet, from whom the apostle cites a passage, in Act 17:28 and of this place was the famous Chrysippus, who is called "a Tarsian" (w), as the apostle is here. Hermogenes, a very celebrated rhetorician, some of whose works are still extant, came from hence (x). Jerom (y) reports it as a tradition, that the parents of the Apostle Paul were of Giscalis, a town in Judea; which with the whole province being destroyed by the Romans, they removed to Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, whither Paul when a young man followed them; but certain it is, that the apostle was born there, as he himself says, in Act 22:3. Ignatius, in (z) the "second" century, writing to the church at Tarsus, calls them citizens and disciples of Paul; citizens, because he was of this city; and disciples, because of the same faith with him; and very likely the first materials of the church in this place were converts of his; since it is evident that he went hither after he was a preacher; see Act 9:30.

And I beseech thee suffer me to speak unto the people; first he desired to speak with the captain, and that was in order to obtain leave to speak to the people; and which he asks in a very handsome and submissive manner, and hopes to have his request granted him, since he was not the person he took him for, but was a Jew by birth, and a citizen of a very considerable Roman city; and was not a mean, sordid, vagabond creature, nor need he fear that he would sow any discord and sedition among the people.

(n) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 27. (o) Geograph. l. 5. c. 8. (p) De orbis situ, l. 1. c. 13. (q) Ib. ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 27.) (r) Polyhist. c. 51. (s) Hist. l. 3. c. 4. (t) Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1. (u) Strabo, Geograph. l. 14. (w) Laert. Vit. Philosoph. l. 7. (x) Vid. Fabricii Bibl. Graec. l. 4. c. 31. sect. 4. 5. (y) Catalog. Script. Eccles. sect. 15. fol. 90. G. & Comment. in Philemon. ver. 23. Tom. 9. fol. 116. L. (z) Ep. ad Tarsenses, p. 75.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

39 But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.

Ver. 39. Of no mean city] And yet more ennobled by Paul than Paul was by it; like as Hippo was better known by Austin than Austin was by Hippo, whereof he was bishop; the island Cos by Hippocrates than Hippocrates by Cos; King Archelaus by his friend Euripides than Euripides by Archelaus.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A Jew of Tarsus - A Jew by birth.

Of no mean city - Not obscure, or undistinguished. He could claim an honorable birth, so far as the place of his nativity was concerned. See the notes on Act 9:11. Tarsus was much celebrated for its learning, and was at one time the rival of Alexandria and Athens. Xenophon calls it a great and flourishing city. Josephus (Antiq., book 2, chapter 6, section 6) says that it was the metropolis, and most renowned city among them (the Cilicians).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

I am indeed a Jew, by birth and education. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

No mean city; it being the metropolis, or chief city, in Cilicia, built by Perseus, as some think; howsoever, having the privilege of the Roman freedom; as Act 22:28.

I beseech thee: St. Paul begs leave to speak unto the people, that he might not seem to affect popularity, or to be guilty of any insurrection or tumult. Thus he had leave also of Agrippa, before that he made that famous apology, Act 26:1.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

39. A citizen—Implying a full possession of all the civil rights of a great free city.

No mean city—The metropolis of Cilicia, rich by commerce, and noted for its schools of philosophy. It was open by good roads, to the north by the Cilician Gates, and into Palestine by the Syrian Gates. The graceful Greek, the honourable origin, and the impressive manner of the apostle, are producing their effect upon the chiliarch. He doubts his first impression that a criminal or culprit is before him; and, by the very boldness of Paul’s request, put with the unconscious air of conscious power, he is inspired with the idea that the prisoner may be able to appease and sway the angry mob, and explain his own mysterious case.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I am a Jew for I am a man which am a Jew, A.V.; in for a city in, A.V.; give me leave for suffer me, A.V. A citizen of no mean city; oujk ajshmou polewv, an elegant classical expression. Oujk ashmov jEllhnwn poliv (Euripides, "Ion.," 8).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes on verse 35

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Connecting Statement:

Paul begins to defend what he did.

I ask you

"I beg you" or "I plead with you"

allow me

"please allow me" or please permit me"

the captain had given him permission

The word "permission" can be stated as a verb. AT: "the captain permitted Paul to speak" or "the captain allowed Paul to speak" (See: Abstract Nouns)

Paul stood on the steps

The word "steps" here refers to the steps on the stairway to the fortress.

motioned with the hand to the people

It can be stated explicitly why Paul motioned with the hand. AT: "motioned with his hand for the people to be quiet" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

When there was a deep silence

"When the people were completely silent"

translationWords

Paul

Jew

Tarsus

Cilicia

citizen

Hebrew

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

39. ἐγὼ ἄνθρωπος μέν Ἰουδαῖος, Ταρσεύς τῆς Κιλικίας, I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia. See Act 6:9 and notes.

οὐκ ἀσήμου πόλεως πολίτης, a citizen of no mean city. Tarsus was the metropolis of Cilicia, and a city remarkable for its culture, and the zeal of its inhabitants for philosophic studies.

ἐπίτρεψόν μοι λαλῆσαι πρὸς τὸν λαόν, give me leave to speak unto the people. An objection has been here raised that it is extremely improbable that the chief captain could have held this conversation with St Paul amid the tumult, and also that he would have granted permission to speak to a man whom he had just taken as his prisoner, and whom he afterwards arranges to examine by scourging (Act 22:24). But we have only to remember that the Apostle and his interlocutor were high up above the crowd, and so away from the noise; that the staircase crowded with soldiers, who could not rapidly be withdrawn because they were restraining the multitude, made some delay absolutely unavoidable, and that, added to this was the surprise of the chief captain that his prisoner could speak Greek, and we have enough warrant for accepting the story as it is here told. Moreover the Greek which the Apostle used was of a very polished character, shewing the education and refinement of the speaker, and making good his claim to respect.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

39. μέν] Our indeed,—implying ‘not the Egyptian, but,’—exactly renders it: I indeed am: so Aristoph. Plut. 355, μὰ Δίʼ ἐγὼ μὲν οὔ. See Hartung, Partikellehre, ii. 413.

οὐκ ἀσήμου πόλ.] See note, ch. 9:11.

The expression is an elegant one, and very common. Wetst. gives many examples, and among them one from Eurip. Ion 8, ἐστὶν γὰρ οὐκ ἄσημος Ἑλλήνων πόλις.

There was distinction in his being a πολίτης of an urbs libera. “Many of the coins of Tarsus bear the epigraphs μητρόπολις and αὐτόνομος.” Wordsw. from Akermann, p. 56.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mean [ασημου] . Lit., without a mark or token [σημα] . Hence used of uncoined gold or silver : of oracles which give no intelligible response : of inarticulate voices : of disease without distinctive symptoms. Generally, as here, undistinguished, mean. There is a conscious feeling of patriotism in Paul 's expression.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.