The brothers from Caesarea brought Paul to lodge at the house of an old disciple, Mnason, in Cyprus. When they arrived at Jerusalem, the Christians received them gladly. The next day, Paul went with them to see James and all the elders, reporting to them in detail God�䏭 glorious works among the Gentiles through his ministry. They were very happy when they heard it. The elders said the Jews in Jerusalem thought that Paul taught all the Jews who lived among the Gentiles to forsake the law. To clarify this matter, they suggested that Paul should take four men to pay a vow at the temple so that the Jews would have nothing to hold against Paul. (Paul did not teach the Jews to forsake the Law of Moses, but he taught them to be justified by faith. He taught them to be under the law of Christ and not under the letter of the law.) Then Paul took the four men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to give notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering would be made for each one of them.

Jews Stirred up the Crowd to Seize Paul

When the purification days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing Paul in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and seized him. They cried out, �嚹his is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people, our law, and this place. And besides, he has also brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.�� (Paul did not bring Greeks into the temple, but the Jews assumed that he did. See footnote 1.) The entire city was aroused. The people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple and wanted to kill him. Then news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Then the commander came near and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains. When the soldiers carried Paul away, the multitude of people followed and kept shouting, �𦯷way with him!��

As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he requested to speak to the crowd. Having received the commander�䏭 permission, Paul stood on the stairs and spoke loudly to the people. He described how he returned to the Lord and how he was called to preach to the Gentiles. When they heard him say, "Then the Lord said to me, �𡜺o, I will send you far away to the Gentiles�仮��, the crowd cried out and threw off their clothes and tossed dust into the air. They raised their voices and said, �𦯷way with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!�� The commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks.

Inside the barracks, the commander said that Paul should be examined under scourging. When they found out that Paul was a Roman citizen, they dared not flog him (It was unlawful to torture a Roman before trial). The commander was afraid (Acts 21:15��40; 22:1��29).

Footnote 1: The Jews did not allow Gentiles to enter their Temple. If discovered, both the Gentile and the one who brought him in could be executed. This was a rule approved by the Roman government.