Kisah Para Rasul 21:18-24

21:18 The next day Paul went in with us to see James, and all the elders were there. ¹  21:19 When Paul ²  had greeted them, he began to explain ³  in detail ⁴  what God ⁵  had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 21:20 When they heard this, they praised ⁶  God. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews ⁷  there are who have believed, and they are all ardent observers ⁸  of the law. ⁹  21:21 They have been informed about you – that you teach all the Jews now living ¹⁰  among the Gentiles to abandon ¹¹  Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children ¹²  or live ¹³  according to our customs. 21:22 What then should we do? They will no doubt ¹⁴  hear that you have come. 21:23 So do what ¹⁵  we tell you: We have four men ¹⁶  who have taken ¹⁷  a vow; ¹⁸  21:24 take them and purify ¹⁹  yourself along with them and pay their expenses, ²⁰  so that they may have their heads shaved. ²¹  Then ²²  everyone will know there is nothing in what they have been told ²³  about you, but that you yourself live in conformity with ²⁴  the law. ²⁵ 

[21:18]  ¹ tn BDAG 760 s.v. παραγίνομαι 1 has this use under the broad category of meaning “draw near, come, arrive, be present.”

[21:18]  sn All the elders were there. This meeting shows how the Jerusalem church still regarded Paul and his mission with favor, but also with some concerns because of the rumors circulating about his actions.

[21:19]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:19]  ³ tn Or “to report,” “to describe.” The imperfect verb ἐξηγεῖτο (exhgeito) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[21:19]  ⁴ tn BDAG 293 s.v. εἷς 5.e has “καθ᾿ ἕν one after the other (hence τὸ καθ᾿ ἕν ‘a detailed list’: PLille 11, 8 [III bc]; PTebt. 47, 34; 332, 16) J 21:25. Also καθ᾿ ἕν ἕκαστον…Ac 21:19.”

[21:19]  ⁵ sn Note how Paul credited God with the success of his ministry.

[21:20]  ⁶ tn Or “glorified.”

[21:20]  ⁷ tn Grk “how many thousands there are among the Jews.”

[21:20]  sn How many thousands of Jews. See Acts 2-5 for the accounts of their conversion, esp. 2:41 and 4:4. Estimates of the total number of Jews living in Jerusalem at the time range from 20,000 to 50,000.

[21:20]  ⁸ tn Or “are all zealous for the law.” BDAG 427 s.v. ζηλωτής 1.a.β has “of thing…τοῦ νόμου an ardent observer of the law Ac 21:20.”

[21:20]  ⁹ sn That is, the law of Moses. These Jewish Christians had remained close to their Jewish practices after becoming believers (1 Cor 7:18-19; Acts 16:3).

[21:21]  ¹⁰ tn BDAG 511 s.v. κατά B.1.a has “τοὺς κ. τὰ ἔθνη ᾿Ιουδαίους the Judeans (dispersed) throughout the nations 21:21.” The Jews in view are not those in Palestine, but those who are scattered throughout the Gentile world.

[21:21]  ¹¹ tn Or “to forsake,” “to rebel against.” BDAG 120 s.v. ἀποστασία has “ἀποστασίαν διδάσκεις ἀπὸ Μωϋσέως you teach (Judeans) to abandon Moses Ac 21:21.”

[21:21]  sn The charge that Paul was teaching Jews in the Diaspora to abandon Moses was different from the issue faced in Acts 15, where the question was whether Gentiles needed to become like Jews first in order to become Christians. The issue also appears in Acts 24:5-6, 13-21; 25:8.

[21:21]  ¹² sn That is, not to circumcise their male children. Biblical references to circumcision always refer to male circumcision.

[21:21]  ¹³ tn Grk “or walk.”

[21:22]  ¹⁴ tn L&N 71.16 has “pertaining to being in every respect certain – ‘certainly, really, doubtless, no doubt.’…‘they will no doubt hear that you have come’ Ac 21:22.”

[21:23]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “do this that.”

[21:23]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “There are four men here.”

[21:23]  ¹⁷ tn L&N 33.469 has “‘there are four men here who have taken a vow’ or ‘we have four men who…’ Ac 21:23.”

[21:23]  ¹⁸ tn On the term for “vow,” see BDAG 416 s.v. εὐχή 2.

[21:24]  ¹⁹ sn That is, undergo ritual cleansing. Paul’s cleansing would be necessary because of his travels in “unclean” Gentile territory. This act would represent a conciliatory gesture. Paul would have supported a “law-free” mission to the Gentiles as an option, but this gesture would represent an attempt to be sensitive to the Jews (1 Cor 9:15-22).

[21:24]  ²⁰ tn L&N 57.146 has “δαπάνησον ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς ‘pay their expenses’ Ac 21:24.”

[21:24]  ²¹ tn The future middle indicative has causative force here. BDAG 686 s.v. ξυράω has “mid. have oneself shaved…τὴν κεφαλήν have one’s head shaved…Ac 21:24.”

[21:24]  sn Having their heads shaved probably involved ending a voluntary Nazirite vow (Num 6:14-15).

[21:24]  ²² tn Grk “and.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation, and καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

[21:24]  ²³ tn The verb here describes a report or some type of information (BDAG 534 s.v. κατηχέω 1).

[21:24]  ²⁴ tn Grk “adhere to the keeping of the law.” L&N 41.12 has “στοιχέω: to live in conformity with some presumed standard or set of customs – ‘to live, to behave in accordance with.’”

[21:24]  ²⁵ sn The law refers to the law of Moses.