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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Acts 28:17-22

Paul, with a great deal of expense and hazard, is brought a prisoner to Rome, and when he has come nobody appears to prosecute him or lay any thing to his charge; but he must call his own cause; and here he represents it to the chief of the Jews at Rome. It was not long since, by an edict of Claudius, all the Jews were banished from Rome, and kept out till his death; but, in the five years since then, many Jews had come thither, for the advantage of trade, though it does not appear that they... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Acts 28:16-29

28:16-29 When we arrived in Rome, permission was given to Paul to stay in his own house with the soldier who was his guard. After three days he invited the leaders of the Jews to come to see him. When they had assembled, he proceeded to say, "Brethren, although I have done nothing against the People or against our ancestral customs, I was given over as a prisoner into the hands of the Romans from Jerusalem. When the Romans had investigated my case, they wished to release me because there were... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 28:21

And they said unto him ,.... That is, the chief men of the Jews at Rome, whom Paul had called together, replied; either in a lying and dissembling way, or as expressing matter of fact; which last may be allowed: we neither received letters out of Judea concerning thee : which was very much, that the high priest and sanhedrim had not wrote to the principal men of their religion at Rome; giving an account of the apostle, and his case unto them, in order to prejudice them against him, and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 28:21

We neither received letters, etc. - This is very strange, and shows us that the Jews knew their cause to be hopeless, and therefore did not send it forward to Rome. They wished for an opportunity to kill Paul: and, when they were frustrated by his appeal to the emperor, they permitted the business to drop. Calmet supposes they had not time to send; but this supposition does not appear to be sufficiently solid: they might have sent long before Paul sailed; and they might have written... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 28:21

Verse 21− 21.Neither by letters. The priests and scribes did not hold their peace, because they were become more gentle towards Paul, or to the end they might spare him; that proceeded rather of contempt, or else of despair, because they neither knew how to oppress him when he was so far from them, and his carrying into Italy was − (679) to them instead of a grave. For they did lord it no less carelessly than proudly, so that nobody did trouble them at home. Furthermore, though the Jews come... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 28:16-23

A unique prisoner. With the masterliness of inspired history, exceeding brevity itself in the passage before us seems to reveal rather than conceal. A few powerful strokes of the pen portray and very strikingly a hero, and one at the same time as real and unusual as ever lived. Great, indeed, must have been the length and the fullness of detail given, if the method of detail had been the one chosen, in order to attain the result of leaving with us an equally correct and complete... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 28:16-31

The fall. The main feature in these concluding verses of the Acts of the Apostles, as it is one of the most momentous incidents in the history of God's dealings with mankind, is the fall of Israel from their proper place in the Church of God. For nearly two thousand years, if we date from the call of Abraham, this one family had been separated from the rest of mankind, and eventually received institutions of such wonderful strength and vitality as to keep them separate through centuries of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 28:17-28

The Christian and the Jew. Here we have the Christian and the Jew brought into close contact; and there seems to have been as fair an opportunity for the latter to understand and appreciate the former as could ever have been granted. With calmness, with the wisdom and fullness of long study and mature experience, the most enlightened Christian apologist presented the case of Christianity to these men of the Jewish faith. We may look at— I. THE INTRODUCTION . Paul felt that his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 28:21

From for out of, A.V.; nor for neither, A.V.; did any of the brethren come hither and report or speak for any of the brethren that came showed or spake, A.V. Nor did any of the brethren come hither , etc. This is no improvement on the A.V.; for it implies that they denied that any special messenger had been sent to speak harm of Paul, which nobody could have thought had been done. What they meant to say is exactly what the A.V. makes them say, viz. that, neither by special... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Acts 28:21

We neither received letters ... - Why the Jews in Judea had not forwarded the accusation against Paul to their brethren at Rome, that they might continue the prosecution before the emperor, is not known. It is probable that they regarded their cause as hopeless, and chose to abandon the prosecution. Paul had been acquitted successively by Lysias, Felix, Festus, and Agrippa; and as they had not succeeded in procuring his condemnation before them, they saw no prospect of doing it at Rome, and... read more

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