Acts 21:15

And after these days we took up our baggage and went up to Jerusalem. And there went with us also certain of the disciples from Caesarea, bringing with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple with whom we should lodge.

The point of interest here is the early disciple, Mnason, who would provide lodging for the company of nine men in Jerusalem; and the fact of his also residing in Caesarea, or at least having gone up there to meet Paul, gives rise to the speculation that he owned houses in both Jerusalem and Caesarea, and perhaps even in Cyprus also. Faced with such implications, some commentators have supposed that Mnason had journeyed to Caesarea to meet Paul,[24] or that his house was located halfway between Caesarea and Jerusalem,[25] or even that this refers to Mnason's picking up the bill for the group's lodging on the way to Jerusalem, which was about sixty miles away and would have required an overnight halt. All such speculations are unnecessary upon the acceptance of the obvious fact of Mnason's being a man of means and of property. Only such a person could have provided lodgings in such a city as Jerusalem for so large a company. Added to what is recorded in Acts 21:8 and Acts 12:12ff, the picture of the New Testament church which emerges in Acts utterly fails to support the allegations of collectivists.

CONCLUSION OF THE THIRD JOURNEY

Some place the conclusion of Paul's third journey at Acts 21:17; but it would appear more logical to include the balance of this paragraph, through Acts 21:26, thus including the implied delivery of the charity to James and the elders, along with suggestions immediately offered to Paul in their first meeting.

[24] Orrin Root, op. cit., p. 165.

[25] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 847.