And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.
The verse records what happened at Caesarea after Agabus took Paul's girdle, bound his own hands and feet with it, and foretold by the Holy Spirit that the Jews at Jerusalem would so bind the owner of the girdle and deliver him to the Gentiles. Those who pleaded had already known that the visit to Jerusalem would bring great peril without foreseeing its full extent, and now apprehension had become certainty, with the horrors of Roman imprisonment added to the dangers from the Jews. Both Paul's traveling companions, including Luke, and the believers and brethren of that place where Paul was staying urgently begged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Their entreaty was earnest and urgent, made with prayers and tears and weeping.
They urged him to remain at Caesarea and let them carry to Jerusalem the contributions from the Gentile churches, asking why he should face such peril and expose his precious life to the malice of the Jews and whether it would be presumptuous to go on after definite warning from the Spirit of God. Their weeping and pleading pained Paul's heart and sought to turn him from the path of duty, but he would not swerve and held himself ready not only to be bound but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus, to follow Christ if need be to prison and to death. Seeing that they caused him pain without changing his purpose, the brethren ceased their importunity and yielded to the will of the Lord being done.
The verse records what happened at Caesarea after Agabus took Paul's girdle, bound his own hands and feet with it, and foretold by the Holy Spirit that the Jews at Jerusalem would so bind the owner of the girdle and deliver him to the Gentiles. Those who pleaded had already known that the visit to Jerusalem would bring great peril without foreseeing its full extent, and now apprehension had become certainty, with the horrors of Roman imprisonment added to the dangers from the Jews. Both Paul's traveling companions, including Luke, and the believers and brethren of that place where Paul was staying urgently begged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Their entreaty was earnest and urgent, made with prayers and tears and weeping.
They urged him to remain at Caesarea and let them carry to Jerusalem the contributions from the Gentile churches, asking why he should face such peril and expose his precious life to the malice of the Jews and whether it would be presumptuous to go on after definite warning from the Spirit of God. Their weeping and pleading pained Paul's heart and sought to turn him from the path of duty, but he would not swerve and held himself ready not only to be bound but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus, to follow Christ if need be to prison and to death. Seeing that they caused him pain without changing his purpose, the brethren ceased their importunity and yielded to the will of the Lord being done.