Acts 21:34, commentary and pictures

The Roman officer in the verse is Claudius Lysias, commander of the garrison, who hurried with his officers and a strong force of armed men down to the temple court when told that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. Ignorant of the cause but seeing the rage of the multitude directed against Paul, he concluded that Paul was the Egyptian rebel who had escaped capture and eluded vigilance. He had Paul seized and bound between two soldiers with a hand chained to each, and he asked the leaders of the tumult who Paul was and what crime he had done.

Many voices at once raised loud and angry accusations, but the cries conflicted and the tumult was so great that the commander could not learn the facts or what Paul was charged with. Because he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded Paul to be carried into the castle, where the Roman barracks were, for safety and control. The multitude was enraged at losing its prey and surged and pressed so closely that the soldiers bore Paul in their arms up the staircase leading from the temple. Priests and people were actuated by the same satanic spirit that thirty years before had clamored for the blood of the Son of God, as they joined the deafening shout for Paul to be taken away.

Afterward Paul stood on the stairs and signaled to the people, and his gesture, bearing, and familiar Hebrew speech gained their attention and brought a deeper silence as he began his defense. The disorder parallels the scene before Herod, where the crowd likewise cried different things and Herod ordered silence so he could question Jesus.