EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Acts 21:20
20After the leaders had listened to Paul, they praised God. Then they said, ‘Brother Paul, you can see the problem. There are now many thousands of Jews who have believed in Jesus. But they also really want to obey the Law of Moses.
Acts 21:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
- New International Version (NIV)When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law,
- New King James Version (NKJV)And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law;
Context of Acts 21:20
18The next day, we went with Paul to see James. The leaders of the believers were also there. 19Paul said, ‘hello’ to them and then he told them everything about his work. God had helped him to do many good things for the Gentiles. After the leaders had listened to Paul, they praised God. Then they said, ‘Brother Paul, you can see the problem. There are now many thousands of Jews who have believed in Jesus. But they also really want to obey the Law of Moses. 21These Jews here have heard about what you teach Jewish people in other countries. They think that you say to them, “You do not need to obey the Law of Moses any longer. You do not need to circumcise your children. You do not need to live in the way that Jewish people usually live.” 22We need to do something about this problem. These Jewish believers will certainly hear that you are in Jerusalem.
Read all of Acts 21Acts 21:20 word by word
οἱ δὲ ἀκούσαντες ἐδόξαζον τὸν θεόν, εἶπόν τε αὐτῷ· θεωρεῖς ἀδελφέ, πόσαι μυριάδες εἰσὶν ἐν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις τῶν πεπιστευκότων καὶ πάντες ζηλωταὶ τοῦ νόμου ὑπάρχουσιν.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Andδέde · thenG1161
- when they heardἀκούωakouō · to hearG191
- they glorifiedδοξάζωdoxazō · to glorifyG1392
- the Lordκύριοςkurios · lord: GodG2962
- andτεte · and/bothG5037
- saidλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
- unto himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- Thou seestθεωρέωtheōreō · to see/experienceG2334
- brotherἀδελφόςadelphos · brotherG80
- how manyπόσοςposos · how much/many?G4214
- thousandsμυριάςmurias · myriadG3461
- of JewsἸουδαῖοςIoudaios · JewG2453
- there areεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- believeπιστεύωpisteuō · to trust (in)G4100
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- they areὑπάρχωhuparchō · be alreadyG5225
- allπᾶςpas · allG3956
- zealousζηλωτήςzēlōtēs · zealotG2207
- of the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
Cross-references for Acts 21:20
- Acts 4:21The Jewish leaders were angry. They told Peter and John that they must obey them. Then they let Peter and John go free. All the people there were praising God because of the miracle. So the leaders could not decide how to punish Peter and John.
- Acts 11:18The Jewish believers heard what Peter said. They could not say anything more against him. Instead, they praised God and they said, ‘We now see that God has also let Gentiles have life with him. He will accept them if they stop doing bad things and turn to him.’
- Psalms 22:23Everyone who serves the Lord must praise him! All Jacob's descendants must respect him! Yes, all Israel's people must worship him!
- Psalms 72:17May the king be famous for ever! May people remember him for as long as the sun continues to shine. May people from all nations use his name when they bless one another. May they all say that God has blessed the king!
- Psalms 98:1Sing a new song to praise the Lord. He has done great things. He has used his own power and his holy strength to win against his enemies.
- Isaiah 55:10The rain and the snow come down from the sky, and they do not immediately return there. Instead, they give water to the earth, so that crops will grow there. Then the farmer has seeds to plant, and people have food to eat.
- Isaiah 66:9The Lord your God says, ‘When I bring a baby to the moment of birth, the child is always born. I do not stop its birth.’
- Luke 15:3So Jesus told them this story:
- Romans 15:6As a result, all of you will praise God together with the same thoughts. You will all agree that God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is very great.
- Galatians 1:24When the believers in Judea heard that, they praised God because of me.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:10This will happen when Jesus comes on that special day. His own people will praise him for the great things that he has done for them. All of us who are believers will be surprised when we see his great power. This includes you, because you believed our message about the Lord Jesus.
- Revelation 19:6Then I heard a sound like the noise of a very big crowd that was shouting. The sound was like the noise of water that pours quickly along a river. It was like the noise of loud thunder. The crowd of people shouted, ‘Praise the Lord our God! He rules with all power and authority!
- Acts 2:41Many of the people who listened to Peter believed his message. So the apostles baptized those people. About three thousand people who now believed in Jesus joined the group that same day.
- Acts 4:4But many of the people who had heard Peter's message believed what he said. There were now about 5,000 men who believed in Jesus.
- Acts 6:7So more and more people heard the message from God. The number of people in Jerusalem who believed in Jesus grew more and more. Many of the Jewish priests also believed the message about Jesus.
- Matthew 13:31Jesus told the people another story. He said, ‘I will tell you again what the kingdom of heaven is like. It is like a very small seed of the plant called mustard. A man took this seed and he planted it in his field.
Commentaries on Acts 21:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20How many thousands - ; How many myriads, how many times 10,000. This intimates that there had been a most extraordinary and rapid work even among the Jews; but what is here spoken is not to be confined to the Jews of Jerusalem, but to all that had come from different parts of the land to be present at this pentecost. They are all zealous of the law - The Jewish economy was not yet destroyed; nor had God as yet signified that the whole of its observances…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20They glorified the Lord - They gave praise to the Lord for what he had done. They saw new proofs of his goodness and mercy, and they rendered him thanks for all that had been accomplished. There was no jealousy that it had been done by the instrumentality of Paul. True piety will rejoice in the spread of the gospel, and in the conversion of sinners, by whatever instrumentality it may be effected. Thou seest, brother - The language of tenderness in this…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 19-26Verses 19-26 Paul ascribed all his success to God, and to God they gave the praise. God had honoured him more than any of the apostles, yet they did not envy him; but on the contrary, glorified the Lord. They could not do more to encourage Paul to go on cheerfully in his work. James and the elders of the church at Jerusalem, asked Paul to gratify the believing Jews, by some compliance with the ceremonial law. They thought it was prudent in him to conform…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20-25The leaders of the Jerusalem church urged Paul to strengthen his credibility. They encouraged him to demonstrate that he was not teaching Jews to abandon the laws of Moses. Meanwhile, the leaders did not force Jewish rules on Gentile converts. They had determined these terms earlier and would respect them (15:22–29).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 20-2520-25. they glorified the Lord, &c.--constrained to justify his course, notwithstanding the Jewish complexion of the Christianity of Jerusalem.Read the comment
Topics related to Acts 21:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Acts 21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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