Acts 21:24

Acts 21:24 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.
• New International Version (NIV)Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law.
• English Standard Version (ESV)take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law.

Context of Acts 21:24

22We need to do something about this problem. These Jewish believers will certainly hear that you are in Jerusalem. 23We will tell you what you must do. There are four Jewish men in our group who have made a promise to God. You must go with these men to the temple. There, they will wash to make themselves clean in front of God. Join with them when they do that. Then pay the priest the money for their sacrifices. After that, the men can cut the hair off their heads. When you do that, everyone will understand about you. They will see what you have done. They will know that you yourself obey the Law of Moses. They will know that what they have heard about you is not true. 25But it is different for the Gentiles who believe in Jesus. We have already sent a letter to them. We wrote, “Do not eat any food that people have given to their idols. Do not eat anything that still has blood in it. If people have strangled an animal to kill it, do not eat its meat. Do not have sex with anyone that you are not married to.” ’ 26So the next day, Paul went with the four men. He joined with them when they washed to make themselves clean in front of God. Then he went into the yard of the temple. He told the priest there when the four men would finish their promise to God. This would be after seven days. After that, each man would give an animal as a sacrifice to God.

Acts 21:24 word by word

τούτους παραλαβὼν ἁγνίσθητι σὺν αὐτοῖς καὶ δαπάνησον ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἵνα ξυρήσονται τὴν κεφαλήν, καὶ γνώσονται πάντες ὅτι ὧν κατήχηνται περὶ σοῦ οὐδέν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ στοιχεῖς καὶ αὐτὸς φυλάσσων τὸν νόμον.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Themοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• takeπαραλαμβάνωparalambanō · to takeG3880
• and purify thyselfἁγνίζωhagnizō · to purifyG48
• withσύνsun · withG4862
• themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• be at chargesδαπανάωdapanaō · to spendG1159
• withἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
• thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• they may shaveξυράωxuraō · to shaveG3587
• headsὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• headsκεφαλήkephalē · headG2776
• allπᾶςpas · allG3956
• may knowγινώσκωginōskō · to knowG1097
• thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• those thingsὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• whereof they were informedκατηχέωkatēcheō · to instructG2727
• concerningπερίperi · aboutG4012
• theeσύsu · youG4771
• areεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• nothingοὐδείςoudeis · noneG3762
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• walkest orderlyστοιχέωstoicheō · to followG4748
• and keepestφυλάσσωphulassō · to keep/guard: observeG5442
• the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551

Cross-references for Acts 21:24

• Acts 21:26So the next day, Paul went with the four men. He joined with them when they washed to make themselves clean in front of God. Then he went into the yard of the temple. He told the priest there when the four men would finish their promise to God. This would be after seven days. After that, each man would give an animal as a sacrifice to God.
• Acts 24:18I was doing this in the yard of the temple when these men found me. I had obeyed all the rules to make myself clean in front of God. There was no crowd with me. Nobody was arguing or fighting because of me.
• Exodus 19:10Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to the people. Make them ready to meet with me. Today and tomorrow they must wash their clothes.
• Numbers 19:17Then for the person who is not clean, you must take some of the ashes of the young red cow. That is the cow to make people clean. You must put these ashes into a pot and you must mix them with water from a river.
• 2 Chronicles 30:18Most of the people who came from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not made themselves properly clean. They should not have eaten the Passover meal, because God's law said that was wrong. But they still ate the meal. So Hezekiah prayed for them. He said, ‘Lord you are good. Please forgive everyone
• Job 1:5After each party, Job would ask his children to come and visit him. He wanted to make them clean again if they were guilty of bad things. He thought, ‘Perhaps they have done something that is bad. Perhaps they have thought bad things against God.’ So he would get up early in the morning. He would offer a burnt offering as a sacrifice for each of his children. Job always did this after each party that his children had.
• Job 41:25Even the bravest people are afraid when Leviathan appears. They run away when it starts to move.
• John 3:25John's disciples began to argue with a certain Jew about some Jewish rules. Those rules told people how they should wash properly.
• Hebrews 9:10The old rules taught people about different kinds of food and drink. They taught about how people should wash in special ways. Those rules were about people's bodies. They had authority only until the time when God would make things new and better.
• Acts 18:18Paul remained in Corinth with the believers for many days. Then he left them. Priscilla and Aquila also went with him. They went to the port called Cenchrea. They got on a ship there to sail to Syria. Before they left, someone cut off all the hair on Paul's head. This showed that he had made a promise to God.
• Numbers 6:5A person must not cut his hair during the time that he is a Nazirite. He must be different all the time that he is separate for the Lord. He must let the hair on his head grow long.
• Judges 13:5Yes, you will give birth to a son. You must never cut the boy's hair. He is to be a Nazirite. He will belong to God from the time that he is born. He will begin to rescue the Israelites from the power of the Philistines.’
• Judges 16:17Finally, Samson told her his secret. He said to her, ‘No one has ever cut my hair. Even before I was born, I belonged to God as a Nazirite. If someone cuts off my hair, I would have no more strength. I would become as weak as any other man.’
• 1 Corinthians 9:20When I was among Jews, I lived like they do, because I wanted to bring Jews to Christ. The Law that God gave to Moses no longer has authority over me. But I chose to obey that Law when I was among Jewish people who obey it. I did that so that I could help them to believe in Christ.
• Galatians 2:12When he first arrived in Antioch, Peter had been eating meals with the Gentile believers there. Then James sent some Jewish believers from Jerusalem to Antioch. After those men had arrived, Peter started to keep himself separate from the Gentiles. He stopped eating meals with them. He was afraid of those Jews who wanted to circumcise the Gentile believers.

Commentaries on Acts 21:24

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 24Be at charges with them - Or, rather, be at charges for them: help them to bear the expense of that vow. Eight lambs, four rams, besides oil, flour, etc., were the expenses on this occasion. See the notes on Numbers 6:1-21 (note). Thou - walkest orderly and keepest the law - Perhaps this advice meant no more than, Show them, by such means as are now in thy power, that thou art not an enemy to Moses; that thou dost still consider the law to be holy, and…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 24Them take - Take with you. Join yourself with them. And purify thyself with them - Join them in observing the forms of purification prescribed by the Law of Moses in the observance of the vow of the Nazarite. The purifying here refers to the vows of sanctity which the Nazarites were to observe. They were to abstain from wine and strong drink; they were to eat no grapes, moist or dried; they were to come near no dead body, nor to make themselves “unclean”…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 21:24

• Bigotry
• Diplomacy
• Fraternity
• Head
• Judaism
• Law
• Meekness
• Opinion, Public
• Paul
• Prudence
• Purification
• Tact

In the dictionaries

• Appeal
• Baldness
• Discover
• James
• John
• Nazarite
• Ready
• Unlade
• Acts of the Apostles
• Andrew

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