The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.
30. And the city was moved. We see in this place the vanity of the common people, which count Paul a condemned man before ever they hear him. Whereas the city is moved about godliness, “Quod tumultuatur civitas in negotio pietatis,” that the city is in a tumult in a matter relating to godliness.
Paul seized in the very temple where he ought to have been safe, where his blood nearly mingles with the sacrifices themselves. The informers were Jews of Asia, men who lived abroad in pursuit of gain, yet now they appear zealous for a sanctuary they habitually neglected, profaning with their own hands the place they pretend to guard.
AI summary
Commenting on Acts 21:27-40
And all the city was moved, and the people ran together,.... The outcry in the temple reached the ears of some that were without, and these alarmed others; so that the report of a disturbance in the temple soon went through the whole city; and brought people out of their houses, who ran together in great numbers, to see what was the matter: and they...