But Paul answered, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Now I beg you to allow me to speak to the people.”
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
Paul was no Egyptian impostor but a Jew born and bred, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a city of real standing, celebrated by the ancients as free and opulent, through which the river Cydnus ran. His claim to speak rested on honest citizenship and Jewish birth alike.
AI summary
Paul could claim honest birth; Tarsus was no backwater but a seat of learning that rivaled Alexandria and Athens themselves. When he calls it no mean city, he speaks plain truth about where he came from.
AI summary