'Ac 21:27-36

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The crowd attacks Paul (Ac 21:27-36)

Paul, James and the elders were so busy trying to please the Jerusalem Jews that they may have forgotten Paul’s constant enemies, the Asian Jews (cf. Ac 20:18-19; 2 Cor 1:8).

These were the ones who brought about his downfall. Because they saw him in the streets with a Gentile friend from Ephesus, they accused him (wrongly) of taking the Gentile into a part of the temple where Gentiles were forbidden (Ac 21:27-29).

When a riot broke out, the mob seized Paul and tried to kill him (Ac 21:30-31).

The Roman troops in Jerusalem were well trained to control Jewish riots, and on this occasion only their swift action prevented Paul from being murdered (Ac 21:32).

Lysias, the military commander, had no idea who Paul was or what he had done to make the Jews angry, but he was determined to see him dealt with properly according to Roman law, not by mob violence (Ac 21:33-36).