Paul visits elders in Jerusalem
Early Church · Draft · BSB
Content revision: 11d94480d680f224 · No editorial review date recorded
Date: c. AD 57–59. Paul spends two years in custody under Felix before Festus succeeds him (Acts 24:27).
Paul reports to James and the elders on what God has done among the Gentiles. To answer rumors that he teaches Jews to abandon the Law, they ask him to join four men in purification rites at the temple, and he agrees.
Primary Scripture
21:18 The next day Paul went in with us to see James, and all the elders were present.
21:19 Paul greeted them and recounted one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
21:20 When they heard this, they glorified 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.
21:21 But they are under the impression that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or observe our customs.
21:22 What then should we do? They will certainly hear that you have come.
21:23 Therefore do what we advise you. There are four men with us who have taken a vow.
21:24 Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is no truth to these rumors about you, but that you also live in obedience to the law.
21:25 As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.”
21:26 So the next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he entered the temple to give notice of the date when their purification would be complete and the offering would be made for each of them.
Location evidence
Event map marker: Identified site; [longitude, latitude] = [35.23494, 31.77744]. This is a teaching marker, not an exact event venue.
Jerusalem: Identified site. Coordinates [longitude, latitude]: [35.23494, 31.77744]. Classification source: rule.
Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire
Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire
Interpretation and reuse
Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.
Record source: theographic (371)
Record source: editorial
Events and places adapted from Theographic Bible Metadata (github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata), CC BY-SA 4.0. This adapted data is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.
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