Show Bible Commentary For A Bible Verse

Click here to show/hide instructions.

Selected Verse: Acts 21:39 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
Ac 21:39	King James	But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

Open All | Close All Open All | Close All

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
a citizen of no mean city--(See on Act 16:37).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

a citizen of no mean city--(See on Act 16:37).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
A Jew of Tarsus - A Jew by birth. Of no mean city - Not obscure, or undistinguished. He could claim an honorable birth, so far as the place of his nativity was concerned. See the notes on Act 9:11. Tarsus was much celebrated for its learning, and was at one time the rival of Alexandria and Athens. Xenophon calls it a great and flourishing city. Josephus (Antiq., book 2, chapter 6, section 6) says that it was the metropolis, and most renowned city among them (the Cilicians).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

A Jew of Tarsus - A Jew by birth.

Of no mean city - Not obscure, or undistinguished. He could claim an honorable birth, so far as the place of his nativity was concerned. See the notes on Act 9:11. Tarsus was much celebrated for its learning, and was at one time the rival of Alexandria and Athens. Xenophon calls it a great and flourishing city. Josephus (Antiq., book 2, chapter 6, section 6) says that it was the metropolis, and most renowned city among them (the Cilicians).

Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886]
Mean (ἀσήμου) Lit., without a mark or token (σῆμα). Hence used of uncoined gold or silver: of oracles which give no intelligible response: of inarticulate voices: of disease without distinctive symptoms. Generally, as here, undistinguished, mean. There is a conscious feeling of patriotism in Paul's expression.

Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886]

Mean (ἀσήμου)

Lit., without a mark or token (σῆμα). Hence used of uncoined gold or silver: of oracles which give no intelligible response: of inarticulate voices: of disease without distinctive symptoms. Generally, as here, undistinguished, mean. There is a conscious feeling of patriotism in Paul's expression.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
I am a man which am a Jew - A periphrasis for, I am a Jew. See the note on Act 7:2. Of Tarsus - no mean city - In the notes on Act 9:11, I have shown that Tarsus was a city of considerable importance, and in some measure a rival to Rome and Athens; and that, because of the services tendered to the Romans by the inhabitants, Julius Caesar endowed them with all the rights and privileges of Roman citizens. When St. Paul calls it no mean city, he speaks a language that was common to those who have had occasion to speak of Tarsus. Xenophon, Cyri Anabas. i., calls it, πολιν μεγαλην και ευδαιμονα, a great and flourishing city. Josephus, Ant. lib. i. cap. 6, sec. 6, says that it was παρ' αυτοις των πολεων ἡ αξιολογωτατη μητροπολις ουσα, the metropolis and most renowned city among them (the Cilicians.) And Ammianus Marcellinus, xiv. 8, says, Ciliciam Tarsus nobilitat, urbs perspicabilis: "Tarsus, a very respectable city; adorns Cilicia."

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826

I am a man which am a Jew - A periphrasis for, I am a Jew. See the note on Act 7:2.

Of Tarsus - no mean city - In the notes on Act 9:11, I have shown that Tarsus was a city of considerable importance, and in some measure a rival to Rome and Athens; and that, because of the services tendered to the Romans by the inhabitants, Julius Caesar endowed them with all the rights and privileges of Roman citizens. When St. Paul calls it no mean city, he speaks a language that was common to those who have had occasion to speak of Tarsus. Xenophon, Cyri Anabas. i., calls it, πολιν μεγαλην και ευδαιμονα, a great and flourishing city. Josephus, Ant. lib. i. cap. 6, sec. 6, says that it was παρ' αυτοις των πολεων ἡ αξιολογωτατη μητροπολις ουσα, the metropolis and most renowned city among them (the Cilicians.) And Ammianus Marcellinus, xiv. 8, says, Ciliciam Tarsus nobilitat, urbs perspicabilis: "Tarsus, a very respectable city; adorns Cilicia."

Top