Chapter 21
[Acts 21:8] -- And entering the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him, etc. For the initial duty of preaching, he deserved to be called an evangelist, although all performed this task. This house and his daughters remained in the same city for a long time afterward. Indeed, Jerome also mentions him in the History of Saint Paula, when he described her coming to Caesarea: "In which (he says) she saw the house of Cornelius as the church of Christ, and the small houses of Philip and the room of the four virgin prophetesses."
[Acts 21:25] -- About those who believed from among the Gentiles, we wrote judging that they abstain from idols, sacrifices, etc. In Greek, it is more clearly stated: About those who believed among men, we wrote judging that they observe no such thing, except they keep themselves from things sacrificed to idols, etc. Therefore, at that time, Jewish believers in Christ were not prohibited from entering according to the custom of the law, since the temple and their religion still stood, although they would find salvation in the sacraments of the New Testament alone; but those who believed from the Gentiles and were instructed in the sacraments of the Gospel were prohibited from turning to accept the sacraments of the law. However, they were urged to diligently observe those commandments of the law which pertain to the training of morals and the purification of the heart, such as: You shall not covet (Rom. VII). This fourth apostolic synod was held in Jerusalem. The first was concerning the election of the twelfth apostle in place of Judas, the second about the election of the seven deacons, the third about circumcision so that it would not be imposed on Gentile believers, and this fourth one concerning Jewish believers at that time so that they would not be prohibited, where necessity required, from being initiated into the legal ceremonies, to avoid the offense of those who thought they had condemned the decrees of Moses as idolatrous doctrines, which they had also been accustomed to do previously, as proven most notably by the circumcision of Timothy.
[Acts 21:34] -- He ordered him to be taken into the camp. And in this place, and in this whole narration, wherever the name of the camp is positioned, it must be taught that it is placed in the singular in Greek: for this reason the Latin interpreter preferred to place it in the plural, lest, if he placed it in the singular, the sense of the reader would be carried far elsewhere, and instead of the assembly of the army and soldiers, a fortified place would be understood. So also in the Psalm where it is said: And they fell in the midst of their camps; in Greek παραβολὴ is written in the singular number.
[Acts 21:35] -- When he reached the steps, it happened that he was carried, and the rest. The steps signify not the descent from the temple, but the ascent into the camp. This is clear from the Greek, where ἀναβαθμὸς, not καταβαθμός: that is, it has ascent, not descent.
[Acts 21:39] -- I am indeed a man, a Jew from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. For 'citizen' some Codices have 'municipate,' which is translated from one Greek word πολίτης, derived from the name of the city, which in Greek is called πόλις. Whence that which the Apostle says: But our conversation is in heaven (Philippians III), some have interpreted: But our citizenship is in heaven. And Jerome, writing to Heliodorus, put it thus: "For he wanted no other citizenship to be understood, than a civil conversation, which in Greek is called πολίτευμα."