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Acts 21 General Notes
Structure and formatting
Acts 21:1-19 describes Paul's journey to Jerusalem. After he arrived in Jerusalem, the believers there told him that the Jews wanted to harm him and what he should do so they would not harm him (verses 20-26). Even though Paul did what the believers told him to do, the Jews tried to kill him. The Romans rescued him and gave him a chance to speak to the Jews.
The last verse of the chapter ends with an incomplete sentence. Most translations leave the sentence incomplete, as the ULB does.
Special concepts in this chapter
"They are all determined to keep the law"
The Jews in Jerusalem were following the law of Moses. Even those who were following Jesus still kept the law. Both groups thought that Paul had been telling Jews in Greece not to keep the law. But it was only the Gentiles to whom Paul was saying that.
Nazarite vow
The vow that Paul and his three friends made was probably a Nazarite vow, because they shaved their heads (Acts 21:23).
Gentiles in the temple
The Jews accused Paul of bringing a Gentile man into a part of the temple into which God only allowed Jews to go. They thought that God wanted them to punish Paul by killing him. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/holy)
Roman citizenship
The Romans thought that they needed to treat only Roman citizens justly. They could do as they desired with people who were not Roman citizens, but they had to obey the law with other Romans. Some people were born Roman citizens, and others gave money to the Roman government so they could become Roman citizens.