Acts 21:33
What does Acts 21:33 mean?
A plain-English look at Acts 21:33 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Acts 21:33 means
The chief captain seizes Paul and orders him bound with two chains, asking who he is and what he has done. The Roman seeks facts amid chaos. For Paul, this is the moment Agabus foretold: bound by Jewish instigation and delivered to Gentile control. The chains do not mean God has abandoned him; they are the path by which the gospel will reach new ears. The inquiry begins a series of hearings where Paul will confess Christ before rulers. Earthly authority binds Paul, yet Christ’s commission remains unbound. The apostle’s identity and mission will soon be declared on the very steps of detention.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Then the chief captain came near, and laid hold on him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and inquired who he was, and what he had done.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Then the chief captain came near, and laid hold on him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and inquired who he was, and what he had done.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Then the chief captain came near and took him, and gave orders for him to be put in chains, questioning them as to who he was and what he had done.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Then the chief captain, having come nigh, took him, and commanded <FI>him<Fi> to be bound with two chains, and was inquiring who he may be, and what it is he hath been doing,
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Then the tribune, coming near, took him and commanded him to be bound with two chains: and demanded who he was and what he had done.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Then the chiliarch came up and laid hold upon him, and commanded [him] to be bound with two chains, and inquired who he might be, and what he had done.
Context
This verse follows the soldiers’ arrival and the crowd’s cessation of beating (verse 32). The binding marks the transition from mob justice to Roman process. Verse 34 highlights the commander’s inability to discern the truth from the conflicting shouts, prompting removal to the castle. Verses 35–36 depict the intensity of the crowd’s hostility, requiring soldiers to carry Paul. The scene prepares for Paul’s surprising request to address the people (verse 37).
v.32And forthwith he took soldiers and centurions, and ran down upon them: and they, when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, left off beating Paul.
v.33This passage
v.34And some shouted one thing, some another, among the crowd: and when he could not know the certainty for the uproar, he commanded him to be brought into the castle.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Acts 26:29
And Paul said, I would to God, that whether with little or with much, not thou only, but also all that hear me this day, might become such as I am, except these bonds.
- Ephesians 6:20
for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
- Acts 22:29
They then that were about to examine him straightway departed from him: and the chief captain also was afraid when he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.
- Acts 21:11
And coming to us, and taking Paul’s girdle, he bound his own feet and hands, and said, Thus saith the Holy Spirit, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.
- 2 Timothy 1:16
The Lord grant mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus: for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain;
- Judges 16:21
And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house.
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