Verse Lens · Context pointer
Acts 18:21 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 21. 21But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Gives Paul's conditional promise to return while he sails from Ephesus.
Read It With
- Acts 18:18–18:23
Acts 18:21 gives Paul's conditional promise to return while he sails from Ephesus; within Acts 18:18–18:23, the controlling movement is that Paul departs with Priscilla and Aquila, cuts his hair because of a vow, reasons briefly at Ephesus, returns through Caesarea and Antioch, and begins strengthening disciples across Galatia and Phrygia.
Why It Needs Context
Gives Paul's conditional promise to return while he sails from Ephesus. Its responsible force depends on the full sequence, speaker, narrator framing, and outcome of Acts 18:18–18:23; it is connective evidence rather than a complete standalone teaching.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Acts 18:18–18:23 — A vow, brief return, and new journey connect the missionsSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and unit coverage.
Exact location: Acts 18:18–18:23, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control, without pretending one edition is a complete apparatus.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text, Acts 18:18-18:23
Open the Acts Greek text file ↗