Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Acts 23:21 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 21. 21But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Asks the commander not to yield because the ambush is ready.
Read It With
- Acts 23:12–23:22
Acts 23:21 asks the commander not to yield because the ambush is ready; within Acts 23:12–23:22, the controlling movement is that More than forty men bind themselves not to eat until killing Paul, enlist leaders in a deceptive request, but Paul's sister's son hears and reports the plot through Paul to the commander.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Asks the commander not to yield because the ambush is ready. This precise contribution belongs inside “A murder oath is exposed through Paul's nephew” because More than forty men bind themselves not to eat until killing Paul, enlist leaders in a deceptive request, but Paul's sister's son hears and reports the plot through Paul to the commander.
What Remains True
Because Acts 23:21 asks the commander not to yield because the ambush is ready, faithful witness must preserve the verse's speaker, narrated setting, people affected, and the full movement of Acts 23:12–23:22 before drawing an enduring claim.
How It Can Shape Life
- For Acts 23:21, first identify this verse role—asks the commander not to yield because the ambush is ready; then explain the contextual meaning in Acts 23:12–23:22; preserve the proportionate truth about accountable witness; finally apply this boundary: The plot does not authorize antisemitism, retaliatory violence, or erasure of unnamed family members and informants.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Acts 23:12–23:22 — A murder oath is exposed through Paul's nephewSources used for this Verse Lens
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 23:12–23:22, 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 23:12-23:22
Open the Acts Greek text file ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Morphology and lexical cross-check for words explicitly discussed in this unit.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data, TAGNT rows for Acts 23:12-23:22
Open source ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Acts
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-attached textual, translation, language, geography, chronology, and historical notes actually printed for the unit.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Acts PDF, printed pp. 2104-2205, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to 23:12–23:22
Open source ↗