Acts 21:36

Study note

Setting — The narrative describes the hostile crowd pursuing Paul as Roman soldiers escort him up the city steps. The mob directs its shouts toward Paul while the military commander prepares to move him into the barracks.

The words — The Greek κρᾴζοντες (krazontes) translates to crying out or shouting, while αἶρε (aire) means away or remove. These terms capture the relentless vocal aggression of the pursuing multitude.

The thread — This identical crowd cry appears in John 19:15, Luke 23:18, and Acts 22:22 as a recurring pattern of popular rejection. The phrase marks moments when institutional authority yields to mob pressure against a condemned figure.

Why it lands — The verse requires a reader to observe how quickly collective hostility escalates when focused on a single target. It demands recognition of mob dynamics without offering moral justification or narrative comfort.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.