Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
I am a man which am a Jew - A periphrasis for, I am a Jew. See the note on Acts 7:2.
Of Tarsus - no mean city - In the notes on Acts 9:11, I have shown that Tarsus was a city of considerable importance, and in some measure a rival to Rome and Athens; and that, because of the services tendered to the Romans by the inhabitants, Julius Caesar endowed them with all the rights and privileges of Roman citizens. When St. Paul calls it no mean city, he speaks a language that was common to those who have had occasion to speak of Tarsus. Xenophon, Cyri Anabas. i., calls it, , a great and flourishing city. Josephus, Ant. lib. i. cap. 6, sec. 6, says that it was ' ̔ , the metropolis and most renowned city among them (the Cilicians.) And Ammianus Marcellinus, xiv. 8, says, Ciliciam Tarsus nobilitat, urbs perspicabilis : "Tarsus, a very respectable city; adorns Cilicia."
Other Adam Clarke entries containing Acts 21:39:
Acts 22:3
Acts 22:28
Acts 22:28
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