Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
Licence - Liberty; permission.
On the stairs - See the notes on Acts 21:35.
Beckoned with the hand - Waving the hand as a sign that he was about to address them, and to produce silence and attention. See Acts 12:17.
In the Hebrew tongue - The language which was spoken by the Jews, which was then a mixture of the Chaldee and Syriac, called Syro-Chaldaic. This language he doubtless used on this occasion in preference to the Greek, because it was understood better by the multitude, and would tend to conciliate them if they heard him address them in their own tongue. The following chapter should have been connected with this. The division here is unnatural.
Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Acts 21:40:
Acts 22:2
Acts 26:1
DISCLAIMER: Church of the Great God (CGG) provides these resources to aid the individual in studying the Bible. However, it is up to the individual to "prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21). The content of these resources does not necessarily reflect the views of CGG. They are provided for information purposes only.