And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying:
We have here Paul brought into a captivity which we are not likely to see the end of; for after this he is either hurried from one bar to another, or lies neglected, first in one prison and then in another, and can neither be tried nor bailed. When we see the beginning of a trouble, we know not either how long it will last or how it will issue.
Commenting on Acts 21:27-40
And when he had given him licence,.... To speak to the people, which he could not well deny him, after he had so freely declared who he was, and in so courteous a manner addressed him, and asked leave of him: Paul stood on the stairs; on the steps of the ascent to the castle, on the top of them: and beckoned with the hand...
Verse 40. License. Liberty; permission. On the stairs. . Beckoned with the hand. Waving the hand as a sign that he was about to address them, and to produce silence and attention. See . 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.