“What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart?”
The full verse · Acts 21:13 · KJV
, mean to to ? to be , to the of the .
Asked by
Paul: the apostle, on his way to Jerusalem, staying at Caesarea in the house of Philip the evangelist (Acts 21:8)
Asked to
Disciples: "both we, and they of that place" (Acts 21:12), Paul's traveling companions (the "we" of the narrative) and the believers of Caesarea, of whom "certain of the disciples of Caesarea" later went with them (Acts 21:16); after Agabus bound himself with Paul's girdle, they "besought him not to go up to Jerusalem" (Acts 21:11-12).
The Scene
At Caesarea, the prophet Agabus took Paul's girdle, bound his own hands and feet, and said the Jews at Jerusalem would bind Paul and deliver him to the Gentiles, so Paul's companions and the local believers begged him not to go up (Acts 21:10-12).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionPaul's friends loved him and were afraid for him, and their tears were hard for him to bear. His question is not angry. Barnes calls it "A tender and affectionate, but firm reproach," and explains "to break mine heart" as "To afflict me, and distract my mind by alarms." Gill says their tears and pleading "greatly afflicted him." Matthew Henry sees a danger in it: their weeping "began to weaken and slacken his resolution." Paul asked so they would see that their grief was pulling against a course he had already settled before God.
The Response
What Scripture recordsPaul answered his own question in the same breath: "for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." His friends stopped pleading: "And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done" (Acts 21:14). Barnes says, "They were now assured that it was the will of God that he should go." Then they "took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem" (Acts 21:15).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsPaul had been warned before. He told the Ephesian elders that he went "bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem" and that the Holy Ghost witnessed "in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me" (Acts 20:22-23). At Tyre, disciples had also told him "through the Spirit" not to go up (Acts 21:4).
Agabus acted out his message with Paul's girdle (the ESV says "belt"), binding his own hands and feet with it (Acts 21:11). Gill notes that the prospect of bonds was "so far from distressing his mind, and deterring him from his intended journey." Barnes explains "for the name of the Lord Jesus" as "For his sake; in making his name known."
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThis scene shows two kinds of love meeting. Paul's friends loved him and wanted him safe. Paul loved the Lord Jesus and was ready to suffer for His name. Both were sincere, but only one could set the course, and in the end the friends yielded to God: "The will of the Lord be done" (Acts 21:14).
God had told Paul ahead of time what was coming (Acts 20:23), and Agabus's words came true when the chief captain had Paul "bound with two chains" (Acts 21:33). God was not surprised by Paul's suffering. He was leading him through it, and later stood by him and said that as he had testified in Jerusalem, "so must thou bear witness also at Rome" (Acts 23:11).
Look Closer
What did Agabus's action with Paul's girdle show?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Lord, when the people who love me are afraid for me, how can I honor their love and still follow where You are leading?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- Paul's friends wept because they loved him. When has your love for someone made it hard for you to let them obey God?
- Tell about a time when someone's courage in following God strengthened your own faith.
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
Love sometimes wants to keep people safe more than it wants them to obey God. Paul's friends were not wrong to care. But Paul had already heard from God that bonds were waiting (Acts 20:22-23), and he was ready to suffer "for the name of the Lord Jesus."
If someone you love is following God into something costly, you can tell them your fears. In the end, try to say with Paul's friends, "The will of the Lord be done" (Acts 21:14), and walk with them.
This does not mean you should ignore every warning from people who love you. Paul's course was settled by the Spirit's repeated witness, not by stubbornness. Listen to counsel, pray, and then follow what God has made clear.
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