Acts 21:20

“And when they heard it, etc.] The narrative of the wonderful spread of the Gospel among the Gentiles, and the numerous conversions of them: they glorified the Lord; or “God”, as the Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions read; as Paul ascribed all to God, so they give the glory of it to him, and in this they were both agreed: and said unto him; perhaps James in the name of them all, and as their mouth: thou seest, brother; for so he was to James, both as a believer, and a minister of the word, and as an apostle: how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; there were many thousands converted at Jerusalem upon the first preaching of the Gospel, after Christ’s…”

“they glorified the Lord, &c.--constrained to justify his course, notwithstanding the Jewish complexion of the Christianity of Jerusalem.”

“They glorified the Lord - They gave praise to the Lord for what he had done. They saw new proofs of his goodness and mercy, and they rendered him thanks for all that had been accomplished. There was no jealousy that it had been done by the instrumentality of Paul. True piety will rejoice in the spread of the gospel, and in the conversion of sinners, by whatever instrumentality it may be effected. Thou seest, brother - The language of tenderness in this address, recognizing Paul as a fellow-laborer and fellow-Christian, implies a wish that Paul would do all that could be done to avoid giving offence, and to conciliate the favor of his countrymen. How many thousands - The number of converts at…”

“They are all zealous for the law - For the whole Mosaic dispensation. How astonishing is this! Did none of the apostles, beside St. Paul, know that this dispensation was now abolished? And if they did both know and testify this, how came their hearers not to believe them? Acts 21:21”

“21:20-25 The Jerusalem church leaders urged Paul to strengthen his credibility by demonstrating that he was not teaching Jews to turn their backs on the laws of Moses. At the same time, no attempt was made to force Jewish rules on Gentile converts—those terms had been set previously (15:22-29) and were simply to be honored.”

“they glorified: Act 4:21, Act 11:18; Psa 22:23, Psa 22:27, Psa 72:17-19, Psa 98:1-3; Isa 55:10-13, Isa 66:9-14; Luk 15:3-10, Luk 15:32; Rom 15:6, Rom 15:7, Rom 15:9-13; Gal 1:24; Th2 1:10; Rev 19:6, Rev 19:7 how: Act 2:41, Act 4:4, Act 6:7; Mat 13:31-33; Joh 12:24 thousands: Luk 12:1 \*Gr. and they: Act 15:1, Act 15:5, Act 15:24, Act 22:3; Rom 10:2; Gal 1:14 Acts 21:21”