Passage

Acts 18.21

Book: Acts · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

19. And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. 20. And when they asked him to abide a longer time, he consented not;

21. but taking his leave of them, and saying, I will return again unto you if God will, he set sail from Ephesus.

And when he had landed at Cæsarea, he went up and saluted the church, and went down to Antioch. 23. And having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples. (Acts 18:19-23, ASV)

WEB

19. He came to Ephesus, and he left them there; but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. 20. When they asked him to stay with them a longer time, he declined;

21. but taking his leave of them, and saying, “I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return again to you if God wills,” he set sail from Ephesus.

When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the assembly, and went down to Antioch. 23. Having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples. (Acts 18:19-23, WEB)

KJV

19. And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. 20. When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not;

21. But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.

And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch. 23. And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples. (Acts 18:19-23, KJV)

YLT

19. and he came down to Ephesus, and did leave them there, and he himself having entered into the synagogue did reason with the Jews: 20. and they having requested [him] to remain a longer time with them, he did not consent,

21. but took leave of them, saying, 'It behoveth me by all means the coming feast to keep at Jerusalem, and again I will return unto you, God willing.' And he sailed from Ephesus,

and having come down to Caesarea, having gone up, and having saluted the assembly, he went down to Antioch. 23. And having made some stay he went forth, going through in order the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. (Acts 18:19-23, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the narrator of Acts, traditionally Luke
Audience: Theophilus (Acts 1:1) and the reader
Location: Ephesus, the leading city of the Roman province of Asia
Time period: c. AD 52, at the end of Paul's second missionary journey

Theological reading

"But taking his leave of them, and saying, I will return again unto you if God will, he set sail from Ephesus." The Jews of the Ephesian synagogue had asked Paul to stay longer, and he declined (18:20).

A promise under God's will. Paul says he will return, but only "if God will" (Strong's G2316, G2309). The phrase is not a formality for him. He writes to the Corinthians, "I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will" (1 Corinthians 4:19), and "I hope to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit" (1 Corinthians 16:7). James makes it a rule of Christian speech: "For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall both live, and do this or that" (James 4:15). Paul's plans are real, but he holds them under God's direction, as when the Spirit had earlier stopped him from preaching in Asia at all (16:6).

A textual note. The KJV reads, "I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will." The words about the feast are in the Received Text but are absent from many older manuscripts, which the ASV follows. Verse 22, where Paul "went up and saluted the church," is commonly taken as a visit to Jerusalem on either reading.

The promise kept. Paul does return. "Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus" (19:1), and his stay there becomes the longest of his recorded ministry: three months in the synagogue and two years in the school of Tyrannus, "so that all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord" (19:8-10). See Acts 18.19-21 and Church at Ephesus.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

G4314 - pros, pros, Strong's G4314
G2316 - theos, theos, Strong's G2316

Quoted in

Concepts:

Church at Ephesus, via Acts 18.19-21

Passages:

Acts 18.19-21

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.