Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 21:4

"And having found the disciples, we tarried there seven days: and these said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not set foot in Jerusalem." — Acts 21:4 (ASV)

Paul and company sailed the four hundred miles from Patara to Tyre, the famous Phoenician seaport of Syria. A church had been established at Tyre through the witness of the Christian Hellenists forced to leave Jerusalem at the time of Stephen’s martyrdom (cf. 11:19). While the ship was unloading, Paul had fellowship with the believers there for a week, who tried to dissuade him “through the Spirit” from going on to Jerusalem. This phrase most likely means that the Spirit’s message, given through a Christian prophet, was the occasion for the believers’ concern because they knew what lay in store for him (cf. vv.10– 15).