Acts 19:21 - Exposition

Now after for offer, A.V. Purposed in the spirit ( ἔθετο ἐν τῷ πνεύματι ); literally, set, fixed, or arranged it in his spirit, like the Hebrew phrase, בלֵבְ מוּשּׂ , in 1 Samuel 12:1-25 , etc. Similarly of past things, Luke 1:66 , ἔθεντο πάντες … ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν , "laid them up in their hearts "(comp. Acts 5:4 ). When he had passed through Macedonia , etc. Observe the constant solicitude of Paul to revisit the Churches which he had founded, so as to confirm the disciples in the faith and to consolidate his work ( Acts 14:21 ; Acts 15:36 ; Acts 16:6 ; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5 , etc.). It marks the unrivalled tenderness of his heart toward the disciples. Observe also the insatiable appetite of the apostle for spiritual conquests, and his noble contempt for idleness. He has but just won Ephesus and Asia, and already he undertakes Macedonia and Achaia. Nor does his mind stop there, but reaches on to Jerusalem, then stretches onwards to Rome, and meditates the invasion of Spain. Truly neither Alexander, nor Caesar, nor any hero of antiquity was a match for this little Benjamite ( paulus ) in the magnanimity of his designs (Bengel).