And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:
And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:
And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:
And now, as you see, I am going to Jerusalem, a prisoner in spirit, having no knowledge of what will come to me there:
And now behold, I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:
Now, behold, I go bound by the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there;
And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:
I go bound in the spirit - Δεδεμενος τῳ πνευματι - Either meaning the strong influence of the Divine Spirit upon his mind, or the strong propensity in his own will, wish, and desire, to visit Jerusalem; and in this sense δεειν, to bind, is sometimes used. But it appears more consistent with the mind of the apostle, and with that influence under which we find that he constantly acted, to refer it to the influence of the Holy Ghost; ὑπο του πνευματος, being under the power of that Spirit; as if he had said: "I have now no choice - God has not left me either to the advices of friends, or to my own prudence: the Spirit of God obliges me to go to Jerusalem, and yet does not intimate to me what peculiar trials shall befall me there: I have only the general intimation that, in every city where I proclaim the Gospel, bonds and afflictions await me." This sense of the word Kypke has largely defended in his note here.
Bound in the spirit - Strongly urged or constrained by the influences of the Holy Spirit on my mind. Not by any desire to see the place where my fathers worshipped, and not urged merely by reason, but by the convictions and mighty promptings of the Holy Spirit to do my duty in this case. The expression "bound in the spirit" δεδεμένος τῷ πνεύματι dedemenos tō pneumati is one of great strength and emphasis. The word δέω deō, "to bind," is usually applied to "confinement by cords, fetters, or bands" Matthew 13:30; Matthew 14:3; Matthew 21:2; and then it denotes "any strong obligation" Romans 7:2, or "anything that strongly urges or impels," Matthew 21:2. When we are strongly urged by the convictions of duty, by the influences of the Holy Spirit, we should not shrink from danger or from death. Duty is to be done at all hazards. It is ours to follow the directions of God; results we may safely and confidently leave with him.
Not knowing the things that shall befall me there - He knew that calamities and trials of some kind awaited him Acts 20:23, but he did not know:
(1) Of what particular kind they would be; nor,
(2) Their issue, whether it would be life or death.
We should commit our way unto God, not knowing what trials may be before us in life; but knowing that, if we are found faithful at the post of duty, we have nothing to fear in the result.
20:22 Bound by the Spirit - Strongly impelled by him.