And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;

And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;

And not finding them, they drew Jason and certain brethren to the rulers of the city, crying: They that set the city in an uproar, are come hither also;

and not having found them, dragged Jason and certain brethren before the politarchs, crying out, These men that have set the world in tumult, are come here also,

and not having found them, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the city rulers, calling aloud, 'These, having put the world in commotion, are also here present,

And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brothers to the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come here also;

But, failing to find them, they dragged Jason and some of the other brethren before the magistrates of the city, loudly accusing them. "These men," they said, "who have raised a tumult throughout the Empire, have come here also.

And when they were not able to get them, they took Jason and some of the brothers by force before the rulers of the town, crying, These men, who have made trouble all over the world have now come here;

And when they had not found them, they dragged Jason and certain brothers to the rulers of the city, crying out: "For these are the ones who have stirred up the city. And they came here,

and, not finding them there, they proceeded to drag Jason and some of the Lord's followers before the city magistrates, shouting out, "These men, who have turned the world upside down, have now come here,

Those men who have troubled the whole world. This is the state of the gospel, to have those uproars which Satan raiseth imputeth to it. This is also the malicousness of the enemies of Christ, to lay the blame of tumults upon holy and modest teachers, which they themselves procure. Assuredly, the gospel is not preached to this end that it may set men together by the ears; [1] but rather that it may keep them in peace, being reconciled to God. When Christ doth meekly will us [2] there to come unto him, Satan and the wicked rage; [3] therefore, Paul and Silas might easily have defended themselves; but it was requisite for them to suffer this false slander for a time; and so long as they were not heard, to put it up quietly. And the Lord meant by their example to teach us, that we must not give place to slanders and false reports; but we must stand stoutly in maintaining the truth, being ready to hear evil for things done well. Wherefore, away with the perverse wisdom of some, who, to the end they may escape false slanders, cease [hesitate] not to betray Christ and his gospel through their treacherous moderation, as though their good name were more precious than Paul's and such like, yea, than the sacred name of God, which is not free from blasphemies.

Footnotes

1 - "Ut homines ad mutuous conflictus accendat," that it may inflame men to mutual conflict.

2 - "Ad se benigne invitet," benignity invite us to himself.

3 - "Tumultuanture," make a tumult.

These that have turned the world upside down - That have excited commotion and disturbance in other places. The charge has been often brought against the gospel that it has been the occasion of confusion and disorder.

These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also - The very character our forefathers had for preaching that Gospel, in every part of the land, by which the nation has been illuminated, the mob disciplined into regularity and order, and the kingdom established in the hands of the best of monarchs.

And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the (b) world upside down are come hither also;
(b) Into whatever country and place they come, they cause sedition and tumult.

And when they found them not,.... In Jason's house, as they expected:
they drew Jason, and certain brethren: the Syriac version adds, "who were there": in Jason's house, who either came along with the apostle, and lodged with him there; or they were some of the inhabitants of Thessalonica, who were lately converted, and were come thither in order to have some Christian conversation; these with Jason the rabble seized on, and in a rude and violent manner dragged them out of the house, and had them,
unto the rulers of the city: the civil magistrates, the judges in courts of judicature, to which some of these belonged;
crying in a very noisy and clamorous way;
these that have turned the world upside down: the Syriac version reads, "the whole earth": the apostles, according to the cry of these men, had thrown the whole world into disorder, and had made disturbances in kingdoms and cities, wherever they came; and had made innovations in religion, and turned men from their old way of worship to another; these; say they,
are come hither also; to make the like disorders and disturbances, as elsewhere.

And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers--literally, "the politarchs"; the very name given to the magistrates of Thessalonica in an inscription on a still remaining arch of the city--so minute is the accuracy of this history.
crying, These that have turned the world upside down--(See on Acts 16:20).