‘Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” '
But Paul rebuked them. He knew that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and told them that their pleas were just making it harder for him. Indeed that their weeping was breaking his heart. But he wanted them to know that it was the Lord's will, and that he was ready, not only to be bound at Jerusalem (which was what was prophesied), but also if necessary to die there. Neither he nor they realised the opportunities that his being bound would give him to testify before rulers, and to proclaim the word freely in Rome. Indeed in view of the hatred for Paul among the Jews, who were out to kill him, it may be that being in a kind of gentle captivity was the safest place from which to carry on his ministry.