And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.
And the night following - his heart perhaps sinking in the solitude of his barrack-ward, and thinking, perhaps, that all the predictions of danger at Jerusalem were now to be fulfilled in his death there,
The Lord - THE LORD JESUS, his glorified but ever present Master,
Stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, [Paul]. (This bracketed word is clearly not genuine.)
For as thou hast testified of me, [diemarturoo (G1263) ta ( G3588 ) peri (G4012 ) Emou (G1700 )] - 'as thou hast thoroughly testified the things concerning Me.' In this emphatic sense of 'thorough testimony,' the same compound word is used in Acts 20:21; Acts 20:24 (on which see).
In Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome - q.d., 'Thy work in Jerusalem is done, faithfully and well; but thou art not to die here; thy purpose, next to "see Rome" (Acts 19:21 ), shall not be disappointed, and there also must thou bear witness of Me. As this vision was not unneeded now, so we shall find it cheering and upholding him throughout all that befell him up to his arrival there. A Conspiracy to Assassinate Paul is Providentially Discovered, and Made Known to the Tribune (23:12-21)