<p>20:22 <i>And now <em>I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem</em></i>- See on 9:14. Consider the following passages in the Spirit's biography of Paul: &quot;Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred within him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry&quot; and therefore he preached to them (Acts 17:16). In Corinth, &quot;Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ&quot; (Acts 18:5). &quot;Now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem&quot; (Acts 20:22) is difficult to divorce from the previous passages. It may be that the Holy Spirit confirmed the desire of Paul's own spirit; but I am tempted to read this as yet one more example of where he felt overwhelmingly compelled to witness. &quot;Paul purposed in the spirit... to go to Jerusalem, saying, after I have been there, I must also see Rome&quot; (Acts 19:21). It was as if his own conscience, developed within him by the word and his experience of the Lord Jesus, compelled him to take the Gospel right to the ends of his world. His ambition for Spain, at a time when most men scarcely travelled 100km. from their birthplace, is just superb (Rom. 15:24,28).</p><p>&quot;Bound in the spirit&quot; implies, grammatically at least, bound in his own spirit. There is therefore the intended contrast with the <em>Holy </em>Spirit, the spirit of <em>God</em>, in :22. The contrast could lead us to think that it was not God's intention that Paul go to suffering and death in Rome via Jerusalem. But Paul bound himself to do this, and his obsession with provoking the Jews resulted in this- when he was surely intended to leave the Jewish ministry to Peter, and focus on being the apostle to the Gentiles.</p><p><em>Not knowing the things that shall befall me there</em>- But the Spirit clearly witnessed about the suffering awaiting him (:23). Maybe Paul meant that he was not recognizing them, and was going to go ahead anyway; or maybe he meant that he accepted the sufferings predicted would happen, but he was unsure what the final outcome would be beyond them. However, he speaks with confidence of taking the Gospel to Jerusalem and Rome, suffering notwithstanding; so I would tend to come down on the side of him reasoning that he doesn't know / recognize these predicted sufferings nor the implied message- that he should not attempt the journey.</p>