Note 7 at Ac 21:38: Josephus wrote of this incident to which the chief captain is referring. He said an Egyptian whose name was not known led an attack on Jerusalem. He had caused the people to believe that if they would help him attack the Romans that the walls of Jerusalem would fall down flat. The Romans defeated this group, killing 400 and taking 200 prisoner. The Egyptian escaped and was never found (The Antiquities of the Jews, Book 20, Chapter 8, Section 6).

Although Josephus spoke of this Egyptian leading 30,000 men, and Luke recorded the chief captain as mentioning only 4,000, most scholars consider this an error on some scribe's part in copying Josephus' work. The Greek symbol for "4," "delta," and "lambda," the symbol for "30," are very similar. Also the casualties reflect an army the size of 4,000 more closely than an army of 30,000 (Adam Clarke's Commentary).