The Egyptian
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [1]
Egyptian, The . An unnamed leader of the ‘Assassins’ or ‘Sicarii’ for whom Claudius Lysias took St. Paul ( Acts 21:38 ). This man is also mentioned by Josephus as a leader defeated by Felix, but not as connected with the ‘Assassins’ ( Ant . XX. viii. 6). The Egyptian escaped, and Lysias thought that he had secured him in St. Paul’s person. The discrepancies between Josephus and St. Luke here make mutual borrowing improbable. See Theudas.
A. J. Maclean.
Holman Bible Dictionary [2]
Acts 21:38
Such a sizeable following suggests that either an Egyptian Jew or a proselyte to Judaism was the leader of the revolt rather than a pagan Egyptian. The tribune presumed that the Egyptian was a barbarian (unable to speak Greek). This presumption together with Paul's response that he was a Jew of Tarsus, an important city of Cilicia, suggests a rural origin for the Egyptian rebel.
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament [3]
See Assassins.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [4]
ē̇ - jip´shan ( ὁ Αἰγύπτιος , ho Aigúptios ): Mentioned in Acts 21:38 , by Claudius Lysias as having "before these days stirred up to sedition and led out into the wilderness the four thousand men of the Assassins " (which see). Reference to this Egyptian and to the suppression of his rebellion by the procurator Felix is likewise found in Josephus ( Ant. , XX, viii, 6; BJ , II, xiii, 5).
