Acts 22

Ac 22:1-30.

PAUL'S

DEFENSE FROM THE

STAIRS OF THE

FORTRESS--THE

RAGE OF THE

AUDIENCE

BURSTING

FORTH, THE

COMMANDANT

HAS

HIM

BROUGHT INTO THE

FORT TO

BE

EXAMINED BY

SCOURGING, BUT

LEARNING THAT

HE

IS A

ROMAN,

HE

ORDERS

HIS

RELEASE AND

COMMANDS THE

SAMHEDRIM TO

TRY

HIM.

2. when they heard . . . the Hebrew tongue--(See on

Ac 21:40).

they kept the more silence--They could have understood him in

Greek, and doubtless fully expected the renegade to address them in

that language, but the sound of their holy mother tongue awed them into

deeper silence.

3. a Jew of Tarsus, brought up in this city, at the

feet--(See on

Lu 10:39).

of Gamaliel--(See on

Ac 5:34);

a fact of great importance in the apostle's history, standing in the

same relation to his future career as Moses' education in the Egyptian

court to the work for which he was destined.

the perfect manner of the law of the fathers--the strictest form of

traditional Judaism.

zealous--"a zealot."

toward God as ye all are this day--his own former murderous zeal

against the disciples of the Lord Jesus being merely reflected in their

present treatment of himself.

4. I persecuted, &c.--(See on

Ac 9:1,2;

Ac 9:5-7).

5. the high priest--still alive.

doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders--the whole

Sanhedrim.

8. Jesus of Nazareth--the Nazarene. See on

Ac 9:5.

9-11. they that were with me--(See on

Ac 9:7,

&c.)

12. Ananias, a devout man, according to the law, having a good report

of all the Jews which dwelt there--One would not know from this

description of Ananias that he was a Christian at all, the apostles

object being to hold him up as unexceptionable, even to the most rigid

Jews.

13-15. The God of our fathers hath chosen thee--studiously linking the

new economy upon the old, as but the sequel of it; both having one

glorious Author.

14. that thou shouldest . . . see that--"the"

Just One--compare

Ac 3:14; 7:52.

hear the voice of his mouth--in order to place him on a level with

the other apostles, who had "seen the [risen] Lord."

16. be baptized and wash away thy sins--This way of speaking arises

from baptism being the visible seal of remission.

calling on the name of the Lord--rather, "having called," that is,

after having done so; referring to the confession of Christ which

preceded baptism, as

Ac 8:37.

17-21. it came to pass, &c.--This thrilling dialogue between the

glorified Redeemer and his chosen vessel is nowhere else related.

when I was come again to Jerusalem--on the occasion mentioned in

Ac 9:26-29.

while I prayed in the temple--He thus calls their attention to the

fact that after his conversion he kept up his connection with the temple

as before.

18. get . . . quickly out of Jerusalem--compare

Ac 9:29.

for they will not receive thy testimony . . . And I said, Lord, they

know, &c.--"Can it be, Lord, that they will resist the testimony of

one whom they knew so well as among the bitterest of all against Thy

disciples, and whom nothing short of resistless evidence could have

turned to Thee?"

21. depart for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles--that is,

"Enough; thy testimony is not to be thrown away upon Jerusalem; the

Gentiles, afar off, are thy peculiar sphere."

22, 23. gave him audience to this word . . . then . . . Away with such

a fellow from the earth, &c.--Their national prejudices lashed into

fury at the mention of a mission to the Gentiles, they would speedily

have done to him as they did to Stephen, but for the presence and

protection of the Roman officer.

24-26. examined by scourging--according to the Roman practice.

that he might know wherefore they cried so--Paul's speech being to

him in an unknown tongue, he concluded from the horror which it kindled

in the vast audience that he must have been guilty of some crime.

25. Paul said to the centurion that stood by--to superintend the

torture and receive the confession expected to be wrung from him.

Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman,

&c.--See on

Ac 16:37.

27-29. art thou a Roman?--showing that this being of Tarsus, which he

had told him before

(Ac 21:39)

did not necessarily imply that he was a Roman citizen.

28. With a great sum obtained I this freedom--Roman citizenship was

bought and sold in the reign of Claudius, we know, at a high price: at a

subsequent date, for next to nothing. But to put in a false claim to

this privilege was a capital crime.

I was free born--born to it, by purchase, or in reward of services,

on the part of his father or some ancestor.

29. chief captain also was afraid, &c.--See on

Ac 16:38.

30. commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear--that

is, the Sanhedrim to be formally convened. Note here the power to order

a Sanhedrim to try this case, assumed by the Roman officers and

acquiesced in on their part.