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Acts 22

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Paul's Defense and Jewish Credentials 1–5

1
Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you. ​
2
(And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) ​
3
I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. ​
4
And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. ​
5
As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. ​

Paul Recounts His Conversion 6–16

6
And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.
7
And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
8
And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
9
And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. ​
10
And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.
11
And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.
12
And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, ​
13
Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
14
And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. ​
15
For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
16
And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. ​

The Temple Vision and Gentile Commission 17–21

17
And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; ​
18
And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.
19
And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:
20
And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. ​
21
And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. ​

The Crowd's Fury; Paul Claims Roman Rights 22–30

22
And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live. ​
23
And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air,
24
The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. ​
25
And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? ​
26
When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman.
27
Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea.
28
And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. ​
29
Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.
30
On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Acts 22

Verse 1

Men, brethren, and fathers — The address Stephen used before the council (Acts 7:2), the ‘fathers’ being the elders among the hearers. ‘Defence’ is apologia, a reasoned answer to a charge, the word of 2 Tim 4:16, ‘At my first answer’, and of 1 Pet 3:15, ‘ready always to give an answer’.

Verse 2

in the Hebrew tongue — The language Paul had used on the stairs (Acts 21:40), and the one in which Christ spoke to him on the road (Acts 26:14). ‘Silence’ is hesychia, quietness, the noun of 2 Thess 3:12, ‘with quietness they work’. The captain had taken him for the Egyptian who led murderers into the wilderness (Acts 21:38).

Verse 3

at the feet of Gamaliel — Gamaliel was ‘a Pharisee… a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people’ (Acts 5:34), the man who advised the council to leave the apostles alone. Paul was born in Tarsus, as this verse says, and ‘brought up in this city’, Jerusalem. ‘Zealous’ (zelotes) is the word of Gal 1:14, ‘more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers’.

Verse 4

this way — ‘The way’ is the name Scripture gives to the believers in Christ: ‘any of this way’ (Acts 9:2), ‘spake evil of that way’ (Acts 19:9), ‘after the way which they call heresy’ (Acts 24:14). The persecution reached ‘both men and women’, as Luke recorded in Acts 8:3 and Acts 9:2.

Verse 5

all the estate of the elders — ‘Estate of the elders’ is presbyterion, the council of elders, the word of Luke 22:66 and of ‘the presbytery’ in 1 Tim 4:14. Paul had ‘desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues’ (Acts 9:2), and here the high priest and the elders are named as witnesses to the commission.

Verse 9

they heard not the voice of him that spake to me — The companions ‘stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man’ (Acts 9:7). They heard a sound, and the words were addressed to Paul alone (Acts 26:14). The men with Daniel likewise ‘saw not the vision’ while he did (Dan 10:7), and a quaking fell on them.

Verse 12

a devout man according to the law — In Acts 9:10 Ananias is ‘a certain disciple at Damascus’. To this audience Paul describes him as law-keeping and well spoken of by ‘all the Jews which dwelt there’. ‘Devout’ is eusebes, godly, the word used of Cornelius in Acts 10:2.

Verse 14

that Just One — Dikaios, righteous, a title for Christ in the preaching of Acts: ‘ye denied the Holy One and the Just’ (Acts 3:14), and ‘the coming of the Just One’ (Acts 7:52). What Ananias lists, to know his will, see the Just One and hear his voice, grounds the witness of v.15, ‘of what thou hast seen and heard’.

Verse 16

wash away thy sins — Apolouo, to wash off, occurs only here and in 1 Cor 6:11, ‘ye are washed’. ‘Calling on the name of the Lord’ carries the promise quoted at Pentecost, ‘whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved’ (Acts 2:21), and Peter’s call to ‘be baptized’ in Acts 2:38.

Verse 17

in a trance — Ekstasis, the word of Peter’s vision on the housetop (Acts 10:10; 11:5). The return to Jerusalem is the visit of Acts 9:26 (cf. Gal 1:18). The Lord appeared to Paul as he prayed in the temple (v.18), the same temple where he is now accused of bringing in Greeks (Acts 21:28).

Verse 20

thy martyr Stephen — ‘Martyr’ is martys, witness, the word of v.15, ‘thou shalt be his witness unto all men’. Paul was present at Stephen’s death: ‘the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul’ (Acts 7:58). ‘Consenting’ (syneudokeo) is the word of Acts 8:1.

Verse 21

I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles — Exapostello, to send out, a compound of the verb behind ‘apostle’. The commission matches Acts 9:15, ‘a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles’, and Acts 26:17, ‘unto whom now I send thee’. Paul reports it as the Lord’s own word.

Verse 22

and then lifted up their voices — The hearing lasted ‘unto this word’, the mention of the Gentiles in v.21. Their cry, ‘Away with such a fellow from the earth’, echoes ‘Away with him’ in Acts 21:36 and the cry at Pilate’s judgment, ‘Away with him, away with him, crucify him’ (John 19:15).

Verse 24

examined by scourging — Anetazo, to examine by questioning, occurs only here and in v.29. The captain had not been able to ‘know the certainty for the tumult’ (Acts 21:34), and a second outcry had followed Paul’s speech (vv.22–23). Paul’s question in v.25 stops the examination before it begins.

Verse 25

a Roman, and uncondemned — Paul named the same two facts at Philippi: ‘They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans’ (Acts 16:37). The soldiers were binding him ‘with thongs’ (himas, straps) for the scourging. His question to the centurion carries the answer, and the centurion carries it to the captain (v.26).

Verse 28

With a great sum obtained I this freedom — ‘Freedom’ is politeia, citizenship, found elsewhere only in Eph 2:12, ‘the commonwealth of Israel’. The captain bought it (‘sum’ is kephalaion, found elsewhere only in Heb 8:1). Paul answers, ‘I was free born’, claiming it by birth, and the men who were to examine him ‘departed’ at once (v.29).

Verse 30

he loosed him from his bands — The captain wanted ‘the certainty’ (asphales) of the charge, the word of Acts 21:34 and of Acts 25:26, ‘no certain thing to write’. He ‘commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear’. His letter to Felix says, ‘I brought him forth into their council’ (Acts 23:28).