Acts 22:22

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. 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 _ , [katheeken (_ G2520), in the imperfect-`was not fit,' has decisive authority; katheeken has hardly any: it is a mixture of the direct and indirect way of reporting a speech: but it is needless to follow this in the translation] That he should live. 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. The profanation of the temple by the presence of Gentiles seemed nothing to Gentiles being deliberately placed on a level in rel...

− 22._Away with such a fellow. _Luke showeth here how outrageously Paul’s sermon was interrupted. For they do not only oppress him with their crying, but they desire to have him put to death; where it doth also plainly appear how frenzy [frenzied] pride is. The Jews conceived so great good liking of themselves, that they did not only despise all the whole world in comparison of themselves, but they stood also more stoutly in defense of their own dignity than of the law itself, as if all religion did consist in this, that Abraham’s stock might excel all other mortal men. So now they rage against and rail upon Paul, because he said that he was sent to be the apostle of the Gentiles; as if God were bound by his own liberality to suffer the contempt of his power − (518) in the wicked and unthankful, on whom he bestowed excellent graces above all other. And it is no marvel if there were such...

22-30 The Jews listened to Paul's account of his conversion, but the mention of his being sent to the Gentiles, was so contrary to all their national prejudices, that they would hear no more. Their frantic conduct astonished the Roman officer, who supposed that Paul must have committed some great crime. Paul pleaded his privilege as a Roman citizen, by which he was exempted from all trials and punishments which might force him to confess himself guilty. The manner of his speaking plainly shows what holy security and serenity of mind he enjoyed. As Paul was a Jew, in low circumstances, the Roman officer questioned how he obtained so valuable a distinction; but the apostle told him he was free born. Let us value that freedom to which all the children of God are born; which no sum of money, however large, can purchase for those who remain unregenerate. This at once put a stop to his troubl...

Verse Acts 22:22. _THEY GAVE HIM AUDIENCE UNTO THIS WORD_] Namely, that God had sent him to the Gentiles: not that they refused to preach the _law_ to the Gentiles, and make them proselytes; for this they were fond of doing, so that our Lord says, _they compassed sea and_ _land to make a proselyte_; but they understood the apostle as stating that God had rejected _them_, and called the _Gentiles_ to be his _peculiar people_ in _their place_; and this they could not bear. _AWAY WITH SUCH A_ fellow] According to the law of Moses, he who attempted to seduce the people to any strange worship was to be _stoned_, Deuteronomy 13:15. The Jews wished to insinuate that the apostle was guilty of this crime, and that therefore he should be

AND THEY GAVE HIM AUDIENCE - They heard him patiently. UNTO THIS WORD - The word “Gentile.” AWAY WITH SUCH A FELLOW - Greek: “take such a man from the earth,” that is, “put him to death.” It is language of strong indignation and abhorrence. The reasons of their induction were, not that they supposed that the Gentiles could not be brought into covenant with God, for they would themselves compass sea and land to make one proselyte, but: * That they believed that Paul taught that they might be saved without conforming to the Law of Moses; and, * His speech implied that the Jews were more hardened than the Gentiles, and that he had a greater prospect of success in bringing them to God than he had in regard to the Jews....

EXPOSITION ACTS 22:1 _Brethren _for _men, brethren, _A.V. (Acts 7:2, note); the for my, A.V.; _now make _for _make now, _A.V. THE DEFENSE; ἀπολογία This is the technical word in classical Greek for a defense in answer to an accusation. Thus e.g. the oration of Gorgias entitled, Υπὲρ Παλαμήδους ἀπολογία,_ _begins, Ἡ μὲν κατηγορία καὶ ἡ ἀπολογία κρίσις οὐ περὶ θανάτου γίγνεται. And Demosthenes opposes κατηγρσεῖν to accuse, to ἀπολογεῖσθαι, to make one's defense. And an ἀπολογία δικαία καὶ ἁπλῆ is to prove that τὰ κατηγορημένα, "the things of which the person is accused," were never done. But it is probably from St. Paul's use of the word here that it became common to call the defenses of the Christian religi

AND THEY GAVE HIM AUDIENCE UNTO THIS WORD..... The Ethiopic version reads, "and I heard him so speaking unto me"; as if it was to be understood of the apostle hearing Christ speaking to him concerning his mission to the Gentiles; whereas the words refer to the Jews attending quietly to the apostle, till he came to that part of his oration. They heard him patiently, and did not offer to molest him, or hinder his speaking, and being heard, till he came to mention his mission to the Gentiles: all the rest they either did not understand, or looked upon it as an idle tale, as the effect of madness and enthusiasm, at least as containing things they had nothing to do with; but when he came to speak of the Gentiles, and to pretend to a divine mission to them, this they could not bear; for nothing was more offensive, irritating, and provoking to them, than to hear of the calling of the Gentiles,...

CHAPTER 22 _ 1. The Address of the Apostle (Acts 22:1)._ 2. The Answer from the Mob, and Paul's Appeal to His Roman citizenship (Acts 22:22). What a scene it was! On the stairs, midway between the temple-court and the fortress, stood the Apostle in chains, his person showing the effects of the beating he had received. Around him were the well-armed Roman soldiers, and below the multitude, with up-turned faces, still wildly gesticulating and only becoming more silent when they heard the first words from Paul's lips in the Hebrew tongue. He relates his great experience. They were impatient listeners; the storm broke with the word “Gentiles.” Another great tumult resulted and the many voices demanded that such a fellow should not live. It was a scene of utmost confusion. The chief

AFTER THE SPEECH, IN THE BARRACKS. Like Stephen, Paul is interrupted, and threatened with stoning. The throwing dust into the air is probably to be understood as an expression of blind fury (_cf._ 2Ma_4:41). But the tribune takes him into the barracks and proceeds himself to deal with him. The story is taken up from Acts 21:38. If Paul is a leader of sedition, the case must be dealt with instantly. The examination was to be with scourging, as was customary with slaves and persons not citizens (see Luke 23:16). The apostle is being stretched out for (_mg.)_ the scourging with leather thongs, when he remonstrates with the centurion in charge (as at Philippi, Acts 16:37) that he is a Roman who must not be subjected to such usag

THE DEFENCE OF EXPERIENCE (Acts 22:1-10)...