Acts 22:25

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? And as they bound him with thongs, [proeteinan, ( G4385), or - proeteinon ( G4385) auton ( G846) tois ( G3588) himasin (G2438)] - 'were stretching him out (or "putting him on the stretch") with thongs'; that is, fixing him in this way for receiving the keen strokes of the scourgers. [The Received Text-`he bound him' (proeteinen (G4385) - is here properly departed from by our translators, with Beza: it has next to no support.] Paul said unto the centurion that stoo

− 25._Is it lawful? _He allegeth first the privilege of the city, then he defendeth himself by common law. And though there were more weight in the second point, (to wit, that it is not lawful to scourge a man before his cause is heard) yet should he have prevailed nothing, unless the centurion had been more moved with the honor of the Roman empire. For nothing was then more heinous than to do any thing which was contrary to the liberty of the people of Rome. Valerius’ law, the law of Porcius, and of Sempronius, and such like, did forbid that no man should do any violence to the body of the city of Rome − (521) without the commandment of the people. The privilege was so (sure and) holy, that they thought it to be not only a deadly offense, but also such an offense as could not be purged, that a citizen of Rome should be beaten. − Therefore, Paul escaped rather by the privilege than by c...

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 22:25. _AND AS THEY BOUND HIM_, c.] They were going to tie him to a post, that they might scourge him. _IS IT LAWFUL_, c.] The Roman law absolutely forbade the _binding_ of a Roman citizen. Acts 16:37, Acts 16:37....

BOUND HIM WITH THONGS - With cords, preparatory to scourging. IS IT LAWFUL ... - It was directly contrary to the Roman law to bind and scourge a Roman citizen. See the notes on Acts 16:36....

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 AS THEY BOUND HIM WITH THONGS,.... To a pillar, in order to be scourged, according to the Roman manner d. Nor was the Jewish form of scourging much unlike, and perhaps might be now used, which was this; when they scourge anyone they bind both his hands to a pillar, here and there --and they do not strike him standing nor sitting, but inclining e; for the pillar to which he was bound was fixed in the ground, and so high as for a man to lean upon f; and some say it was two cubits, and others a cubit and a half high g: and the word here used signifies an extension, or distension; perhaps the stretching out of the arms to the pillar, and a bending forward of the whole body, which fitly expresses the stooping inclining posture of the person scourged, and was a very proper one for such a punishment: now as they were thus fastening him with thongs to the pillar, and putting him in this posi...

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)...