Acts 22:26

When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. WHEN THE CENTURION HEARD THAT, HE WENT AND TOLD THE CHIEF CAPTAIN, SAYING, TAKE HEED WHAT THOU DOEST _ - the true reading clearly is, 'What doest thou?' [_ hora _ (_ G5610) being insufficiently attested]. For this man is a Roman....

− 26._This man is a Roman. _Some man may marvel that he was so credulous, who was appointed to be chief in examining Paul, that he doth affirm the thing, as if he knew it to be so. For if he ought to believe Paul’s words, every malefactor might, by this shift, have escaped punishment. But this was their manner of dealing, he which did say that he was a citizen of Rome, unless he could bring in some which knew him, or prove it lawfully, he was punished; for it was death for any man to pretend the freedom of the city falsely. Wherefore, the centurion referreth the matter unto the chief captain, as doubting thereof; and he (as we have said) doth straightway examine the matter more thoroughly. And though Luke doth not express by what testimonies Paul did prove himself to be a citizen of Rome, yet, undoubtedly, the chief captain knew the truth of the matter before he loosed him. −...

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...

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

WHEN THE CENTURION HEARD THAT,.... The question put by Paul, which strongly suggested that he was a Roman: HE WENT AND TOLD THE CHIEF CAPTAIN; WHAT PAUL HAD SAID: SAYING, TAKE HEED WHAT THOU DOST; or "art about to do"; lest some bad consequences should follow; lest he should affront the Roman people and senate, and lose his place, if not incur some corporeal punishment: FOR THIS MAN IS A ROMAN; and it can never be answered to bind and beat a Roman....

ACTS 22:26 e`katonta,rchj After avkou,saj de. o` e`katonta,rchj the Western reviser, who left nothing to the imagination of the reader, added o[ti ~Rwmai/on e`auto.n le,gei (“that he called himself a Roman”), a reading preserved in D itgig vg2 mss....

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)...

WENT. The chiliarch having given his orders, had gone to his quarters. TOLD. Greek. _apangello._ See note on Acts 16:36. TAKE HEED. The texts omit. WHAT THOU DOEST. what art thou about to do?...