Acts 22:28

And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. And the chief captain answered, 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. _ And Paul said, But I was [free] born, [_ gegenneemai (G1080 )] - 'BORN TO IT;' EITHER BY PURCHASE OR IN REWARD OF SERVICES, ON THE PART OF HIS FATHER OR SOME ANCESTOR....

− 28._With a great sum. _The chief captain objecteth this to refute him as if he should say, that the freedom of the city is not so common, and easily to be obtained. How can it be that thou, being some base fellow of the country of the Cilicians, shouldst obtain this honor, for which I paid sweetly? Whereas Paul maketh answer, that he was free born, who never saw the city, yea, whose father it may be was never there, there is no cause why this should trouble any man. For those who are skillful in the Roman history know that certain were made free of the city who dwelt in the provinces, if, having deserved well of the commonwealth, or in war, or in other weighty affairs, they did desire and crave this reward of the deputies, [proconsuls] so that it is no absurdity to say that he was born a citizen of Rome, who, descending by his ancestors of some province far distant from Rome, did never...

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 22:28. _WITH A GREAT SUM OBTAINED I THIS FREEDOM_] So it appears that the freedom, even of Rome, might be _purchased_, and that it was sold at a very _high price_. _BUT I WAS FREE BORN._] It has been generally believed that the inhabitants of Tarsus, born in that city, had the same rights and privileges as Roman citizens, in consequence of a _charter_ or _grant_ from Julius Caesar. Calmet disputes this, because Tarsus was a _free_ not a _colonial_ city; and he supposes that Paul's father might have been rewarded with the freedom of Rome for some military services, and that it was in consequence of _this_ that Paul was born free. But that the city of Tarsus had such privileges appears extremely probable. In Acts 21:39, Paul says he was

WITH A GREAT SUM OBTAINED I THIS FREEDOM - The freedom or privilege of Roman citizenship. From this it would seem that the privilege of being a Roman citizen might be purchased, unless perhaps he refers to the expenses which were necessarily attendant in passing through the proper forms of becoming a Roman citizen. The argument of the tribune in this case is this: “I obtained this privilege at a great price. Whence did you, Paul, thus poor and persecuted, obtain the means of becoming a Roman citizen?” Paul had informed him that he was a native of Tarsus Acts 21:39; and the chief captain supposed that that was not a free city, and that Paul could not have derived the privilege of citizenship from his birth. BUT I WAS FREE BORN - I was born a Roman citizen, or I am such in virtue of my birth. Various opinions have been forme

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 THE CHIEF CAPTAIN ANSWERED, WITH A GREAT SUM OBTAINED I THIS FREEDOM,.... For, it seems, he was not a Roman born, but very likely a Grecian, or Syrian, by his name Lysias; and as all things were now venal at Rome, the freedom of the city was to be bought with money, though a large sum was insisted on for it: this the chief captain said, as wondering that so mean a person, and who he understood was a Jew by birth, should be able to procure such a privilege, which cost him so much money: AND PAUL SAID, BUT I WAS FREE BORN; being born at Tarsus; which, as Pliny says l, was a free city, and which had its freedom given it by Mark Antony, and which was before the birth of Paul; and therefore his parents being of this city, and free, he was born so. l Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 27....

FREEDOM Citizenship. WAS FREE BORN Am a Roman born, that is, of a father who had obtained citizenship....

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