Acts 22:3

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. I am verily a man which am a Jew ('I am a Jew'), born in Tarsus (see the note at ), [a city] in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet (see the note at ) OF GAMALIEL (SEE THE NOTE AT _ ) - a fact of great importance in the apostle's history, standing in the same relation to his future career as Moses' education in the Egyptian court to the work for which he was destined. _ And taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers - `according to the rigidity of the

− 3._I am a Jew. _As all things were out of order at that day among the Jews, many rogues and vagabonds, to the end they might have some shroud for their wickedness, did falsely boast that they were Jews. Therefore, to the end Paul may acquit himself of this suspicion, he beginneth at his birth; that done, he declareth that he was known in Jerusalem, because he was brought up there of [from] a child; though this latter thing seemeth to be spoken not only for certainty’s sake, but because it skilled much that this should also be known how well he had been instructed. − There is nothing more bold to cause trouble than unlearned men. And at that day the government of the Church was so decayed, that religion was not only subject to sects, but also miserably mangled and torn in pieces. Therefore, Paul nameth his master, lest any man may think that he had not been nousled up in learning, − (4...

1-11 The apostle addressed the enraged multitude, in the customary style of respect and good-will. Paul relates the history of his early life very particularly; he notices that his conversion was wholly the act of God. Condemned sinners are struck blind by the power of darkness, and it is a lasting blindness, like that of the unbelieving Jews. Convinced sinners are struck blind as Paul was, not by darkness, but by light. They are for a time brought to be at a loss within themselves, but it is in order to their being enlightened. A simple relation of the Lord's dealings with us, in bringing us, from opposing, to profess and promote his gospel, when delivered in a right spirit and manner, will sometimes make more impression that laboured speeches, even though it amounts not to the full proof of the truth, such as was shown in the change wrought in the apostle....

Verse Acts 22:3. _I AM VERILY A MAN_ WHICH AM _A JEW_] A periphrasis for, _I_ _am really a Jew_: and his mentioning this adds weight to the conjecture in the preceding note. He shows that he could not be ignorant of the Jewish religion, as he had had the best instructer in it which Jerusalem could produce. _YET BROUGHT UP_, c.] Bp. Pearce proposes that this verse should be thus read and translated: _but brought up in this city_ _instructed at the feet of Gamaliel, according to the most exact_ _manner, being exceedingly zealous for the law of our fathers, as_ _ye all are this day_. _BORN IN TARSUS_] Acts 9:11; and Acts 21:39....

BORN IN TARSUS - See the notes on Acts 9:11. BROUGHT UP IN THIS CITY - In Jerusalem, sent there for the advantage of more perfect instruction in the Law. AT THE FEET OF GAMALIEL - As a scholar or disciple of Gamaliel. The phrase to sit at the feet of one is expressive of the condition of a disciple or learner. Compare Deuteronomy 33:3; Luke 10:39. It is probable that the expression arose from the fact that the learners occupied a lower place or seat than the teacher. On the character and rank of Gamaliel, see the notes on Acts 5:34. P

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

I AM VERILY A MAN WHICH AM A JEW,.... By birth, a thorough genuine one; an Hebrew of the Hebrews, both by father and mother side, both parents being Jews, and so a true descendant from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: BORN IN TARSUS, A CITY IN CILICIA; Acts 21:39. YET BROUGHT UP IN THIS CITY; the city of Jerusalem; though Tarsus was the place of his birth, he had his education at Jerusalem: AT THE FEET OF GAMALIEL; of whom see Acts 5:34 it was the custom of scholars among the Jews, to sit at the feet of their masters, when instructed by them; see Deuteronomy 33:3 hence that saying of Jose ben Joezer a; "let thy house be an house of resort for the wise men, and b

Acts 22:1. _Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defense which I make now unto you. (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith),_ Men like to be addressed in their own language; they give the more heed to the message if it is spoken to them in words that they can understand. Acts 22:3. 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. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received l

ACTS 22:3 zhlwth.j u`pa,rcwn tou/ qeou/ Instead of zhlwth.j u`pa,rcwn tou/ qeou/, Western witnesses offer a variety of readings. The minuscule 614 and codex Toletanus of the Vulgate omit tou/ qeou/, a reading that Blass regards as original. Instead of tou/ qeou/, the Vulgate reads “(zealous of) the law” (_legis_), and the margin of the Harclean Syriac reads with asterisk “(zealous of) my ancestral traditions” (representing tw/n patrikw/n mou parado,sewn, from Galatians 1:14)....

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