Acts 23:27

αὐτόν after ἐξειλάμην omitted with אABE. Not represented in Vulg.

27. τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον συλλημφθέντα ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων … ἐξειλάμην. This man who was taken of the Jews … I rescued. συλλαμβάνειν implies a seizure or arrest. It is used (Matthew 26:55; Mark 14:48) of the party of men who came to seize our Lord, and (Acts 12:3) of Herod Agrippa’s arrest of St Peter.

It is to be noted that the chief captain is represented as employing throughout the letter ἀνήρ not ἄνθρωπος for man. The former implies much more respect, and was used no doubt because he was presently about to mention that he was a Roman citizen. The same distinction exists in Latin as in Greek, so that the original may have been in either language. There can be little doubt that Roman officers at this time were familiar enough with Greek to write in it, if need were.

καὶ μέλλοντα�, and likely to be killed. The chief captain does not give a very exact report of what had happened. He says nothing about the strife between the two religious parties. Perhaps he did not understand either its nature or cause.

ἐπιστὰς σὺν τῷ στρατεύματι, coming upon them with the soldiers. This must refer rather to the first rescue from the mob in the Temple-precincts (Acts 21:32). There is no word said of what happened afterwards, the binding with two chains, and the intention of scourging the prisoner.

On στράτευμα see above, Acts 23:10 note.

μαθὼν ὅτι Ῥωμαῖός ἐστιν, having learnt that he was a Roman. The chief captain puts this in such wise as to claim credit for interference on behalf of a Roman citizen, and in so doing omits to state that it was only when Paul was about to be scourged and had protested against it that he was discovered to be a citizen of Rome by birth.