Acts 22:1. St Paul's Defence 1. _Men, brethren, and fathers_ The Greek is amply rendered (with _Rev. Ver._) by "_Brethren and fathers_." See note on Acts 1:16. _hear ye my defence which I make now unto you_ The _Rev. Ver._substitutes _the_for _my_and puts _now_before _make_. There seems nothing ga... [ Continue Reading ]
_And … Hebrew tongue_ The beckoning with the hand (Acts 21:40) had procured silence enough for the Apostle's first words to be heard, and now they caught the sound of their own dialect. _they kept the more silence_ The noun in the original refers not only to peace from cries and shouts, but to gene... [ Continue Reading ]
_I am verily a man which am a Jew_ The word rendered _verily_is omitted in the oldest MSS. The _Rev. Ver._has "_I am a Jew_," and this renders the original fully enough. Cp. note on verse I above. These first words of the Apostle would correct many wrong impressions among the crowd, for we may be su... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I persecuted this way_, &c. On "the Way" as the designation of the Christian religion, cp. note on Acts 9:2 We are not told of any Christians who were put to death through Saul's zealous persecution, for in the case of Stephen he was not a very active agent, but his own statement in this verse,... [ Continue Reading ]
_the high priest doth bear me witness_ The Apostle refers not to the high priest at the time when he was speaking, but to him who had held that office when (Acts 9:1) in his earnestness against the Christians he had desired a commission from the authorities to carry his persecuting measures as far a... [ Continue Reading ]
_about noon_ The time of the day at which the vision occurred is not noticed in chap. 9, but in chap. 26 the Apostle also mentions that it was "at mid-day," at which time the heavenly brightness must have been very overpowering to shine above the glare of an Eastern sun.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and heard a voice_ As in chap. Acts 9:4; Acts 9:7, so here, and below in Acts 22:9, the case of the noun is varied, so as to mark that the hearing in St Paul's case was different from the hearing of his companions. The verb can be connected with either a genitive or accusative case. In both the nar... [ Continue Reading ]
_of Nazareth_ This is found only here in chap, 22, the other two accounts omitting the words, though in some MSS., to make one story exactly like the other, they are inserted in Acts 9:5. Such assimilation of verses to each other is not uncommon in the Acts.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and were afraid_ These words are omitted in the oldest MSS. and have been left out in the _Rev. Ver._But they are not like anything in the other two accounts, the one of which (Acts 9:7) describes Saul's companions as being "speechless," the other (Acts 26:14) as "all falling to the ground." Theref... [ Continue Reading ]
_which are appointed for thee to do_ God explained this to Ananias (see Acts 9:15), how Saul was a chosen vessel to bear His name before Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel; and still more about his labours was to be revealed to the new Apostle himself. According to Acts 26:16-18 the chara... [ Continue Reading ]
_could not see for the glory of that light_ This explanation of the reason of the Apostle's blindness is only given in this place.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ananias, a devout man according to the law_, &c. The Apostle neglects nothing in his address which can conciliate his audience, and so he tells them that the messenger whom God sent to him was "well reported of by all the Jews that dwelt in Damascus." (For _Ananias_see note on Acts 9:10.) The hosti... [ Continue Reading ]
_and stood_ The fuller force of the compound verb is given by the _Rev. Ver._"and standing by me." _receive thy sight … I looked up_, &c. The verb is the same in both places, and this the _Rev. Ver._has noted in the margin. But the word is used in both senses elsewhere in N. T., as of Jesus (Luke 1... [ Continue Reading ]
_The God of our fathers_, &c. Ananias spake naturally as one Jew to another. At the commencement of the Christian Church there was no thought of a rupture with Judaism, and nothing is more to be noticed in the Acts than the gradual advance made by the Apostles and their companions in apprehending wh... [ Continue Reading ]
_For thou shalt be his witness_, &c. Thus the commission of the later-called Apostle was in the same terms as those in which Christ had spoken (Acts 1:8) to the eleven before his Ascension. _unto all men_ Paul does not utter the word "Gentiles" until he is forced to do so. _of what thou hast seen... [ Continue Reading ]
_why tarriest thou?_ According to the narrative in Acts 9:15 the message of Ananias had already proclaimed the gift of the Holy Ghost to Saul, and the favour of God had been shewn in the recovery of his sight. So the question of Ananias becomes parallel to that of St Peter in the house of Cornelius:... [ Continue Reading ]
_when I was come again to Jerusalem Rev. Ver._"had returned." This refers to that visit of the Apostle recorded in Acts 9:26 seqq. We learn from Galatians 1:18 that three years had elapsed between the conversion of Saul and this visit to Jerusalem, which period is supposed to have been consumed in A... [ Continue Reading ]
_and saw him saying unto me_ In Acts 9:29-30 no mention is made that a vision had appeared to Saul commanding him to depart from Jerusalem. It is only said that "the disciples" sent him away. But these two statements are not inconsistent with each other. Saul might be warned to go, and the disciples... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lord, they know_, &c. The _Rev. Ver._gives "they themselves know" to mark that the pronoun is emphatic. This is not English, but there seems to be no other way of indicating in our language the emphasis which is expressed in the original. Saul is confident that he will be well known by many to whom... [ Continue Reading ]
_thy martyr Stephen_ Better, "Stephen, thy WITNESS." The Greek word had not yet come to be applied as it afterwards was to those Christians who _bore witness_to the truth by their death. _and consenting unto his death_ The oldest authorities omit the last three words, which are added to bring the p... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will send thee far hence_, &c. _Rev. Ver._"will send thee forth far hence, &c." We need not understand the command as implying that the Apostle's missionary labours were to begin from that moment, but that God's work for him was now appointed, and would begin in His own time, but would be not amo... [ Continue Reading ]
Fury of the Jews. The Chief Captain orders Paul to be scourged, but on hearing that he is a roman, recalls the order in alarm 22. _unto this word_ It is probable that, though listening, they were not well-pleased at some things which they heard. Their pent-up feelings broke into instant execration... [ Continue Reading ]
_cast off their clothes_ i.e. the loose upper robe, which could easily be laid aside, and which in such an excitement would interfere with their movements. Compare the conduct of the crowd when our Lord rode into Jerusalem, and also the behaviour of Jehu's friends, 2 Kings 9:13. _and threw dust int... [ Continue Reading ]
_the chief captain_, &c. Probably the chief captain knew nothing of what St Paul had been saying, and would be surprised at the outbreak of rage on the part of the people, and conclude from it that there was some serious charge laid against him which he might best ascertain by subjecting his prisone... [ Continue Reading ]
_And as they bound him with thongs Rev. Ver._"And when they had tied him up with the thongs." This gives more of the force of the verb in the Greek which implies the stretching of the prisoner forward, so that he may be in a position to receive the blows. Some have translated "for the thongs," but t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Take heed what thou doest_ The oldest texts omit the word for "take heed" and so make the remainder to be a blunt question "What art thou about to do?" And thus _Rev. Ver._It was forbidden, under heavy penalty, by the _Lex Porcia_, to scourge a Roman citizen (Liv. Acts 10:9).... [ Continue Reading ]
_obtained I this freedom_ Better "_this citizenship_" (_Rev. Ver._). Probably at the time when the A. V. was made "freedom" conveyed somewhat of this sense as we speak still of bestowing on any one the "freedom" of a city, meaning thereby all the rights of a citizen. It was the Roman boast "I am a R... [ Continue Reading ]
_which should have examined him_ This is old English for "which were about to examine him" which the _Rev. Ver._gives. The verb is euphemistically employed for the scourging which it was proposed to administer to obtain information from St Paul. _because he had bound him_ i.e. bound him for the purp... [ Continue Reading ]
The Chief Captain brings Paul before the Sanhedrin 30. _because he would have known_ Literally and better (with _Rev. Ver._) "desiring to know." The Chief Captain was anxious as a Roman officer, that justice should be done, and this could only be by having both sides before some authoritative counc... [ Continue Reading ]