Atti 22:25 Commento

In the close of the foregoing chapter we had Paul bound, according to Agabus's prophecy of the hard usage he should receive from the Jews at Jerusalem, yet he had his tongue set at liberty, by the permission the chief captain gave him to speak for himself; and so intent he is upon using that liberty of speech which is allowed him, to the honour of Christ and the service of his interest, that he forgets the bonds he is in, makes no mention of them, but speaks of the great things Christ had done for him with as much ease and cheerfulness as if nothing had been done to ruffle him or put him into disorder. We have here, I. His address to the people, and their attention to it (Act 22:1, Act 22:2). II. The account he gives of himself. 1. What a bigoted Jew he had been in the beginning of his time (Act 22:3-5). 2. How he was miraculously converted and brought over to the faith of Christ (Act 22:6-11). 3. How he was confirmed and baptized by the ministry of Ananias (Act 22:12-16). 4. How he was afterwards called, by an immediate warrant from heaven, to be the apostle of the Gentiles (Act 22:17-21). III. The interruption given him upon this by the rabble, who could not bear to hear any thing said in favour of the Gentiles, and the violent passion they flew into upon it (Act 22:22, Act 22:23). IV. Paul's second rescue out of the hands of the rabble, and the further course which the chief captain took to find out the true reason of this mighty clamour against Paul (Act 22:24, Act 22:25). V. Paul's pleading his privilege as a Roman citizen, by which he was exempted from this barbarous method of inquisition (Act 22:26-29). VI. The chief captain's removing the cause into the high priest's court, and Paul's appearing there (Act 22:30).

Men, brethren, and fathers,.... A common form of address used by the Jews; see Act 7:2 but that the apostle should introduce his speech to these people in this manner, after they had treated him so inhumanly, as to drag him out of the temple, and beat him so unmercifully, is remarkable, and worthy of observation, when they scarcely deserved the name of "men"; and yet he not only gives them this, but calls them "brethren", they being his countrymen and kinsmen according to the flesh; and fathers, there being some among them, who might be men in years, and even members of the sanhedrim, and elders of the people, that were now got among the crowd: this shows how ready the apostle was to put up with affronts, and to forgive injuries done him: hear ye my defence, which I make now unto you; in opposition to the charges brought against him, of speaking ill of the people of the Jews, the law of Moses, and of the temple, and in order to clear himself of these imputations, and vindicate his character and conduct.

Then the chief captain came, and said unto him,.... To Paul: tell me, art thou a Roman? he had told him before that he was a Jew of Tarsus, and which was true, and had said nothing of his being a Roman; wherefore the chief captain desires that he would tell him the whole truth of the matter, whether he was a Roman or not: he said yea; that he was one.

"And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned?" Paul lied not, God forbid: for he was a Roman. If there was nothing else, he would have been afraid to pretend this, lest he should be found out, and suffer a worse punishment. And observe he does not say it peremptorily, but, "Is it lawful for you?" The charges brought are two, both its being without examination, and his being a Roman. They held this as a great privilege, at that time: for they say that it was only from the time of Hadrian that all were named Romans, but of old it was not so. He would have been contemptible had he been scourged: but as it is, he puts them into greater fear than they him. Had they scourged him, they would also have dismissed the whole matter, or even have killed him; but as it is, the result is not so. See how God permits many good results to be brought about quite in a human way, both in the case of the Apostles and of the rest of mankind. Mark how they suspected the thing to be a pretext, and that in calling himself a Roman, Paul lied: perhaps surmising this from his poverty.

However, the face cannot be designated as the right face and the left, but high rank can be either according to God or according to this world. Hence, it is as though the face were divided into the right cheek and the left, in order to signify that, whenever his becoming a Christian becomes an occasion of contempt in the case of any follower of Christ, he should be much more ready to be despised in his own person if he holds any of the honors of this world. Just as in the case of the apostle himself, when in his person people were persecuting the Christian denomination; if he then remained silent regarding the dignity which he held in the world, he would not have turned the other cheek to those who were striking him on the right cheek. But by saying, “I am a Roman citizen,” he was not unprepared to have them despise in his person the thing that he deemed of least value, when in his person they had despised a name so precious and salutary. Did he thereby endure in any less degree the chains which it was not lawful to place on Roman citizens? Or did he blame anyone for this injustice? Even though some people spared him on account of the title of Roman citizen, he did not on that account fail to offer them something to strike, for he yearned to correct by his own patience the perversity of those whom he saw to be honoring in his person the left portion rather than the right. The one thing to be considered is the spirit of kindness and clemency with which he acted toward those from whom he was suffering the injuries.

For the divine command made what seems shameful honorable. Thus the apostle called himself at one time a Pharisee and at another a Roman, not because he was afraid of death but because it was fair to do so in a fight. Likewise he appealed to Caesar upon learning of the Jews’ plot against him. He sent his sister’s son to the tribune to report the plots being hatched against him, not because he clung to this present life but in obedience to the divine law. For our Master certainly does not wish us to throw ourselves into obvious peril. This [Jesus] taught us not only with words but also through action, for more than once he avoided the murderous violence of the Jews.

How does Paul say, "I am a man, a Jew, a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia, not of an insignificant city," and shortly after, "If a man is a Roman and uncondemned," and the following? How, then, having said these things, and not at another time but at that very moment when he spoke those words, and to the very same hearers, does he say: "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned"? And when the tribune asks, "Are you a Roman?" he demonstrated that he was a Roman, and not merely saying it casually, but by appeal, because "I was born a citizen." From this above all it is clear that he spoke the truth. For if at one time he said he was from Tarsus and at another time a Roman, or spoke that to some hearers and this to others, one might reasonably say that the claim of being a Roman was perhaps fabricated, thinking to deceive those present into believing that he was from Tarsus. But he, saying that he was from Tarsus, if he were not most conscious of the truth for himself, would not have dared to declare to the same men that he was a Roman, and then to be about to be beaten. For it is clear that by denying him he not only did not free him from the blows, but made the punishment even more severe. And he faithfully related also the slanders against him by the Jews, that he is a deceiver, and a liar, and a sorcerer, which above all Paul strove to put away. Moreover the tribune, if he had not been convinced that he was a Roman, would not have ceased from whipping him, he would not have rescued him urgently from the Jews who were plotting against him. He would not have written on his behalf to Felix that he was a Roman, and that as a Roman he had been snatched from the plot of the Jews. The Jews would not have brought him before the magistrates, inventing charges against him that did not exist, but from this very thing, if he lied in claiming to be a Roman, beginning their slander with that and concerning the other matters they would seem also to be telling the truth.

"Is it lawful for you to scourge a Roman citizen, and uncondemned?" Paul did not lie in saying that he was a Roman, because his father, for the sake of status, had purchased this title with money, since those deemed worthy of being called by this name enjoyed great honor. Paul says this so that, in the event of his punishment, they would not begin to treat him with contempt. If they had punished him, they would have given the matter a different turn and killed him; but now, though for no other reason than the very fact that he was a Roman, they not only did not punish him but also released him. Paul identifies two offenses in his punishment: one — that they wanted to punish him without a trial, and the other — that they wanted to punish a Roman citizen; and therefore he struck even greater fear into them.

Paul, in his address to the people, gives an account of his birth and education, Act 21:1-3. His prejudices against Christianity, Act 21:4, Act 21:5. And of his miraculous conversion, and call to the apostleship, vv. 6-21. The Jews, hearing him say that God had sent him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, become exceedingly outrageous, and clamor for his life, Act 21:22, Act 21:23. The chief captain orders him to be examined by scourging; but he, pleading his privilege as a Roman citizen, escapes the torture, Act 21:24-29. The next day the chief captain brings Paul before the chief priests and their council, Act 21:30.

And as they bound him, etc. - They were going to tie him to a post, that they might scourge him. Is it lawful, etc. - The Roman law absolutely forbade the binding of a Roman citizen. See the note on Act 16:37.

PAUL'S DEFENSE FROM THE STAIRS OF THE FORTRESS--THE RAGE OF THE AUDIENCE BURSTING FORTH, THE COMMANDANT HAS HIM BROUGHT INTO THE FORT TO BE EXAMINED BY SCOURGING, BUT LEARNING THAT HE IS A ROMAN, HE ORDERS HIS RELEASE AND COMMANDS THE SAMHEDRIM TO TRY HIM. (Acts 22:1-30) when they heard . . . the Hebrew tongue--(See on Act 21:40). they kept the more silence--They could have understood him in Greek, and doubtless fully expected the renegade to address them in that language, but the sound of their holy mother tongue awed them into deeper silence.

Paul said to the centurion that stood by--to superintend the torture and receive the confession expected to be wrung from him. Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, &c.--See on Act 16:37.