กิจการ 22:2 วิจารณ์

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.

And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them,.... See Gill on Act 21:40. they kept the more silence; it being their mother tongue, and which they best understood; and which the captain and the Roman soldiers might not so well under stand; and chiefly because the Hellenistic language was not so agreeable to them, nor the Hellenistic Jews, who spoke the Greek language, and used the Greek version of the Bible; and such an one they took Paul to be, besides his being a Christian; wherefore when they heard him speak in the Hebrew tongue, it conciliated their minds more to him, at least engaged their attention the more to what he was about to say: and he saith; the Syriac and Ethiopic versions add, "to them", as follows.

"And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence." Do you observe how the using the same tongue subdued them? In fact, they had a sort of awe for that language.

"And when they heard that he spoke… in the Hebrew language." You see how it affected them that he spoke the same language as they did — they had a certain kind of respect for that language.

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.

When they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue - He had probably been traduced by the Jews of Asia as a mere Gentile, distinguished only by his virulence against the Jewish religion; which virulence proceeded from his malice and ignorance.

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.