Acts Bible Study: Acts 23:17-35

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The text:

Acts 23:17–35 (NASB)

17 Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, “Lead this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.” 18 So he took him and led him to the commander and said, “Paul the prisoner called me to him and asked me to lead this young man to you since he has something to tell you.” 19 The commander took him by the hand and stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?” 20 And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to the Council, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more thoroughly about him. 21 “So do not listen to them, for more than forty of them are lying in wait for him who have bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they slay him; and now they are ready and waiting for the promise from you.” 22 So the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.” 23 And he called to him two of the centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready by the third hour of the night to proceed to Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen.” 24 They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to Felix the governor. 25 And he wrote a letter having this form: 26 “Claudius Lysias, to the most excellent governor Felix, greetings. 27 “When this man was arrested by the Jews and was about to be slain by them, I came up to them with the troops and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. 28 “And wanting to ascertain the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their Council; 29 and I found him to be accused over questions about their Law, but under no accusation deserving death or imprisonment. 30 “When I was informed that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing his accusers to bring charges against him before you.” 31 So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 But the next day, leaving the horsemen to go on with him, they returned to the barracks. 33 When these had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him. 34 When he had read it, he asked from what province he was, and when he learned that he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will give you a hearing after your accusers arrive also,” giving orders for him to be kept in Herod’s Praetorium.

Paul Rescued from the Evil Plot: (v. 17-24)

17 Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, “Lead this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.” 18 So he took him and led him to the commander and said, “Paul the prisoner called me to him and asked me to lead this young man to you since he has something to tell you.” 19 The commander took him by the hand and stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?” 20 And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to the Council, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more thoroughly about him. 21 “So do not listen to them, for more than forty of them are lying in wait for him who have bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they slay him; and now they are ready and waiting for the promise from you.” 22 So the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.” 23 And he called to him two of the centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready by the third hour of the night to proceed to Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen.” 24 They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to Felix the governor.

(Acts 24:22; Ephesians 6:13-16; Revelation 9:7; Acts 10:1; John 18:12-13; Luke 3:1; Matthew 26:51-54

Paul’s nephew comes and warns Paul about this plot. Paul calls a centurion over and the centurion takes then news to his superior officer, a guy names Claudius Lysias and then the commander, Claudius Lysias arranges protective custody for Paul and send him with a bunch of soldiers, by night, to the Governor, in Caesarea, a little over 60 miles from Jerusalem.

What do we now about Claudius Lysias? Outside of the book of Acts, not much. Josephus tells us he was a Roman commander that commanded a cohort of soldiers in Jerusalem between 56 and 58 AD. That also gives us our timeline and helps us know when this was happening to Paul. Probably right at or around 57 AD or about 25-30 years after the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.

Let’s talk Roman military for a minute. There are five different types of Roman soldiers mentioned here in this passage and going over them will give us a better understanding of what is going on.

Soldiers: the Greek is “stratiotes”

These were the common light foot soldiers, or infantry. The typical Roman soldier you picture with his armor, a shield and a sword. The same kind Paul was describing in Ephesians 6:13-16

Horsemen: the Greek is “hippeus”

Hippos is the Greek word for horse. The Hippeus were the Roman cavalry soldiers. They were armored up like the typical Roman foot soldier but they were on the backs of armored horses.

Revelation 9:7 (ESV)

7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle...

Spearmen: the Greek is “dexiolabos” (Deciolabos)

It literally means “one who throws with the right hand”. These Roman soldiers has all the same gear as the infantry, but in addition to their sword on their belt, they carried a large spear or javelin, that the could us the keep enemies at a distance or fling at enemies for long range attacks. These soldiers were artillery soldiers. This is the only place we see this type of Roman soldier mentioned in the Bible.

Centurion: the Greek is “Hekatontarchos”

Centurions were ranked officers that were in charge of a centuria (a squad of 80 Roman soldiers). This Centurion come to his commander...

Acts 10:1 (NASB)

1 Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort...

Commander: the Greek is “Chiliarchos”

A Chiliarchos was the highest ranking Centurion in a Roman cohort. These commanders, or “chiliarchos”, were over a group of 480 soldiers and 6 centurions. So when you see “cohort”, that’s 480 Roman soldiers plus the centurions and a chiliarchos / commander. Or, another way of looking at it, a cohort was 6 centurias , 6 groups of 80 soldiers, with one Centurion over each group of 80, the highest ranking officer was the Chiliarchos, who was a type of centurion and he would be the commander of the entire cohort.

John 18:12–13 (NASB)

12 So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him, 13 and led Him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.

Governor or “Legate”: the Greek is “hegemon”.

Not what we think of as governor. These were military officers the ruled over and protected a region in the Roman empire. Each region had it’s own governor. Sometimes they are referred to as the Procurator of the district or region. The governor was in charge of a Roman legion. Felix was the Governor of Judea at the time of Paul’s arrest here.

Luke 3:1 (NASB)

1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee...

QUESTION 1:

Does anyone know how many soldiers when in a Roman legion?

Matthew 26:51–54 (NASB)

53 “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 “How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”

ANSWER 1:

a Roman legion was 10 cohorts or about 5,000 soldiers. The break down you be about 1,000 horsemen, about 2,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry. I say “about”because each centurai had 80 soldiers + 1 centurion = 81. And every cohort was 81 x 6 + 1 chilarchos = 487. And a legion was 487 x 10 + 1 “govenor” = 4,871 Roman soldiers.

QUESTION 2:

Knowing what you know now about Roman soldiers, what is Luke communicating to us in verses 23-24?

(v. 23-24) 23 And he called to him two of the centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready by the third hour of the night to proceed to Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen.” 24 They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to Felix the governor.

ANSWER 2:

1. Claudius Lysias had 486 Roman soldiers at his disposal and he sent 200 infantry soldiers, 200 artillery soldiers and 70 cavalrymen to protect and escort Paul to the governor. That’s at least 470 of his 486 men, likely a few more, assuming the centurions went also. He assigned as many soldiers as he probably could, to try and escort Paul to safety.

2. Luke is telling us that the threat was a serious one and that Claudius Lysias believed Paul’s nephew and did everything in his power to protect Paul.

3. This passage also speaks to his integrity of Claudius Lysias too.

22 So the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.”

He could have ignored to warning and been rid of Paul. He could have used the information and extorted Paul. Either option would have been a common occurrence under Roman military leadership. Could it be that the Gospel Paul was preaching had been having an impact on this Roman commander?

4. The last observation is that this narrative shows us how great a privilege it was to be a Roman citizen.

Anything else stick out in verses 17-24?

The Letter to the Governor: (v. 25-30)

25 And he wrote a letter having this form: 26 “Claudius Lysias, to the most excellent governor Felix, greetings. 27 “When this man was arrested by the Jews and was about to be slain by them, I came up to them with the troops and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. 28 “And wanting to ascertain the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their Council; 29 and I found him to be accused over questions about their Law, but under no accusation deserving death or imprisonment. 30 “When I was informed that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing his accusers to bring charges against him before you.”

(Acts 16:35-39; Acts 18:14-16; Luke 23:13-24)

Claudius Lysias did leave out the fact that they had wrongly arrested Paul, mistaking him as an Egyptian and then almost scourged him too.

(v. 29) “...I found him to be accused over questions about their Law, but under no accusation deserving death or imprisonment.”

In every instance Roman militaries leaders are mentioned in the book of Acts, Luke’s account of events casts them in a positive or at least a somewhat positive light. It is the Jews, not the Romans, that are persecuting the church in the book of Acts.

Acts 16:35–39 (ESV) [In Philippi when the jailer was converted]

35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” 38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city.

Acts 18:14–16 (ESV) [In Corinth when Jews took him to Gallio]

14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. 15 But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” 16 And he drove them from the tribunal.

Luke 23:13–24 (NASB)

13 Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion, and behold, having examined Him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against Him. 15 “No, nor has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him. 16 “Therefore I will punish Him and release Him.” 17 Now he was obliged to release to them at the feast one prisoner. 18 But they cried out all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!” 19 (He was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city, and for murder.) 20 Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again, 21 but they kept on calling out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” 22 And he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has this man done? I have found in Him no guilt demanding death; therefore I will punish Him and release Him.” 23 But they were insistent, with loud voices asking that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. 24 And Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted.

Any thoughts or questions about verses 25-30?

Paul to Caesarea: (v. 31-35)

31 So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 But the next day, leaving the horsemen to go on with him, they returned to the barracks. 33 When these had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him. 34 When he had read it, he asked from what province he was, and when he learned that he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will give you a hearing after your accusers arrive also,” giving orders for him to be kept in Herod’s Praetorium.

John 18:28–29 (ESV)

28 Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?”

They take him at night out of the heat of the oven, as it were. They get Paul a safe distance from Jerusalem and then the 70 horsemen, most likely with a centurion or two, take Paul the rest of the way to Caesarea. The other 400 soldiers or so march back to Jerusalem.

Facts about Caesarea:

Built by Herod the Great between 23-10 BC

This was a port city on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

He built is for himself but he named it after Caesar in order to get away with it.

It served as a regional base camp for Rome’s navy.

In Paul’s day, it was the headquarters and residence for the Roman governor over Judea.

The Praetorium was the actual house of the governor. Remember how I said that the governor was called a Procurator. That’s the Latin for governor. Praetorium is the Latin form of the Greek word for palace or dwelling place of the governor. It gets its name from Procurator and suffix Torium, meaning “dwelling place”.

For contemporary application, it would be like the governor’s mansion.

John 18:28–29 (NASB)

28 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. 29 Therefore Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?”

Felix kept Paul there for a couple reasons.

It was the most secure location in all of Caesarea.

It kept Paul close to Felix so that he could keep and eye on him or summon him quickly if he wanted.

Any thoughts or questions about verses 31-35?

Any other thoughts or questions about anything we covered tonight?