Acts 22, Part 2
Notes
Transcript
it is difficult to imagine the strain and pressure that constantly confronted Paul. The present passage shows how the Lord guides us and stands with us when pressure and strain weigh ever so heavily upon us. The narrative following Paul’s address is extremely dramatic and filled with suspense. At first it looked once more as though Paul might be torn to shreds by the Jewish mob (v. 22), but he was again rescued by the Roman tribune and taken safely into the barracks. But then the tide turned against Paul again as the tribune decided to examine him by the cruel Roman method of scourging (v. 24). Again Paul was rescued—this time by an appeal to his Roman citizenship (vv. 25–29).
22 Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.”
23 And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air,
Paul should have known better than to refer to his Gentile witness. It was ultimately Paul’s openness to Gentiles that got him in trouble with the crowd (21:29). In those days of rising Jewish nationalism, Paul’s law-free Gentile mission seemed to be disloyal to all that was Jewish (cf. 21:21). It was no surprise that the crowed resumed its cry of “away with him” (v. 22; cf. 21:36). This time they escalated their outcry, adding that such a scoundrel had no right even to exist. Their clamor was accompanied by wild gestures of outrage. No one is quite sure what they did with their cloaks. They either tore them as a gesture of horror at blasphemy (14:14), or they threw them off their bodies as if ready to stone Paul (cf. 7:58), or they shook them out as if trying to rid themselves of the contamination of his blasphemy, or they waved them wildly in the air to express their collective outrage. Neither is the symbolism of casting dust in the air altogether clear. It may have been a gesture of horror at perceived blasphemy, or it may have been that they hurled dust at Paul for lack of something more solid from the temple courtyard.
24 the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this.
In any event, it was not a safe setting for Paul, and Lysias quickly ordered him to be taken into the barracks. The tribune still did not have any idea of what the crowd had against Paul (cf. 21:34). Paul’s address had clarified nothing for him, particularly since it was in Aramaic. Therefore he decided to use the standard Roman method for “getting the truth” out of a slave or a common provincial, the form of examination under torture known by the Latin name flagellum. This was a particularly cruel manner of scourging that consisted of a beating across the raw flesh with leather thongs in which were inserted rough pieces of bone or metal. The thongs were set in a stout wooden handle. This was a much more severe manner of beating than that of the rods which Paul and Silas underwent at Philippi (16:22f., 37; cf. 2 Cor 11:25). It was not uncommon for the victim to die as a result of the flagellum.
25 But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?”
26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.”
Paul was not about to undergo such torture unnecessarily; and as they stretched him out for the flogging, he wisely inquired: “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?” The seemingly innocent question immediately caught the attention of the centurion in charge of the scourging. It definitely was not legal to examine a Roman citizen by scourging. The Valerian and Porcian laws clearly established the illegality of such an act, and any Roman officer who transgressed this exemption would himself be guilty of a serious breach of law. The centurion immediately halted the process and lost no time in reporting the new development to his commanding officer (v. 26).
27 So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.”
28 The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.”
By now Lysias must have been thoroughly perplexed about Paul. At first he mistook him for an Egyptian revolutionary. Then he learned that he was a Jew and a citizen of the important city of Tarsus, a man of some culture who spoke polished Greek. Now he learned that Paul was a Roman citizen. The surprises were not over. Soon he learned that Paul was no Johnny-come-lately to citizenship status like himself but one who was born a citizen (v. 28). Lysias’s comment that he had purchased his citizenship would have been most unlikely in the earlier empire. Citizenship was often conferred for performance of some service to the state or for military duty. Slaves of a citizen who were freed on the basis of service to their owner were granted citizenship. With the granting of colony status whole towns were given citizenship. But individual purchase of the rights of citizenship would have been looked on askance. There is evidence, however, that under Claudius there was increasing abuse of the privilege; and purchase of citizenship became common. That Lysias purchased his citizenship during this time is highly likely given his name, Claudius Lysias (23:26). One generally took the name of the patron through whom citizenship was obtained. It is possible that Lysias was being a bit sarcastic when he referred to paying a “big price” for his citizenship, the implication being perhaps that “now it seems that just anyone can afford it.” If that was so, Paul’s response would have been a shocker: no, he did not pay a big price but was born into it.
There has been much speculation about how Paul’s family received the citizenship. One theory is that they were part of a large resettlement of Jewish freedmen by Pompey in Cilicia in 63 B.C. This is based on a misunderstanding of Pompey’s action as well as on a misapplication of a tradition from Jerome that Paul’s family migrated to Tarsus from Gischala in Galilee. Another view suggests that the tentmaking trade of Paul’s family may have proved useful to the Roman military and been rewarded with citizenship. Such suggestions are wholly speculative. We simply do not know how his family came into citizenship status. Luke made his point well, however. Paul was a Roman citizen and one of considerable status. His citizenship would hereafter play a large role in the narrative of Acts as Paul interacted with Roman officials.
29 So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.
Verse 29 closes the examination scene. On learning of Paul’s citizenship, the whole procedure was stopped immediately. Lysias was himself quite alarmed (ephobēthē), realizing that he had placed Paul in chains. The picture here is not wholly clear, and our knowledge of Roman law is limited. Evidently the Julian and Porcian laws protected Roman citizens from summary arrest, from being placed in chains without a preliminary hearing. Paul’s situation was complicated by the fact that his detention could be considered protective custody rather than arrest. However that may be, from this point on Lysias treated Paul with great respect. He still did not know the charges against him. Examination by scourging had been ruled out. He now turned to another avenue for answering his questions—the Jewish Sanhedrin.
30 But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.
Unable to ascertain the Jewish charges against Paul, Lysias decided to turn to the Sanhedrin in his attempt to establish a substantive accusation. It is unlikely that Roman officials had the authority to summon a Sanhedrin. Many interpreters thus assume that Lysias did not request a formal meeting of the Sanhedrin but only convened its members for an informal hearing. Some even suggest that the meeting was held in the Tower of Antonia rather than the council chamber of the Sanhedrin. In any event, Paul was released from confinement in order to appear before the Jewish high court. Lysias’s decision to consult this body was a logical one. They would surely have heard about the riot against Paul, and it would be the Jews who understood most clearly the legal ramifications of the incident.
POLHILL, JOHN B.: Acts, The New American Commentary. vol. 26. Nashville : Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992
