Lange Commentary - Acts 22:22 - 22:29

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Lange Commentary - Acts 22:22 - 22:29


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B.—THE APOSTLE IS INTERRUPTED BY THE PASSIONATE CRIES OF THE PEOPLE, AND IS IN DANGER OF BEING SCOURGED BY ORDER OF THE MILITARY AUTHORITY, BUT IS PROTECTED BY HIS ROMAN CITIZENSHIP

Act_22:22-29

22     And [But] they gave him audience [listened to him] unto this word, and then lifted up their voices [voice, ô . öùíὴí áὑôῶí ], and said, Away with such a fellow [such a one, ôὸí ôïéïῦôïí ] from the earth: for it is [was] not fit that he should live. 23And [But] as they cried out, and cast off [tossed up] their clothes [garments], and threw dust into the air, 24The chief captain [tribune] commanded him to be brought into the castle [barracks], and bade [said, åἰðὼí ] that he should be examined [tortured] by scourging; that he might know wherefore [ascertain for what reason] they cried so [thus, ὅõôùò ] against him. 25And as they bound him with thongs [But when they stretched him out before the thongs], Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman [a Roman citizen], and uncondemned? 26When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain [tribune], saying, Take heed what thou doest; [saying, What art thou about to do?] for this man is a Roman [a Roman citizen]. 27Then the chief captain came [the tribune went to him], and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman [citizen] ? He said, Yea. 28And the chief captain [tribune] answered, With a great [For a considerable] sum obtained I this freedom [this right of citizenship]. And [But] Paul said, But I was free born [But I was such already by birth]. 29Then [Therefore, ïὖí ] straightway they departed [withdrew] from him which should have examined [who were about ( ïἱ ìÝëëïíôåò ) to torture] him: and the chief captain [tribune] also [om. also] was afraid, after he knew [had ascertained] that he was a Roman [citizen], and [om. and] because he had bound him.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Act_22:22-23. And they gave him audience unto this word.—Paul’s word that Christ had sent him to the Gentiles, aroused anew the fanatical zeal of his hearers. [“This word, not the word Gentiles … for it is not the last word in the Greek sentence … but the last part of Paul’s discourse, in which he undertook to justify his mission to the Gentiles on the ground of an express divine command, etc.” (Alexander).—Tr.]. They interrupted him at this point by loud cries, which were intended to drown the sound of his voice ( ἐðῆñáí ô . öùí .). Ôὸí ôïéïῦôïí , i.e., a man of such a character. Meyer understands the imperfect êáèῆêåí [see note 1, appended to the text, above.—Tr.] as referring to the circumstances mentioned in Act_21:31, when Paul was in danger of being killed; the sense would then be: “He should not have been rescued,—his life should not have then been saved.” [“He should have long since been killed; non debebat, or, debuerat vivere.” (Winer, Gram. § 41. a. 2.).—“Claudius Lysias should not have rescued him.” (Conyb. and H. ÉÉ . 266, and n. 5.).—“The sense will then be, ‘We we re right at first, it was not fit that he should live, as we declared before.’ ” (Alex.).—Tr.]. But the meaning rather seems to be: “He forfeited his life long ago.” ÊñáõãÜæåéí indicates inarticulate cries which the multitude uttered. [ Ῥéðô . ô . ἱìáô ., “not throwing off their garments, as a preparation for stoning Paul (Grot., Mey.), for he was now in the custody of the Roman captain; but throwing them up, tossing them about, as a manifestation and an effect of their incontrollable rage.” (Hackett).—Tr.]. They tossed up their clothes, and threw dust into the air; by these wild gestures, which indicated their fury, they implied that they would themselves gladly accomplish all that they meant, when they cried: “Away with him from the earth!”

Act_22:24-25. a. The chief captain commanded.—The Roman commander was now satisfied that he could accomplish nothing under present circumstances, and, accordingly, gave directions that the prisoner should be conducted from the stairs (Act_21:39) on which he had stood while he was speaking, into the barracks, that is, into the interior of the tower of Antonia. [The tribune, who was unacquainted with the language of the country, did not understand the apostle, and could not comprehend the cause of the exasperation of the people. (de Wette).—Tr.]. He concluded that the fury of Paul’s hearers must have been aroused by some crime which he had committed, but not yet confessed; hence he commanded that the apostle should be beaten with a scourge, as an instrument of torture, in order to compel him to confess his crime ( ἀíåôÜæåéí , to put to the question). [Judicial torture, for the purpose of eliciting a confession, has acquired a euphemistic name, the application of the rack, etc., being known in history as putting men to the question. (Alexander).—Flagra in habendis quæstionibus apud Romanos usitata erant, e. g., Tac. Hist. IV. 27. ἈíåôÜæåéí , ut ἐôÜæåéí , proprie significat inquirere, percontari, quocunque modo hoc fiat … deinde notat per tormenta habere quæstionem de aliquo, ut hoc loc.; hinc torquere, ut Sap. ( Óïö . Óáë . Apocr.) Act_2:19, âáóÜíῳ ἐôÜóùìåí áὐôὸí . (Kuinoel).—Tr.]. In consequence of this command, the apostle was at once tied to a post, in order to be exposed to the blows of the scourge. ÐñïÝô . ôïῖò ἱìᾶóé cannot mean: “they bound him with thongs” (Luther, and others [Calvin, Vulg., Engl. version, etc.—Tr.], as there would have, in that case, been no reason for prefixing the definite article to ἱìᾶóé ; these ἱìÜíôåò must necessarily be assumed to be identical with the ìÜóôéãåò mentioned in Act_22:24, the scourge being, in fact, made of thongs. According to this interpretation, the definite article is very appropriately employed. They stretched him before the thongs (already mentioned), as the object towards which these were to be directed. [The ðñï in the verb, alludes to the position of the prisoner—bent forward, and tied with a sort of gear made of leather to an inclined post. (Alford).—“They stretched him out for the whips, i. e., in a suitable position for receiving them.” (Alex.).—Tr.]. The plural, ðñïÝôåéíáí , refers to the soldiers who were ordered to inflict the punishment.

b. Is it lawful for you, etc.—Before the order was executed, the apostle offered a protest in the form of a question, addressed to the centurion who superintended the proceedings. The question implies, as Chrysostom has already remarked, that the law would be violated in two respects, if the scourging which had been ordered, should actually take place. They would, in the first place, punish the prisoner before he had been tried and sentenced ( ἀêáôÜêñéôïí — ìáóôßæåéí ), for the scourging was actually a punishment, and not simply a feature belonging to the trial; hence the beginning of the trial would have been the infliction of the punishment. In the second place, Paul asserts his privilege as a civis Romanus; the Roman citizen was exempted, according to the lex Porcia and the leges Semproniæ, from the punishment of scourging, even if he was convicted of a crime; scourging was the punishment of a slave. [On Paul’s Roman citizenship, see Exeg. note on Act_16:35-40 a.—Tr.].

Act_22:26-29. When the centurion heard that.—The commander, after receiving the report of the centurion, came forward himself in order to inquire personally respecting the fact that his prisoner was a Roman citizen. [“Lysias was both astonished and alarmed. He knew full well that no man would dare to assume the right of citizenship if it did not really belong to him.—Such pretensions were liable to capital punishment. Suet. Claud. 25.” (Conyb. and H. II. 267, 268).—“The chiliarch was probably surprised that one of Paul’s appearance should possess the right at all,” etc. (Alexander).—Tr.]. Óὺ ̔ Ñùì . åἶ ; full of wonder, he asks in an emphatic manner: “Thou art a Roman citizen?” ÊåöÜëáéïí literally means a capital. [“We learn from Dio Cassius, that the civitas of Rome was, in the early part of the reign of Claudius, sold at a high rate, and afterwards for a mere trifle.” (Conyb. loc. cit.).—Tr.]. The alarm of the tribune arose from the circumstance that the act of fettering a Roman citizen was punishable by law, when it was done with violence, and before the proof was furnished that a penal act had been committed.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. It was not so much Paul’s open and fearless confession of Jesus, viewed in itself, as his call to be the apostle of the Gentiles, that led to the interruption of his discourse, and to this outbreak of deadly fury on the part of the people. It is precisely the prominent and peculiar feature of his mission, that subjects him to suffering.

2. A Roman privilege protects the apostle of Christ; it had autonomically grown up in the way in which God suffered the Romans to walk (Act_14:16). Such a privilege, enjoyed by a particular class, was altogether pagan and aristocratic in its character; still, it is now employed as the means for rendering a service to a messenger of God.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Act_22:22. And they gave him audience unto this word.—The envy of the Jews now vents itself; they were unwilling themselves to enter the kingdom of God, and violently opposed the entrance of others—of the Gentiles [Mat_23:13]. (Rieger).—Paul had delivered a very instructive and powerful discourse; nevertheless, he accomplished nothing. Its results were madness and fury, revenge and malice, on the part of his hearers, This case teaches us to form our opinion of a sermon with great caution, and not to measure its value by its visible fruits. (Ap. Past.).—Away with such a fellow from the earth.—These were words of madness, which Jesus Himself heard from His people. We plainly see that the apostle did not exaggerate, when he said of himself and his brethren that they were regarded as the filth of the world, and as the off-scouring of all things [1Co_4:13]. (Ap. Past.).

Act_22:23. Cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air.—These were alarming preparations for the process of stoning [but see the Exeg. note on this passage.—Tr.]. They still present, even in our day, an image of man, when the madness of passion controls him. He rends his clothes, casts off the last remnant of shame and modesty, and exhibits himself, without disguise, in his brutal nakedness; he throws up dust, in order to sully all that is bright and beautiful, to pollute all that is noble, and to delude himself.—“It is dangerous to awaken the lion; the tiger’s tooth is destructive; but the most terrible of all terrors, is—man in his delusion.” (Schiller).

Act_22:24. Bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know, etc.—During a tumult, the infliction of the punishment is usually the beginning of the trial. At such times, even wise men may commit serious errors. To scourge, and only afterwards investigate the case—such is the practice of the world. It condemns that which it does not understand, and passes sentence on him whom it has not convicted. But be of good cheer, O Christian, when this is thine own experience. Another day of judgment awaits thee, when God Himself will judge, and when He will review and annul all those unrighteous sentences and decrees, which had here been passed. A very different decision will then be proclaimed. (Wisd. of Son_6:4-5).—But thou, O earthly judge, consider the case well, and adopt every precaution, if thou wouldst not have the burden of innocent blood on thy conscience. (Starke).

Act_22:25. Is it lawful, etc.?—A Christian is at liberty to appeal to the law and to his rights, in order to escape unjust and violent treatment. When Christians are obliged to reside in the Roman empire—or in Turkey—they may, with a good conscience, appeal for protection to the laws of such countries, as far as these are sanctioned by God, and by nature, 1Th_5:21. (Starke).—If such a privilege as citizenship, in any earthly kingdom, possesses this great value, how precious the privilege of the children of God must be, who have, in consequence of their new birth, become the citizens of heaven! [ Ðïëßôåõìá , Php_3:20.—Tr.]

Act_22:28. And Paul said, But I was free born.—Nor should the Christian despise the privileges and advantages of birth, but conscientiously avail himself of them, in promoting the honor of God, and the welfare of his neighbors, 1Co_10:33. (Starke).

Act_22:29. And the chief captain also was afraid, etc.—The whole multitude had cried: “Away with such a fellow, etc.” (Act_22:22), and yet the apostle now inspires the chief captain himself with fear. Thus the Lord exalts his servants, even when they seem to have been crushed. While they bear the image of the cross in humility and ignominy, the image of the Saviour, which decorates them, invests them with such honor and authority, that even ungodly men are alarmed, and withdraw from them. (Ap. Past.).

ON THE WHOLE SECTION, Act_22:22-29.—The apostle’s danger, and his deliverance: I. The danger (a) originated in his testimony to the truth, Act_22:22, and comp. Act_22:18; Act_22:21; (b) was caused by the intolerant pride of the Jews; and (c) threatened a fatal issue, Act_22:22-23. II. The deliverance, was effected because (a) the Roman commander was governed by a sense of justice, (b) the apostle possessed the privileges of a citizen, and (c) a new opportunity for vindicating himself was afforded, Act_22:30. (Lisco.)

Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people [Pro_14:34]. (id.).

Paul, a model as a noble sufferer: I. By the manner in which he endures unavoidable sufferings; (a) he observes silence, Act_22:22 ff.; (b) he forgives, Act_22:23; (c) he calmly suffers, Act_22:24. II. By the manner in which he averts an unnecessary humiliation; (a) he does not seek martyrdom; (b) he cautions the magistrate not to abuse his power; (c) he retains, in its integrity, the consciousness of his dignity as a man. (id.).

The infuriated people of Jerusalem, an impressive illustration of fanaticism: showing that fanaticism, I. Dishonors God, in whose service it claims to be zealous; II. Maltreats the innocent, whom it has selected as its victims; III. Degrades itself, by converting men into wild beasts, Act_22:22-23.

Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?—a word proceeding from the mouth of God, as a warning addressed to tyrants; it reminds them, I. Of the inalienable rights of man; II. Of the sacred honor of the citizen; III. Of the inviolable dignity of the Christian.

The sacred character of a servant of God: I. When he is violently assailed, he may protest, with gentleness and humility, Act_22:25; comp. Joh_18:23. II. When he is exposed to external ill treatment, the inner man remains inviolate, Act_6:15. III. When he is trodden in the dust, he shall be crowned with eternal honor, Mat_5:11-12,

The inalienable nobility of the children of God: it is, I. Acquired through regeneration, Act_22:28; II. Attested by the Spirit of God, who bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God [Rom_8:16]; III. Proved in trials and temptations, Act_22:23 ff.; IV. Renewed in heaven, where they shall appear with Christ in glory, Col_3:4.

The exalted privileges of a citizen in the kingdom of God: I. He has no reason to fear the powers of the world; (Paul entertains no fear in the presence of the Roman officer; the latter, on the contrary, fears him, Act_22:29). II. The blows which the world attempts to inflict, cannot reach him; (a citizen of Rome could not be legally scourged; a citizen of Christ is not exempt, it is true, from the strokes of affliction and the scourge of persecution, but these neither pain nor dishonor him). III. He is not bound by the judgment of the world; (Paul appeals from the commander, when governed by false impressions, to the same man, when he possesses a knowledge of the facts, and, ultimately, appeals to the emperor himself. The Christian appeals from the judgment of the world to the tribunal of his heavenly King.)

The Christian values, but does not overvalue his civil rights: I. He does not scorn to avail himself of the advantages connected with his birth, Act_22:28, but he knows that they are of no value without nobility of soul. II. He does not sacrifice the rights which the law recognizes, Act_22:25, but he claims them in a gentle and an humble spirit. III. He demands the protection of the government, Act_22:25, but his confidence is primarily fixed on the Lord of lords, and King of kings, Act_22:21.

Footnotes:

Act_22:22. All the uncial manuscripts without exception [A. B. C. D. E. G. H., also Cod. Sin.] exhibit the imperfect, viz.: êáèῆêåí . The participle, êáèῆêïí [of text. rec.] is found only in minuscules, and is a later correction, as the meaning of the imperfect was not apprehended.

Act_22:24. [For ἄãåóèáé , of text. rec., with G. H., many recent editors read åἰòÜãåóèáé , with A. B. C. D. E. Cod. Sin. Vulg. (induci.).—Tr.]

Act_22:25. The plural ðñïÝôåéíáí , or ðñïÝôåéíïí [for which forms see Winer, § 13.1], is doubtless genuine; [found in A. B. C. D. E. G. Cod. Sin. Vulg.]. The singular, ðñïÝôåéíåí [of text. rec.], occurs only in some minuscules. [H. exhibits ðñïòÝôåéíåí . The singular was substituted, as better suited to ὁ ÷éëßáñ÷ïò of Act_22:24. (Meyer). The plural is adopted by recent editors generally.—Tr.]

Act_22:26. ̔́ Ïñá , [of text. rec.] before ôß , is not so well attested, that it could be regarded as any thing else than a gloss. [It is found in D. G. H., but not in A. B. C. E. Cod. Sin. Vulg. (Quid acturus es?); it is dropped by recent editors.—Tr.]

Act_22:27. åἰ before óý [of text. rec.] is supported by only one uncial manuscript [G.], whereas in all the others [A. B. C. D. E. H. Cod. Sin.], the question begins with óý . [Vulg. si tu. etc.—Tr.]

Act_22:29. [In Act_22:24, ìÜóôéîéí ἀíåôÜæåóèáé is rendered by the English translators: that he should be examined by scourging; in the present verse, the 29th, ἀíåôÜæåéí (act.), without ìÜóô ., is rendered: which should have examined. Here they propose in the margin the word tortured for examined. See the Exeg. note on the verse, below.—Tr.]