Acts 22:25-30

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 22:29

After he knew that he was a Roman - He who was going to scourge him durst not proceed to the torture when Paul declared himself to be a Roman. A passage from Cicero, Orat. pro Verr. Act. ii. lib. v. 64, throws the fullest light on this place: Ille, quisquis erat, quem tu in crucem rapiebas, qui tibi esset ignotus, cum civem se Romanum esse diceret, apud te Praetorem, si non effugium, ne moram quidem mortis mentione atque usurpatione civitatis assequi potuit? "Whosoever he might be whom... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 22:30

He - commanded - all their council to appear - Instead of ελθειν , to come, which we translate, to appear, συνελθειν , to assemble, or meet together, is the reading of ACE, nearly twenty others, the Ethiopic, Arabic, Vulgate, Chrysostom, and Theophylact: this reading Griesbach has received into the text; and it is most probably the true one: as the chief captain wished to know the certainty of the matter, he desired the Jewish council, or Sanhedrin, to assemble, and examine the business... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 22:25

Verse 25− 25.Is it lawful? He allegeth first the privilege of the city, then he defendeth himself by common law. And though there were more weight in the second point, (to wit, that it is not lawful to scourge a man before his cause is heard) yet should he have prevailed nothing, unless the centurion had been more moved with the honor of the Roman empire. For nothing was then more heinous than to do any thing which was contrary to the liberty of the people of Rome. Valerius’ law, the law of... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 22:26

Verse 26− 26.This man is a Roman. Some man may marvel that he was so credulous, who was appointed to be chief in examining Paul, that he doth affirm the thing, as if he knew it to be so. For if he ought to believe Paul’s words, every malefactor might, by this shift, have escaped punishment. But this was their manner of dealing, he which did say that he was a citizen of Rome, unless he could bring in some which knew him, or prove it lawfully, he was punished; for it was death for any man to... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 22:28

Verse 28− 28.With a great sum. The chief captain objecteth this to refute him as if he should say, that the freedom of the city is not so common, and easily to be obtained. How can it be that thou, being some base fellow of the country of the Cilicians, shouldst obtain this honor, for which I paid sweetly? Whereas Paul maketh answer, that he was free born, who never saw the city, yea, whose father it may be was never there, there is no cause why this should trouble any man. For those who are... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 22:1-30

The apology. It was a very remarkable promise which our Lord made to his apostles, when, forewarning them that they should be delivered up to councils, and brought before kings and rulers for his sake, he added, "But when they so deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye; for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost" ( Mark 13:9-11 ). It is impossible not to see a fulfillment... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 22:22-29

Damager and deliverance. At length the latent envy of the Jewish audience breaks forth. "Away with such a man from the earth!" I. DANGER INCURRED IN WITNESS FOR THE TRUTH , ( Acts 22:22-27 .) The wild force of fanaticism has to be encountered again and again. These scenes are a warning against fostering it. It dishonors God, under the pretext of jealousy for his honor; ill treats the innocent; disgraces itself, turning men into wild beasts. II. DIVINE DELIVERANCE... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 22:22-30

Rescue of the prisoner and reference of his cause to the Jewish Sanhedrim. Notice— I. THE POWER OF PREJUDICE . The very word "Gentile" exasperates Jews, yet they were separated from Gentiles, not to hate them, but to save them. II. The close connection between IGNORANCE AND VIOLENCE . Knowledge helps patience; patience promotes knowledge. III. THE CRUELTY OF POWER when it is exercised without righteousness. Torture was at once a confession of weakness and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 22:23-30

The earthly and the heavenly citizenship. The most interesting and the most distinctively Christian truth contained in this passage is that which we gain by contrasting the citizenship of ancient Rome with that of the kingdom of Christ. But we may also let these verses remind us of— I. THE INHUMANITY OF HEATHENISM . "The chief captain … bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know," etc. ( Acts 22:24 ). What an inhuman and brutal procedure to extract... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 22:25

When they had tied him up with the thongs for as they bound him with thongs, A.V. When they had tied him up , etc. This does not seem to be a right rendering. προτείνω can only mean "to stretch out before," or "expose to the action," of anything, when taken in a literal sense; ἱμάς , again, more naturally means the "thong" or lash of a whip or scourge than a thong to bind a man with; indeed, it is thought to be etymologically connected with μάστιξ , Meyer, therefore, rightly... read more

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