Acts 22:1-16

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Acts 22:1-2

Paul had, in the Acts 21:40; gained a great point, by commanding so profound a silence after so loud a clamour. Now here observe, I. With what an admirable composure and presence of mind he addresses himself to speak. Never was poor man set upon in a more tumultuous manner, nor with more rage and fury; and yet, in what he said, 1. There appears o fright, but his mind is sedate and composed. Thus he makes his own words good, None of these things move me; and David's (Ps. 3:6), I will not be... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Acts 22:3-21

Paul here gives such an account of himself as might serve not only to satisfy the chief captain that he was not that Egyptian he took him to be, but the Jews also that he was not that enemy to their church and nation, to their law and temple, they took him to be, and that what he did in preaching Christ, and particularly in preaching him to the Gentiles, he did by a divine commission. He here gives them to understand, I. What his extraction and education were. 1. That he was one of their own... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Acts 22:1-10

22:1-10 "Men, brethren and fathers, listen to the defence which I now make to you." When they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they gave him still more quietness. So he said, "I am a Jew; I was born in Tarsus; I was brought up in this city; I was thoroughly trained at the feet of Gamaliel in the Law of our fathers; I was zealous for God, just as you all are today. I persecuted this Way to death, fettering both men and women and delivering them to prison, as the high... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Acts 22:11-21

22:11-21 "Because I was not able to see because of the glory of that light, I came into Damascus led by the hand by those who were with me. And Ananias, a pious man as regards the Law, a man to whose character all the Jews who live there bear witness, came to me and stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight again'; and I, in that same hour. recovered my sight, and looked up at him. He said, 'The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will. to see the Just One and to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 22:1

Men, brethren, and fathers ,.... A common form of address used by the Jews; see Acts 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 22:2

And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them ,.... See Gill on Acts 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 22:3

I am verily a man which am a Jew ,.... By birth, a thorough genuine one; an Hebrew of the Hebrews, both by father and mother side, both parents being Jews, and so a true descendant from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia ; See Gill on Acts 21:39 . yet brought up in this city ; the city of Jerusalem; though Tarsus was the place of his birth, he had his education at Jerusalem: at the feet of Gamaliel ; of whom see Acts 5:34 it was the custom of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 22:4

And I persecuted this way unto the death ,.... That is, the Christian religion, and the professors of it; whom the apostle breathed out threatenings and slaughter against, haled out of their houses, and committed to prison; consented to their death, as he did to Stephen's; and whenever it was put to the vote, whether they should die or not, he gave his voice against them; so that he was a most bitter enemy, and an implacable persecutor of them; which shows how very averse he was to this way,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 22:5

As also the high priest doth bear me witness ,.... Either Annas, or Caiaphas, who was at that time high priest; and it should seem by this, that he was still in being; or else that the apostle had preserved his letter, written with his own hand, which he was able to produce at any time, as a testimony of the truth of what he had said, or was about to say; since he speaks of him (as now) bearing him witness, or as one that could: and all the estate of the elders ; the whole Jewish... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 22:6

And it came to pass, that as I made my journey ,.... And had almost made an end of it: and was come nigh unto Damascus ; about a mile from it, as some say, about noon ; this circumstance is omitted in the account in Acts 9:3 and is mentioned here, not so much to inform what time of day it was, that Saul came to Damascus, as to observe how extraordinary that light must be, which then appeared, as follows: suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me ; and not... read more

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