18 And G2532 saw G1492 him G846 saying G3004 unto me, G3427 Make haste, G4692 and G2532 get thee G1831 quickly G5034 G1722 out of G1537 Jerusalem: G2419 for G1360 they will G3858 not G3756 receive G3858 thy G4675 testimony G3141 concerning G4012 me. G1700
Not to many H7227 people H5971 of a strange H6012 speech H8193 and of an hard H3515 language, H3956 whose words H1697 thou canst not understand. H8085 Surely, had I sent H7971 thee to them, they would have hearkened H8085 unto thee. But the house H1004 of Israel H3478 will H14 not hearken H8085 unto thee; for they will H14 not hearken H8085 unto me: for all the house H1004 of Israel H3478 are impudent H2389 H4696 and hardhearted. H7186 H3820
And G2532 whosoever G3739 shall G1209 not G3362 receive G1209 you, G5209 nor G3366 hear G191 your G5216 words, G3056 when ye depart out G1831 of that G1565 house G3614 or G2228 city, G4172 shake off G1621 the dust G2868 of your G5216 feet. G4228
But G1161 when G3752 they persecute G1377 you G5209 in G1722 this G5026 city, G4172 flee ye G5343 into G1519 another: G243 for G1063 verily G281 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 Ye shall G5055 not G3364 have gone over G5055 the cities G4172 of Israel, G2474 till G2193 the Son G5207 of man G444 be G302 come. G2064
Then G5119 let them G5343 which are in G1722 Judaea G2449 flee G5343 to G1519 the mountains; G3735 and G2532 let them G1633 which are in G1722 the midst G3319 of it G846 depart out; G1633 and G2532 let G1525 not G3361 them that are in G1722 the countries G5561 enter G1525 thereinto. G1519 G846
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Acts 22
Commentary on Acts 22 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 22
Ac 22:1-30. Paul's Defense from the Stairs of the Fortress—The Rage of the Audience Bursting Forth, the Commandant Has Him Brought into the Fort to Be Examined by Scourging, but Learning that He Is a Roman, He Orders His Release and Commands the Sanhedrin to Try Him.
2. when they heard … the Hebrew tongue—(See on Ac 21:40).
they kept the more silence—They could have understood him in Greek, and doubtless fully expected the renegade to address them in that language, but the sound of their holy mother tongue awed them into deeper silence.
3. a Jew of Tarsus, brought up in this city, at the feet—(See on Lu 10:39).
of Gamaliel—(See on Ac 5:34); a fact of great importance in the apostle's history, standing in the same relation to his future career as Moses' education in the Egyptian court to the work for which he was destined.
the perfect manner of the law of the fathers—the strictest form of traditional Judaism.
zealous—"a zealot."
toward God as ye all are this day—his own former murderous zeal against the disciples of the Lord Jesus being merely reflected in their present treatment of himself.
4. I persecuted, &c.—(See on Ac 9:1,2; Ac 9:5-7).
5. the high priest—still alive.
doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders—the whole Sanhedrim.
8. Jesus of Nazareth—the Nazarene. See on Ac 9:5.
9-11. they that were with me—(See on Ac 9:7, &c.)
12. Ananias, a devout man, according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there—One would not know from this description of Ananias that he was a Christian at all, the apostles object being to hold him up as unexceptionable, even to the most rigid Jews.
13-15. The God of our fathers hath chosen thee—studiously linking the new economy upon the old, as but the sequel of it; both having one glorious Author.
14. that thou shouldest … see that—"the"
Just One—compare Ac 3:14; 7:52.
hear the voice of his mouth—in order to place him on a level with the other apostles, who had "seen the [risen] Lord."
16. be baptized and wash away thy sins—This way of speaking arises from baptism being the visible seal of remission.
calling on the name of the Lord—rather, "having called," that is, after having done so; referring to the confession of Christ which preceded baptism, as Ac 8:37.
17-21. it came to pass, &c.—This thrilling dialogue between the glorified Redeemer and his chosen vessel is nowhere else related.
when I was come again to Jerusalem—on the occasion mentioned in Ac 9:26-29.
while I prayed in the temple—He thus calls their attention to the fact that after his conversion he kept up his connection with the temple as before.
18. get … quickly out of Jerusalem—compare Ac 9:29.
for they will not receive thy testimony … And I said, Lord, they know, &c.—"Can it be, Lord, that they will resist the testimony of one whom they knew so well as among the bitterest of all against Thy disciples, and whom nothing short of resistless evidence could have turned to Thee?"
21. depart for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles—that is, "Enough; thy testimony is not to be thrown away upon Jerusalem; the Gentiles, afar off, are thy peculiar sphere."
22, 23. gave him audience to this word … then … Away with such a fellow from the earth, &c.—Their national prejudices lashed into fury at the mention of a mission to the Gentiles, they would speedily have done to him as they did to Stephen, but for the presence and protection of the Roman officer.
24-26. examined by scourging—according to the Roman practice.
that he might know wherefore they cried so—Paul's speech being to him in an unknown tongue, he concluded from the horror which it kindled in the vast audience that he must have been guilty of some crime.
25. Paul said to the centurion that stood by—to superintend the torture and receive the confession expected to be wrung from him.
Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, &c.—See on Ac 16:37.
27-29. art thou a Roman?—showing that this being of Tarsus, which he had told him before (Ac 21:39) did not necessarily imply that he was a Roman citizen.
28. With a great sum obtained I this freedom—Roman citizenship was bought and sold in the reign of Claudius, we know, at a high price: at a subsequent date, for next to nothing. But to put in a false claim to this privilege was a capital crime.
I was free born—born to it, by purchase, or in reward of services, on the part of his father or some ancestor.
29. chief captain also was afraid, &c.—See on Ac 16:38.
30. commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear—that is, the Sanhedrim to be formally convened. Note here the power to order a Sanhedrim to try this case, assumed by the Roman officers and acquiesced in on their part.