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Acts Chapter
Twenty-two
I.
Content of the Chapter
Paul Bore Witness towards the People at
I. The defense of Paul:
A. All
the people listened to his defense quietly (v.1-2).
B. He
was zealous for the Law before he was saved (v.3-5).
C. He
was enlightened by the Lord on the way to
D.
Ananias was sent by the Lord to baptize him (v.12-16).
E. He
was sent by the Lord to bear witness to the Gentiles (v.17-21).
II. The response of all the people and the measure
of the commander:
A. All
the people raised their voice and said “away whit him” (v.22-23).
B. The
commander ordered the subordinates to bring him into the barracks for
interrogation (v.24).
C.
They knew that he was a Roman and did not dare to scourge him (v.25-29).
D. The
next day, the commander asked all the council in order to know the real
situation (v.30).
II.
Verse by Verse commentary
Acts. 22:1 “‘Brethren
and fathers, hear my defense before you now.’”
YLT: “`Men, brethren, and
fathers, hear my defence now unto you;' --”
Literal Meaning: “Brethren and fathers” Paul’s appellation to all the people was
quite kind, polite and it shows his respect. In the original it is that “men,
brothers and fathers, please listen”.
“Hear my defense before you now” Three representations were recorded in
this book all together (See Acts. 24, 26) and the representation in this
chapter was the first one.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Believers should walk in wisdom toward those who
are outside let our speech always be with grace (Col. 4:5-6).
2) Paul made the following defense not to argue
strongly on just grounds but to testify the experience of his being saved. The
personal experience is the argument that is the most difficult to be refuted.
Acts. 22:2 “And when they heard that
he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. Then he
said:”
YLT: “and they having
heard that in the Hebrew dialect he was speaking to them, gave the more
silence, and he saith, --”
Literal Meaning: “he spoke the Hebrew
language” “The Hebrew
language” that Paul used for defense at that time may be the Aramic probably
which was the common language in the region of
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) When preaching and bearing witness, we’d better
use the language and terms with which the multitudes are familiar in order to
draw men’s attention.
2) If possible, we should learn more languages for
the Lord and the skill is not only more convenient for preaching the gospel but
also beneficial to the interpersonal communication.
Acts. 22:3 “‘I
am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the
feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers' law, and
was zealous toward God as you all are today.”
YLT: “`I, indeed, am a
man, a Jew, having been born in Tarsus of Cilicia, and brought up in this city
at the feet of Gamaliel, having been taught according to the exactitude of a
law of the fathers, being zealous of God, as all ye are to-day.”
Literal Meaning: “born in Tarsus of Cilicia” “
“But brought up in this city” The majority of the Bible exegetes held
that “this city” was
“At the feet of Gamaliel” “Gamaliel” was a teacher of the Law who
had in reputation among the Jews at that time (See the note in Acts. 5:34). The
Jews called him “the rabbi among rabbis” and Paul was his pet.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) In order to preach the gospel, we should learn
from Paul and try our best to identify with our compatriots.
2) It is supposed to be good to “be zealous toward God”. However, if the determination and the
starting point are wrong, we may do something a disservice and even persecute
the children of God (See v.4).
3) “Zealousness” is not everything in serving God,
and men’s zealousness must be based on the right knowledge (Rom. 10:2) and then
they won’t be extreme or regard “the wrong” as “the right”.
4) “As you all are today” On one hand Paul identified with the listeners
and on the other he pointed out the differences in the similarities (See v.18).
Such are Christians who live in the world and seem to be the same as the world
and they are separated to God from the world.
Acts. 22:4 “I persecuted this Way to
the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women,”
YLT: “`And this way I
persecuted unto death, binding and delivering up to prisons both men and
women,”
Meaning of Words: “delivering into
prisons”: put into prisons.
Literal Meaning: “to the death” It
indicates that he persecuted men so that they were in deep despair or they were
even put to death, however, it does not mean that Paul killed men by his hands.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) We believers are those who are in “this Way”,
i.e. those who rely on the Lord and walk in the Lord. And therefore if we do
not walk in the Lord, we indeed turn away from the way of the Lord.
2) The Lord makes us see this Way to let us walk in
it. We should never be believers who are merely able to listen to the word and
are unable to do the word.
Acts. 22:5 “as also the high priest
bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received
letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who
were there to Jerusalem to be punished.”
YLT: “as also the chief
priest doth testify to me, and all the eldership; from whom also having
received letters unto the brethren, to Damascus, I was going on, to bring also
those there bound to Jerusalem that they might be punished,”
Meaning of Words: “bring in chains”:
bind, be in bonds.
Literal Meaning: “the high priest and all the council of the elders” refers to the leading members of the Jewish
council.
“From whom I also received letters to
the brethren, and went to Damascus”
“Letters” is a kind of official letters by which men request to seize prisoners
and actually the letters do not have the legal sanction. “
Acts. 22:6 “‘Now
it happened, as I journeyed and came near
YLT: “and it came to
pass, in my going on and coming nigh to
Literal Meaning: “at about noon”: it
is the moment that the light was the strongest, showing that “a great light” in
the next sentence must be stronger than the direct light.
“Suddenly a great light from heaven shone around
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The way of the world is that they run after error.
However, thank the Lord, we are enlightened by the Lord and our way is
corrected before we reach the destination.
2) When reading the Bible or praying, sometimes
there is a light that shines in our heart (2Pet. 1:19) and gives us spiritual
understanding and guidance and this is “the reception of enlightenment”.
3) Many people only have the one-sided
understanding concerning the will of God so that there are always extreme
conditions. We should pray the Lord that He might shine “around” us so that we
will have the comprehensive and balanced understanding.
Acts. 22:7 “And I fell to the ground
and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you
persecuting Me?'”
YLT: “I fell also to the
ground, and I heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why me dost thou
persecute?”
Literal Meaning: “why are you
persecuting Me?” “Persecute” originally means to search out with enmity. The
Lord here did not say that, “why are you persecuting those who believe in Me?”
but “why are you persecuting Me?”. Here the Lord shows Saul that He identifies
Himself with those who believe in Him and He and those who believe in Him are
one. This is the oneness of the head and the body. Who Saul persecuted is the
church, however, the word of the Lord shows us that persecuting the church is
persecuting Christ because the church is the body of Christ (1Cor. 12:27; Eph.
1:22-23).
Spiritual Meaning: “And I fell to the ground” symbolizes that all his past religious
concepts, understanding and views, including the explanation of the Old
Testament and the Law were poured out to the ground and emptied.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) He whoever meets the Lord must fell to the
ground. Only those who have been shocked down by the light from heaven could be
considered that they begin to have a little knowledge of the Lord.
2) “Why are you persecuting Me?” We should never
think that sinning against brother is not sinning against Christ. Please
remember that touching a little member of the body is indeed touching the head.
When a member is hurt, the head feels it.
3) Inasmuch as one does it to one of the least of
brothers, he does it to the Lord; inasmuch as one doesn’t do it to one of the
least of brothers, he does not do it to the Lord (Matt. 25:40, 45).
4) Persecuting believers is “persecuting Me”. What
great comfort it is to believers who are persecuted and are suffering
tribulation------the Lord “identifies” with us.
5) Before Saul met the Lord, he thought that he was
serving the Lord “zealously” (See v.3). However, the Lord “was persecuted”. The
reason is that he did not have the vision of Jesus Christ. It shows that
concerning the service without the vision, the more zealous one is, the more
the Lord feels that He is persecuted.
Acts. 22:8 “So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’”
YLT: “`And I answered,
Who art thou, Lord? and he said unto me, I am Jesus the Nazarene whom thou dost
persecute --”
Literal Meaning: “Who are You, Lord?” The appellation “Lord” shows that he knows
that the one who spoke to him is not an ordinary figure but “the Lord” with
higher power.
“I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are
persecuting” “Jesus” is Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified, died and was risen
and taken up into heaven. When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, Saul had never
persecuted Him directly. Here the Lord showed Saul that when he persecuted the
disciples of Jesus, he indeed persecuted Jesus.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Men persecute the Lord because they do not know
Him. If we Christians do not know the Lord deeply, we may also do something
that offends Him unconsciously.
2) All those who believe in the Lord are united to
the Lord, i.e. the oneness of the head and the body. Any sin that sins against
the body is the sin that sins against the head.
Acts. 22:9 “‘And
those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not
hear the voice of Him who spoke to me.”
YLT: “and they who are
with me the light did see, and became afraid, and the voice they heard not of
him who is speaking to me --”
Literal Meaning: “but they did not hear the
voice of Him who spoke to me” It indicates that
they only heard the voice of the word (See Acts. 9:7), however, they did not
understand what the word meant.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) All the people saw the light, however, Paul saw
the Lord; all the people heard the voice, however, Paul heard the Lord speaking
to him. If the light and voice do not lead us to meet the Lord Himself, they
are still not beneficial to us.
2) Though men see the work of God together, some
people still do not know the will of God and let it go causally. We should ask
the Lord to have mercy upon us so that we could seize every chance of knowing
the Lord and do not let our experiences go aimlessly.
3) If our hearts are not upright, “by hearing we
shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing we shall see, and shall not
perceive” (Matt. 13:14-15) and only the pure in heart shall see God (Matt.
5:8).
Acts. 22:10 “So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into
YLT: “and I said, What
shall I do, Lord? and the Lord said unto me, Having risen, go on to
Literal Meaning: “What shall I do, Lord?” This question implies that Saul had
confessed that Jesus was the Messiah (i.e. Christ), the one who rules all his
life.
“Arise and go into
“And there you will be told all things
which are appointed for you to do”
The Lord meant that I did not tell you what you must do and someone would tell
you. The Lord used another man to tell him what he must do. It was a revelation
of the body and the Lord showed him the principle of the body. Saul (i.e. the
later Paul) was a vessel that was greatly used by the Lord, however, the Lord
used another man to help him.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Since believers are bought with a price by the
Lord (1Cor. 6:20), we should devote our spirits, souls and bodies to the Lord
after we have been saved and live for the Lord (
2) Once Paul was saved, he asked that “what shall I
do, Lord?” It shows that from then on he no long lived centering on his own
will and he would walk centering on the will of the Lord.
3) Serving the Lord begins with one’s knowing “what
I shall do” from the Lord; all services that originate from ourselves are
unacceptable to the Lord.
4) The turning point of our life begins at the
moment we meet the Lord. We did not know that what we have done previously was
not “what we shall do” until we meet the Lord.
5) To those who do wrong and walk in the wrong way,
the positive teachings and guidance are better than negative punishment.
6) The Lord Jesus guides us step by step instead of
once for all.
7) We Christians on one hand receive revelation and
provision from the Lord directly and on the other receive the Lord’s revelation
and provision through brothers and sisters in the body. And therefore we should
never think that we do not need to rely on others and we could receive
everything by ourselves before God.
8) Many times, the guidance of the Holy Spirit in
us leads us to receive others’ guidance and help. If you do not receive others’
help, you will lose a lot.
9) Many Christians fully live in themselves and
they decide many things merely according to their own feelings. Such men have
not seen the body. We have to see that we are only members and are restrained
and we all need the help from other members.
10) May God let us see the body right now. Only
those who seek for communication, fear that they might be wrong and dare not
work alone indeed see the body.
11) No matter in the dispensation of the Old and
New Testament, when God wants His servants to do something great among His sons
and daughters, His guidance is not only one-sided but also dual-sided or
many-sided and each side could be proved by one another. The one-sided
revelation could be applied to individual affairs, however, it is not applied
to the matters concerning others. Many times, when we clearly know the will of
God, we still need to seek the proof from other aspects. If there is not the
proof from men, there should be the proof of things or matters. It is always
doubtful if there is only the one-sided revelation and there isn’t the proof
from other aspects.
12) Any one in the church cannot order others,
relying on his guidance from God. God’s guidance in the church could always be
proved among believers.
13) This verse also tells us that: if we separate
from the church, we cannot know the will of the Lord. And therefore we have to
live in the church if we want to understand the will of the Lord.
14) From the dialogue between the Lord and Paul
(v.7-10), we could see that the Lord did not blame or punish the one who always
was hostile to Him and persecuted His believers and contrarily He received him
tolerantly. However, when many Christians deal with brothers and sisters, they
abandon them as long as they have little faults. It is indeed not of the Lord’s
mind.
15) We should let this mind be in us, which was
also in Christ Jesus (Pill. 2:5) and forebear one another in love (Eph. 4:2).
Acts. 22:11 “And since I could not see
for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I
came into
YLT: “`And when I did not
see from the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those who are with
me, I came to
Literal Meaning: “And since I could not see
for the glory of that light” The Lord took away
the sight of Saul’s physical eyes. He may want him to use his inner eyes to
concentrate his mind on the Lord.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Those who think that they have the knowledge of
the Law and the model of the truth are confident that they themselves are a
guider to the blind (Rom. 2:17-20). But actually they themselves are blind
(Matt. 15:14; 23:16) and they cannot see anything.
2) From that day, the eyes of Saul which represent
the knowledge of the Law became blind, however, his inner eyes began to be
shone by the light of the glorious gospel of Christ (2Cor. 4:4-6). The problem
of many people is that their eyes of the outer knowledge become brighter
increasingly, however, their inner spiritual eyes become more and more blurred.
Acts. 22:12 “‘Then
a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony
with all the Jews who dwelt there,”
YLT: “and a certain one,
Ananias, a pious man according to the law, being testified to by all the Jews
dwelling [there],”
Meaning of Words: “testimony”:
witness; “Ananias”: the one whom Jehovah protects, the Lord is merciful.
Literal
Meaning: “a devout man according to
the law” This sentence was
quite important to the listeners.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) “A devout man according to the law” could also be a good Christian. However, we
should be devout not only according to the outer letters but also according to
the inner spiritual reality (See Rom. 2:29).
2) Christians should have good behaviors before the
world and have a good testimony with the world so as to glorify God.
Acts. 22:13 “came to me; and he stood
and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your
sight.' And at that same hour I looked up at him.”
YLT: “having come unto me
and stood by [me], said to me, Saul, brother, look up; and I the same hour did
look up to him;”
Enlightenment in the Word: Paul, the spiritual giant, still needed the help of
Ananias who was unknown and then he could “see”. None of Christians does not
need the help of other members (1Cor. 12:21).
Acts. 22:14 “Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should
know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth.”
YLT: “and he said, The
God of our fathers did choose thee beforehand to know His will, and to see the
Righteous One, and to hear a voice out of his mouth,”
Literal Meaning: “and see the Just
One” “The Just One” refers to Jesus Christ (Acts. 3:14).
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) God’s selection and kindness are the foundations
that we are able to know and understand His will and therefore the first step
that we pursue God is to look upon His mercy.
2) “You should know His will” It shows that God is the source that we
understand His will. If God has a will towards us, He will certainly make us
understand it.
Acts. 22:15 “For you will be His
witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.”
YLT: “because thou shalt
be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard;”
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) We must have seen and heard first and then bear
witness toward others. The basis that believers bear witness to the Lord lies
in what they have seen and heard from the Lord.
2) If the Lord has mercy upon us and lets us see or
hear something about Him, His aim is to let us “be His witnesses”. And we
should never have the idea of hiding.
3) The objects towards whom believers bear witness
are “all men”------all the people------there is no difference in races,
regions, classes, poor or rich, men or women and etc.
Acts. 22:16 “And now why are you
waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of
the Lord.'”
YLT: “and now, why
tarriest thou? having risen, baptize thyself, and wash away thy sins, calling
upon the name of the Lord.”
Meaning of Words: “be baptized”: be
immersed into water; “wash away”: wash fully, wash out.
Literal Meaning: in the original this
verse could be divided into two sentences and there is a participle modifying
the finite verb. And therefore it could be translated into “having arisen be
baptized and wash away your sins, having called the name of the Lord”. The
second sentence specially indicates that “calling the name of the Lord” is the
basis for Paul to wash away his sins because his past sins are “doing many
things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts. 26:9) and arresting
and destroying believers who called on the name of the Lord (Acts. 9:21).
“Be baptized, and wash away your sins” Ananias did not mean that the baptism
itself could wash away men’s sins. He meant that the baptism is to state and
testify before God, men and angels that the one who is baptized believes the
effect of the Lord’s salvation that His blood on the cross is able to wash away
all the sins of men. This sentence is especially meaningful to Paul because he
was a member in the Judaic world that persecuted Christians (See v.3-4; Acts.
7:60; 8:3; 9:1). Now he believed in the Lord Jesus and he should arise and be
baptized. He declared through the baptism that he broke off the relation with
the world and this way, his sins that he persecuted Jesus before men were
washed away.
Controversial Clarification: The Roman Catholic misused this scripture
and they thought that men’s faith is not enough and only when men believe in
the Lord and are baptized will the sins of men be washed away. And therefore
they baptize the dead ones, lest their sins were still there and they will be
condemned after their death. However, the “washing away sins” here stresses on
washing away sins before men and cleansing the sins that were kept in men’s
feelings. Through baptism, we declare to the world that we believe the name of
the Lord and the precious blood of the Lord Jesus has washed away all our sins.
The washing away sins here is for men’s life in the world later instead of the
judgment after death (See the controversial clarification in Acts. 2:38).
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) “And now why are you waiting?” At that moment, Paul was saved three days (Acts.
9:9) and the Spirit said that he was “waiting”. It shows that men should be
baptized the moment they are saved.
2) Baptism is the outer mark of the inner work of
grace and it shows that the one who is baptized by faith has received the
remission of sins and at the same time he has washed away his sins that he had
made previously before men.
3) Concerning “being baptized” and “washing away”
in this verse, we are baptized when we are saved------be baptized into the
death of Christ and be buried with Him (
Acts. 22:17 “‘Now
it happened, when I returned to
YLT: “`And it came to
pass when I returned to
Meaning of Words: “in a trance”: be
lost in abstraction, a displacement of mind.
Literal Meaning: “when I returned to
“That I was in a trance” It indicates that the hearts of men are
under the unusual conditions, as if they are dreaming but they are not asleep.
When the hearts of men are evaluated to such state, they usually see the vision
(See v.18; Acts. 10:10; 11:5).
Acts. 22:18 “and saw Him saying to me,
‘Make haste and get out of
YLT: “and I saw him
saying to me, Haste and go forth in haste out of
Literal Meaning: “Make haste and get out of
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) “And saw Him saying to me” Prayer (v.17) is to have communion with the Lord
and therefore we not only speak to the Lord but also hear Him speak to us. It
is not enough that we pray with our mouths without our ears.
2) When we preach and work for the Lord, we should
know to advance and retreat. If we habitually run rashly, there won’t be the
good effect and contrarily we will make ourselves be in danger.
3) When bearing witness to the Lord, we should
disregard the differences of places and occasions and all places are our
workshop. However, we should also examine the response of all the people and it
may be better for us to “turn to another place”.
4) When preachers feel the atmosphere that all the
people are willing to “receive”, they should “make haste and get out
of…quickly”.
5) The Lord once ordered the other disciples not to
depart from
Acts. 22:19 “So I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and
beat those who believe on You.”
YLT: “and I said, Lord,
they -- they know that I was imprisoning and was scourging in every synagogue
those believing on thee;”
Literal Meaning: “in every synagogue I beat
those who believe on You” It does not mean
that Paul beat them by himself, but that they were caused to be beaten by him.
Acts. 22:20 “And when the blood of
Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death,
and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.'”
YLT: “and when the blood
of thy witness Stephen was being poured forth, I also was standing by and
assenting to his death, and keeping the garments of those putting him to
death;”
Literal Meaning: “I also was standing by
consenting” It shows that he
positively agreed with Stephen’s being killed.
“And guarding the clothes of those who
were killing him” He was a young man
at that time (Acts. 7:58). Probably he had not reached the legal age and
therefore he could not join them to carry out the punishment (beating men with
stones). And he guarded the clothes of those who carried out the punishment to
show his consent.
Acts. 22:21 “Then He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.’”
YLT: “and he said unto
me, Go, because to nations far off I will send thee.'”
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Apparently Paul departed from
2) The burden where Christians go out to preach is
always not determined by us but the Lord’s sending.
3) When the Lord asks us to do the service that we
have not intent to do, shall we obey Him and receive the Lord’s dispatch
without any struggle?
Acts. 22:22 “And they listened to him
until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, ‘Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit
to live!’”
YLT: “And they were
hearing him unto this word, and they lifted up their voice, saying, `Away from
the earth with such an one; for it is not fit for him to live.'”
The
Background: the Jews have a
sense of superiority for their own race and religion (See
Literal Meaning: “And they listened to him until
this word” “This word”
indicates that God sent him to the Gentiles (See v.21). This word implies that
God also chooses the Gentiles as His people except the Jews.
“And then they raised their voices and
said” The word “the Gentiles” makes them remember
their hatred.
“For he is not fit to live” To the Jews, the Gentiles must receive the
Jewish law and become the Jews and then they are able to enjoy God’s grace,
otherwise they indeed blaspheme God and they should be stoned to death by all
the people.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) “Away with him” was both used to the Lord Jesus
and Paul (John. 19:15; Luke. 23:18). The witnesses of Christ must have the same
destiny with Christ whom they bear witness to.
2) The disciple is not above his master, nor the
servant above his lord (Matt. 10:24; John. 13:16). Men will treat us in the way
how they treat our Lord. If others want to “away with” us for the sake of
witness, it is proved that we are walking in the right way.
3) The life of self is “not fit to live” and we
should be “away with” by men because the Lord said that if any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Matt.
16:24).
4) Paul used “defense”-----bear witness------to
dissolve the persecution, and as a result, more persecution were brought in
(v.22-24). It shows that if we want to bear witness to the Lord faithfully,
unavoidably we will be persecuted by men. However, though we are persecuted, we
are not abandoned (2Cor. 4:9; Acts. 23:11).
5) Satan does not allow anyone to fully live for
the Lord. If we want to live for the Lord absolutely, unavoidably we will
suffer its threats and attacks.
Acts. 22:23 “Then, as they cried out
and tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air,”
YLT: “And they crying out
and casting up their garments, and throwing dust into the air,”
Literal Meaning: “tore off their clothes and
threw dust into the air” These behaviors
show their disgust and rejection to those who blaspheme God.
Acts. 22:24 “the commander ordered him
to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined under
scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so against him.”
YLT: “the chief captain
commanded him to be brought into the castle, saying, `By scourges let him be
examined;' that he might know for what cause they were crying so against him.”
Literal Meaning: “and said that he should be
examined under scourging” “Scourge” is an
implement of punishment for the Romans to extort a confession to slaves and
foreigners. It is a kind of thong into which keen bones and metals are inlayed
and it could make the skin torn and even cause death.
Acts. 22:25 “And as they bound him
with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, ‘Is
it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?’”
YLT: “And as he was
stretching him with the thongs, Paul said unto the centurion who was standing
by, `A man, a Roman, uncondemned -- is it lawful to you to scourge;'”
The
Background: The Roman Government
gives high position to the citizenship and a Roman citizen can not be bound or
scourged before he is condemned.
Literal Meaning: “And as they bound him with
thongs” They made the one
who would be punished naked, bound him to the pillar and prepared to scourge
him.
Acts. 22:26 “When the centurion heard
that, he went and told the commander, saying, ‘Take
care what you do, for this man is a Roman.’”
YLT: “and the centurion
having heard, having gone near to the chief captain, told, saying, `Take heed
what thou art about to do, for this man is a Roman;'”
Literal
Meaning: “When the centurion heard
that” “the centurion” was the one who was in
charge of carrying out the punishment.
Acts. 22:27 “Then the commander came
and said to him, ‘Tell me, are you a Roman?’ He said, ‘Yes.’”
YLT: “and the chief
captain having come near, said to him, `Tell me, art thou a Roman?' and he
said, `Yes;'”
Acts. 22:28 “The commander answered, ‘With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.’ And Paul said, ‘But I was born a citizen.’”
YLT: “and the chief captain
answered, `I, with a great sum, did obtain this citizenship;' but Paul said,
`But I have been even born [so].'”
The
Background: there are three ways
to have the power of the Roman citizens at that time: 1) the one who was born
in the Roman family; 2) the one who did great contribution to the
Literal Meaning: “With a large sum I obtained
this citizenship” The Roman citizen
has many privileges and it could be bought in the time of Claudius the Roman
Emperor.
“But I was born a citizen” It shows that his father was already a
Roman citizen before he was born and therefore he followed his father and had
the Roman citizen when he was born.
Acts. 22:29 “Then immediately those
who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also
afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.”
YLT: “Immediately,
therefore, they departed from him who are about to examine him, and the chief
captain also was afraid, having learned that he is a Roman, and because he had
bound him,”
Literal Meaning: “was also afraid” He was afraid that the superior might know
that he went against the regulation and he might be condemned.
Acts. 22:30 “The next day, because he
wanted to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from
his bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and
brought Paul down and set him before them.”
YLT: “and on the morrow,
intending to know the certainty wherefore he is accused by the Jews, he did
loose him from the bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their
sanhedrim to come, and having brought down Paul, he set [him] before them.”
The
Background: the highest chief
executive that the Roman Empire accredited to the land of Judaea was the
governor and he usually was accredited to Caesarea and there was also the hall of judgment at
Jerusalem (John. 18:28). When the governor was not at
Literal Meaning: “and commanded the chief
priests and all their council to appear” The plural word “the chief priests” refers to
those who were of the family of the chief priest and most of them were the
Sadducees.
III.
Outlines of the Spiritual Lessons
The Two Supernatural Reasons that Changed
Paul
I. The Lord’s
appearance------made him “be fervent in the gospel of grace” from “being
fervent in the Law” (v.1-9).
II. The Lord’s
commandment------made him “be the Lord’s witness to the Gentiles” from “being
the Lord’s witness to the compatriots and kinsmen” (v.10-21).
The Steps of Christians’ Spiritual Knowledge
I. Know and serve
God according to the letters (v.3).
II. Receive the
heavenly enlightenment and know the Lord Himself (v.6-8).
III. Receive the
help from members and know the will of the Lord (v.10, 14-15).
IV. Have the Lord’s
appearance and know the Lord’s special will towards him (v.17-21).
The Conditions of Knowing the Lord
I. The Lord’s light
of glory shines one around (v.6, 11).
II. The Lord’s words
(v.8).
III. Understanding
(v.9).
IV. Obey the Lord’s
voice (v.10).
The Marks of True Christians
I. Have the
enlightenment of the Lord’s gospel (v.6).
II. Meet the Lord
and hear His voice and therefore know the Lord (v.7-8).
III. The
enlightenment and voice that he received were “individual”------the others saw
the light and did not fall to the ground because of the light and they heard
the voice and did not understand it (v.9, See v.6).
IV. Know the members
of the body of Christ from the communion with the Lord (v.10).
V. Change his view
towards the world fundamentally------ignore the world (v.11).
VI. Know the purpose
of God’s election from the communion with members of the body of Christ
(v.12-15).
VII. Remove the
oldness and be renewed------wash away the past sins (v.16).
VIII. Receive the
Lord’s commission to himself from the further prayer and communion with the
Lord (v.17-21).
The Two Questions that Paul Asked when He
Was Saved
II. “What shall I
do, Lord?” (v.10)------we should know the will of the Lord.
The Extracts of Christians’ Life (v.14)
I. Know and do the
will of God.
II. Look upon and fix
our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ.
III. Listen to and
receive His voice.
The Aim that God Chose Us
I. He wants us to
know His will (v.14b).
II. He wants us to
see the Just One------the Lord Jesus Christ (v.14b).
III. He wants us to
hear the voice of His mouth (v.14c).
IV. He wants us to
be His witness to all men (v.15).
V. He makes us be
unto the body of Christ and live a holy life (v.16).
──
Caleb Huang《Christian Digest Bible
Commentary Series》
Translated by Sharon Ren