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Paul's speech to the people (1–21). New excitement of the people, interrogation of Paul by the captain, meeting of the Sanhedrin (22–30) Acts 22:1. Men, brothers and fathers! listen now to my justification before you. “Husbands, brothers and fathers!” Respectful address to all present (cf. Acts 7:2). “My justification” is against the accusations raised by the Jews of Asia Minor (Acts 20:27–28). Acts 22:2. When they heard that he spoke to them in Hebrew, they became even more silent. He said: Acts 22:3. I am a Judean, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, raised in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, carefully instructed in the law of my fathers, zealous for God, like all of you today. Paul’s rather detailed depiction of his origin, upbringing and initial direction is intended to show that, contrary to the accusations raised, he by birth belongs to the Jewish people, by his upbringing he is connected by close spiritual ties with Jerusalem and was distinguished by the most strict, Pharisaic direction, devoted to the law and hostile to Christianity. “A Jew born in Tarsus” (cf. Acts 9:11 and parallels), - although he was born not in Jerusalem or in Palestine, but in a pagan city, nevertheless - from the Jews: this refutes the accusation that he taught everywhere “against this people” (Acts 21:28). “Raised in this city” - i.e. Jerusalem, the center of the Jewish nation; this emphasizes that even if, by his birth far from Jerusalem, Paul might not have been sufficiently attached to his native people, then his upbringing in Jerusalem from childhood (ανατεθραμμένος) in any case should have established in him the bonds of an indestructible connection with the common Jewish capital and his native people. “At the feet of Gamaliel” - this most famous Pharisee teacher (Acts 5:34 et al.). This is an even stronger guarantee of Paul’s Judaism - not only in origin, but also in mood. The expression also means the respectful attitude of a student towards a respected teacher, “constancy, diligence, diligence in listening and great respect for this man” on the part of Paul (Chrysostom, cf. Theophilus). “Thoroughly instructed in the law of the fathers,” for which the very name of Gamaliel vouches. “Carefulness” here is understood both in the sense of diligence in studying the law, and in the sense of a strictly Jewish study and understanding of it. “A zealot for God, like all of you today.” This, of course, is taken by them as praise, although there is quite a bit of bitterness hidden in this praise. But first of all, these words are intended to show that Paul could not be such as his accusers make him out to be. Acts 22:4. I even persecuted the followers of this teaching to death, binding and delivering both men and women to prison, “He persecuted the followers of this teaching” - more precisely: he persecuted “this way” (cf. Acts 9:2, 18:25, 19:9, 23). “Even to death” is an expression to denote a particularly passionate feeling or action, in this case persecution. “Binding and betraying” - cf. Acts 8:3. Acts 22:5. as the high priest and all the elders will testify about me, from whom I took letters to the brethren living in Damascus, and went to bring those there in chains to Jerusalem for torture. Obviously, the persons to whom the apostle refers were still alive, although the high priest had already been removed from office (see Acts 9:2). Acts 22:6. When I was on the road and approaching Damascus, around noon, a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. Acts 22:7. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me: Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting Me? Acts 22:8. I answered: Who are you, Lord? He said to me: I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting. The story of the conversion is completely similar to the story of the writer (Acts 9:3-8 ff.), with the exception of very few differences. Thus, the apostle says that the light shone around him around noon, which indicates its special supernatural power, which eclipsed the brightest light of the sun. In the Lord’s answer, “Nazarene” is added to His name. Acts 22:9. But those who were with me saw the light and were afraid; but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. “Those who were with me saw the light... but did not hear the voices.” In the story of the writer (Acts 9:7) there seems to be a difference here: “hearing a voice, but seeing no one.” But this difference is not significant and is only apparent. Paul’s companions could indeed “hear” some sounds, but not hear their meaning, not understand anything that was spoken only for Paul (“me”), so to speak - “hearing, not hearing” (cf. John 12:28-29). It could also be that they “saw the light” and “didn’t see anyone” at the same time. Everything was intended and accomplished for Paul, but his companions saw and heard, so to speak, only a reflection and echo of this revelation, perhaps insofar as this could serve as a greater assurance of the reality of the event, and not of its deceptiveness, dreaminess, in case someone began to interpret this event as a subjective hallucination of Paul. Saint Chrysostom (cf. Theophilus) finds another reconciliation of these apparent differences between the writer and the Apostle Paul. He believes that the expression of the writer - “hearing a voice” - refers to the voice of Paul himself, answering the One whom they did not see. The expression of the apostle himself - “the voice that spoke to me was not heard” - refers to the voice of the Lord Himself. Acts 22:10. Then I said: Lord! what should I do? The Lord said to me: get up and go to Damascus, and there you will be told everything that is appointed for you to do. Acts 22:11. And when I lost my sight from the glory of that light, those who were with me led me by the hand to Damascus. Acts 22:12. One Ananias, a pious man according to the law, approved of by all the Jews living in Damascus, The further story of the Apostle about the meeting with Ananias, which in general completely agrees with the story of the writer (Acts 9:10-18), differs from it, by the way, in that it cites in more detail the words of Ananias, whose well-known and respected name in the eyes of the people gave these words special importance and meaning. In general, in both stories the difference is not of the nature of disagreement and contradiction, but only of mutual completion and clarification, and is sufficiently justified by special circumstances, in relation to which the apostle wanted to make his speech more convincing. In characterizing Ananias, the apostle expresses himself more strongly than the writer: “a man pious according to the law,” who, therefore, could not teach Paul to be an enemy of the law. “Approved by all the Jews” of Damascus, therefore - recognized in his piety by everyone, not only by Christians, but precisely by the Jews themselves. Acts 22:13. came to me and, approaching, said to me: Brother Saul! see clearly. And I immediately saw him. “Get your sight” is a brief expression of the very essence of what Ananias said to Paul during his epiphany (cf. Acts 9:17). But then the words of Ananias, spoken after the epiphany, omitted by the writer, are conveyed in detail. Acts 22:14. He said to me: The God of our fathers has chosen you so that you might know His will, see the Righteous One, and hear the voice from His mouth, “God of our Fathers” - see Acts 3 et al. “pre-chosen you” - cf. Rom.8 et c.; Jer.1:5. “I saw the Righteous One” - cf. Acts 3:14, 7:52. Acts 22:15. because you will be a witness to Him before all people about what you have seen and heard. “A witness before all people” is the same as “before the nations and kings and children of Israel” (Acts 9:15), that is, not only before the Jews, but also the pagans. “About what you saw and heard,” that is, about the entire content of the Gospel, the truth of which the Lord convinces Saul through both senses, that is, through sight and hearing” (Theophilus, cf. Chrysostom). Acts 22:16. So why are you delaying? Arise, be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord Jesus. “Be baptized and wash” - see Acts 2:38, 41, 4:12. Acts 22:17. When I returned to Jerusalem and prayed in the church, I went into a frenzy, Acts 22:18. and I saw Him, and He said to me: Hasten and leave Jerusalem quickly, because here they will not accept your testimony about Me. Acts 22:19. I said: Lord! they know that I imprisoned those who believed in You and beat them in the synagogues, Acts 22:20. and when the blood of Stephen, Thy witness, was shed, I stood there, approved of his murder and guarded the clothes of those who beat him. Acts 22:21. And He said to me: Go; I will send you far to the pagans. To the story of his conversion, the apostle also adds a story about a vision he had in the church, after he, already converted, returned to Jerusalem from Arabia (see Acts 9:26). Neither the writer nor Paul himself mentions this appearance of the Lord in his other speeches and epistles. But in this place this story was perfectly appropriate and went straight to the goal. He wanted to show them that even after converting to Christianity, he did not break ties either with Jerusalem or with the church and its legal worship, respect for which could only be further sanctioned by this appearance of the Lord to him in the church and during prayer here. That he, further, is not an enemy of the people, is sufficiently proven by the touching detail of his conversation with the Lord, whose command - to leave Jerusalem - he tried to oppose with a zealous desire to preach His Name precisely in Jerusalem (Acts 22:19-20). Thus, the slander that he is an enemy of the law, the people and the church is quite clearly and convincingly refuted. And at the same time, the path that had to be followed was so clearly and convincingly indicated to everyone else. Until now, Paul had not been interrupted, although excitement in the crowd probably grew from the very powerlessness to refute such sharp persuasiveness of his words. The excitement burst out with all its anger when Paul ended with the Lord’s command to him to go from Jerusalem and, due to the bitterness of the Jews, to preach to the pagans. This thought, which meant that God was abandoning the Jews, seems to be the greatest crime in their eyes, and the crowd again goes berserk, demanding the death of Paul. Acts 22:23. While they were shouting, throwing clothes and throwing dust into the air, “They threw clothes and threw dust into the air” - an intensified expression of wild hatred towards a person who was outside their power. Acts 22:24. The captain ordered him to be brought into the fortress, ordering him to be scourged in order to find out why they shouted so much against him. Apparently, the captain did not understand Paul’s Jewish speech and, not understanding the reason for the new, such frantic agitation against him, wanted to find out by scourging the essence of this matter, which was mysterious to him. Acts 22:25. But when they stretched him with belts, Paul said to the standing centurion: Are you allowed to scourge a Roman citizen, and even without trial? Acts 22:26. Hearing this, the centurion came up and reported to the captain, saying: look, what do you want to do? this man is a Roman citizen. The apostle points out a twofold violation of the law: 1) scourging of a Roman citizen (see note on Acts 16:37–39) and 2) scourging without any trial or proven wrongdoing. The first seems to have had a more effective effect (the words of the centurion, v. 26). Acts 22:27. Then the captain, approaching him, said: Tell me, are you a Roman citizen? He said yes. Acts 22:28. The commander of the thousand answered: I acquired this citizenship for a lot of money. Paul said: And I was born in it. Acts 22:29. Then those who wanted to torture him immediately retreated from him. And the commander, having learned that he was a Roman citizen, was afraid that he tied him up. The captain was afraid not only because he wanted to “torture” Paul, but also because he “tied” him (note to Acts 16:38), which was also not allowed to be done to Roman citizens without first inquiring about his guilt. If Paul was subsequently imprisoned (Acts 23:18, 26:29), it was only after the investigation of his guilt before the Sanhedrin (Acts 23, etc.). True, here his guilt remained unclear, but it was still suspected more thoroughly - and this gave some legitimacy to keeping him in prison, despite his Roman citizenship. Acts 22:30. The next day, wanting to know for sure what the Jews accused him of, he freed him from his shackles and ordered the high priests and the entire Sanhedrin to gather and, bringing Paul out, placed him before them. “The next day... freed him from his shackles.” Paul's declaration of his Roman citizenship freed him from scourging, but he was freed from his bonds only the next day. This reflected the capricious stubbornness of the commander, who, although “frightened,” did not want to show his weak side by immediately releasing the prisoner. “He commanded... the Sanhedrin to gather” - The power of this highest Jewish court was so diminished that not only the procurator-governor of the region, but even a simple regimental commander “commanded” it to gather. You might be interested in: