Acts 22 is the twenty-second chapter of the

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. It records the event leading to

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

's imprisonment in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. The book containing this chapter is anonymous but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that

Luke People *Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known as ...

composed this book as well as the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-volu ...

.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter is divided into 30 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(AD 325–350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...

(330–360) *

Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis, designated by siglum D or 05 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 5 (in the von Soden of New Testament manuscript), is a codex of the New Testament dating from the 5th century writ ...

(~400) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400–440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) designated by the siglum C or 04 {in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 3 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a ma ...

(~450; extant verses 21–30) *

Codex Laudianus Codex Laudianus, designated by Ea or 08 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 1001 ( von Soden), called ''Laudianus'' after the former owner, Archbishop William Laud. It is a diglot Latin — Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, palaeo ...

(~550)

Locations

The events in this chapter took place in

. Some other places are also mentioned in this chapter: *

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

* Tarsus

Paul's Temple Speech (22:1–21)

This part contains the first in a series of Paul's apologetic speeches ('defence', 22:1; Gk. apologia). Paul's opening words use the language and address designed to stress a commonalty with his audience (verses 1–2), and to emphasize that he, like them, is a 'zealot for God' (verse 3) with a 'strict seminary education rooted in Jerusalem'; both are consistent with Paul's own claims about his education in .

Verse 3

: aul said:''"I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of

Gamaliel Gamaliel the Elder (; also spelled Gamliel; he, רַבַּן גַּמְלִיאֵל הַזָּקֵן ''Rabban Gamlīʾēl hazZāqēn''; grc-koi, Γαμαλιὴλ ὁ Πρεσβύτερος ''Gamaliēl ho Presbýteros''), or Rabban Gamaliel I, ...

, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today."'' *"This city": refers to

. An argument, that 'this city' refers to Tarsus, does not match Paul's argument here.

Verse 8

: aul said:''"So I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, whom you are persecuting.'"'' The detailed record of Paul's conversion story here indicates that this account is important for Luke, even with some differences from the record in chapter 9, thus shedding 'an interesting light on Luke's practice as a narrator', who 'sees no difficulty in the fact that the retold story is slightly different each time'.

Verse 12

: aul said:''"Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there,"'' *" Ananias": is given a little more background detail by Paul compared to the previous account in chapter 9, which is 'relevant to his claim to be working within a framework of observant Judaism'.

Verse 16

: aul retold that Ananias said to him:''"And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord."'' *"Be baptized": In chapter 9, the significance of baptism was only alluded briefly without explanation, but here it is made explicit: 'it is to do with cleansing from sin, and calling on the name of

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

Verses 17–18

: aul said:'"Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance and saw Him saying to me, 'Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.'""'' *"I returned to Jerusalem": likely refers to the visit of

Acts 9 Acts 9 is the ninth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records Saul's conversion and the works of Saint Peter.Halley, Henry H. ''Halley's Bible Handbook'': an abbreviated Bible commentary. 23rd edit ...

:26, and Galatians 1:18. Ellicott, C. J. (Ed.) (1905)
''Ellicott's Bible Commentary for English Readers''. Acts 22.
London : Cassell and Company, Limited, 905-1906Online version: (OCoLC) 929526708. Accessed 28 April 2019.

Paul the Roman (22:22–29)

When Paul mentioned about Gentiles, the audience was again stirred up and behaving riotous (verses 22–23), so the tribune decides to remove Paul for further interrogation in the barracks, that is 'the examination of witnesses by torture' (verse 24), which was a routine practice in both Greek and Roman judicial systems. At the last moment, Paul reveals a little more of his citizenship status (verse 25) that 'produces consternation and dismay among the soldiers and minor officials into whose hands he has fallen' (verses 26–29).

Verse 28

: ''The commander answered, "With a large sum I obtained this citizenship."'' ::''And Paul said, "But I was born a citizen."'' NKJV The claim of Paul to be 'free-born' here means that his citizenship status 'goes back at least to his father's generation, possibly earlier, to the period of the civil wars, when Roman generals granted citizenship to a number of individuals and associations in the Greek East who had supported their cause'. The citizenship status of the tribune (whose name is

Claudius Lysias Claudius Lysias is a figure mentioned in the New Testament book of the Acts of the Apostles. According to , Lysias was a Roman tribune and the commander (chiliarch) of the Roman garrison ("cohort" ) in Jerusalem. Claudius Lysias, the tribune Cl ...

; cf. ) corresponds to the record of 'the growing laxity of citizenship grants, which were widely reported to be freely available for money' during the reign of

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...

Caesar (Dio Cassius, 60. 17.5–6).

Paul to be brought before the Sanhedrin (22:30)

The tribune 'ordered' the Sanhedrin to meet, although only in an advisory capacity, to 'help him determine whether or not Paul had a case to answer in Jewish law'.

References

Sources

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Acts of the Apostles 22