Acts 16:22
in Acts 16The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered that they be stripped and beaten with rods.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent their garments off them, and commanded to beat them with rods.
KJV
And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
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This verse in Acts 16
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThe multitude rose up together - There was a general outcry against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes, and delivered them to the mob, commanding the lictors, or beadles, to beat them with rods, ῥαβδιζειν. This was the Roman custom of treating criminals, as Grotius has well remarked.
This site's exposition
rose up together against them
on Acts 16:22-24
The multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them, due process abandoned entirely under mob pressure, Paul and Silas punished before any defense is heard or their citizenship checked. Having laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely, a charge the jailor takes with such severity that, having received it, he thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks, the harshest confinement the prison offered. The illegality of beating uncondemned Roman citizens, which Paul invokes at verse thirty seven, makes the magistrates' haste here the very failure that returns to embarrass them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them." O the irrational conduct! They did not examine, did not allow them to speak. And yet, such a miracle having taken place, ye ought to have worshipped them, ought to have held them as saviors and benefactors. For if money was what ye wished, why, having found so great wealth, did ye not run to it? This makes you more famous, the having power to cast out demons than the obeying them. Lo, even miracles, and yet love of money was mightier. But observe them, Paul and Silas, how they do not answer, nor plead for themselves; "For when," saith he, "I am weak, then am I strong. My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness": so that by reason of their gentleness also they should be admired.
The Medieval Church1 voice
To perform miracles and to teach was the work of Paul, while Silas also took part with him in dangers. Take note that even the demons know that the crucified Jesus is the Most High God, and that Paul is His servant, which he himself …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The magistrates commanded that they should be whipped as vagabonds, by the lictors or beadles who attended the prætors, and carried rods with them for that purpose; this was one of those three times that Paul was beaten with rods, according to the Roman usage, which was not under the compassionate limitation of the number of stripes not to exceed forty, which was provided by the Jewish law.
And the multitude rose up together against them,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
23, 24. when they had laid many stripes upon them--the bleeding wounds from which they were not washed till it was done by the converted jailer (Ac 16:33). charged the jailer . . . who . . . thrust them into the inner prison--"pestilential cells, damp and cold, from which the light was excluded, and where the chains rusted on the prisoners.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And the multitude ... - It is evident that this was done in a popular tumult, and without even the form of law. Of this Paul afterward justly complained, as it was a violation of the privileges of a Roman citizen, and contrary to the laws. See the notes on Act 16:37. It was one instance in which people affect great zeal for the honor of the Law, and yet are among the first to disregard it. And the magistrates - Act 16:20. They who should have been their protectors until they had had a fair trial according to law. Rent off their clothes - This was always done when one was to be scourged or whipped. The criminal was usually stripped entirely naked. Livy says (ii. 5), “The lictors, being sent to inflict punishment, beat them with rods, being naked.” Cicero, against Verres, says, “He commanded the man to be seized, and to be stripped naked in the midst of the forum, and to be bound, and rods to be brought.” And commanded to beat them - ῥαβδίζειν rabdizein. To beat them with rods. This was done by lictors, whose office it was, and was a common mode of punishment among the Romans. Probably Paul alludes to this as one of the instances which occurred in his life of his being publicly scourged, when he says 2Co 11:25, “Thrice was I beaten with rods.”
The words behind it
15 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| συνεπέστη | sunepeste | rose up together | G4911 → | |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὄχλος | ochlos | crowd | G3793 → | 175 times |
| κατ᾽ | kat᾽ | against | G2596 → | 468 times |
| αὐτῶν, | auton | them, | G846 → | 5565 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| οἱ | hoi | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| στρατηγοὶ | strategoi | magistrates | G4755 → | 10 times |
| περιρήξαντες | perirexantes | having torn off | G4048 → | |
| αὐτῶν | auton | of them | G846 → | 5565 times |
| τὰ | ta | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἱμάτια | himatia | garments | G2440 → | 60 times |
| ἐκέλευον | ekeleuon | were commanding | G2753 → | 25 times |
| ῥαβδίζειν· | rhabdizein | to beat with rods; | G4463 → |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
συνεπέστηrose up together
sunepesteG4911 →
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
ὄχλοςcrowd
ochlosG3793 →175 times
κατ᾽against
kat᾽G2596 →468 times
αὐτῶν,them,
autonG846 →5565 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
οἱthe
hoiG3588 →19766 times
στρατηγοὶmagistrates
strategoiG4755 →10 times
περιρήξαντεςhaving torn off
perirexantesG4048 →
αὐτῶνof them
autonG846 →5565 times
τὰthe
taG3588 →19766 times
ἱμάτιαgarments
himatiaG2440 →60 times
ἐκέλευονwere commanding
ekeleuonG2753 →25 times
ῥαβδίζειν·to beat with rods;
rhabdizeinG4463 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Hebrews 11:36Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 20:2
he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.
- Genesis 39:20
So Joseph’s master took him and had him thrown into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined. While Joseph was there in the prison,
- Jeremiah 37:15–21
The officials were angry with Jeremiah, and they beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison.
- 2 Chronicles 30:10
And the couriers traveled from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun; but the people scorned and mocked them.
- Jeremiah 20:2
Through
1 Thessalonians 2:2As you are aware, we had already endured suffering and shameful treatment in Philippi. But in the face of strong opposition, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of…
it leads to
- Acts 4:13
When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus.
- Acts 16:22–24
The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered that they be stripped and beaten with rods.
- Acts 4:13
Through
2 Corinthians 6:5in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in labor, sleepless nights, and hunger;
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 11:23–25
Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of…
- 2 Corinthians 11:27
in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.
- 2 Corinthians 11:23–25
Where this verse is studied
About Acts
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Acts of the Apostles; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 35; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.