Acts 24:7
in Acts 24BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
KJV
But the chief captain Lysias came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands,
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This verse in Acts 24
Commentary
8 notes on this verseBut the chief captain Lysias came upon us,.... Suddenly, and at unawares, immediately, and with great haste, before they could execute their designs; which were not to judge Paul according to law, but to kill him, in the manner the zealots did: and with great violence took him away out of our hands; for he came with an army, and rescued him, Act 23:27 Some copies add, "and sent him to thee"; and so the Syriac version reads.
This site's exposition
the chief captain Lysias came upon us
on Acts 24:7-9
The received text behind the King James Version adds a verse 7 here, saying that Lysias took Paul from the Jews by force. The oldest surviving manuscripts lack it, and modern critical editions print it only in a footnote, as with 8:37.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Then comes the accusation against Lysias. "It was not right for him," he says, "to drag him away with great violence." … "He tried," he says, "to profane the temple," but [Tertullus] does not say how. He also magnified what concerned Paul, but see how he diminished what concerned him. "We seized him," he says, "and would have judged him according to our law." He claims that it was unpleasant to them to come to foreign courts and that they would have not given trouble to [Felix], if he had not forced them, and that it was not right for Lysias to take Paul away. "These," he says, "were in fact offenses against us, because the trial ought to have taken place among us." See now the rest as a confirmation that things were so, "with great violence," he says. That, indeed, was violence. "From him," he says, "you will be able to learn." … He puts Paul in the position to become his own accuser. "From him," he says, "you will be able to know by judging." And the very witnesses of the things that were said, they are the accusers—they are the witnesses and the accusers.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Whom we also apprehended. From whom you will be able, by judging all these things, to know. In this place, some of our Codices have several verses which read in Greek as follows: Whom we also apprehended, and according to our law wished to judge. …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But these cruel men justify themselves, and reckon him their enemy who kept them (as David there speaks) from shedding blood with their own hands. [3.] They referred the matter to Felix and his judgment, yet seeming uneasy that they were under a necessity of doing so, the chief captain having obliged them to it (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
But the chief captain ... - Tertullus pretends that they would have judged Paul righteously if Lysias had not interposed; but the truth was, that, without regard to law or justice, they would have murdered him on the spot.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
a pestilent fellow--a plague, or pest. and a mover of sedition among all the Jews--by exciting disturbances among them. throughout the world--(See on Lu 2:1). This was the first charge; and true only in the sense explained on Ac 16:20. a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes--the second charge; and true enough.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
With great violence - Μετα πολλης βιας, I rather think, means with an armed force. Tertullus intimates that Lysias interfered contrary to law, and brought soldiers to support him in his infringement on their constitution. This is what he seems to say and complain of; for the Jews were vexed with Lysias for rescuing the apostle from their hands.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Acts

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Acts; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom, CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 24.7-9; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
