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Acts 22:29

in Acts 22

Then those who were about to interrogate Paul stepped back, and the commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put a Roman citizen in chains.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

They then that were about to examine him straightway departed from him: and the chief captain also was afraid when he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

KJV

Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

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This verse in Acts 22

Commentary

10 notes on this verse

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Acts · Written before 550.

But later he was bound in Jerusalem according to the prophecy. What then follows from this? Having loosened him, he led him before the Jews. Therefore it was not a falsehood. For the tribune feared, he says, having recognized that he is a Roman, that …

This site's exposition

are you a Roman citizen

on Acts 22:27-29

The commander had paid a high price for his citizenship, likely by bribery, but Paul was born a citizen, his by birth in Tarsus. The commander was alarmed to have put a Roman citizen in chains.

This site's exposition

stepped back

Matthew Henry notes that the commander had only bound Paul for the whip, yet that alone put him in danger. Adam Clarke cites the speech of Cicero against Verres on the outrage of scourging a Roman citizen. Oecumenius observes that the word of Agabus still held.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Acts 48 · Written before 407.

proposed

"When the centurion heard that, he went and told the tribune, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. Then the tribune came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. And the tribune answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the tribune also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him." "But I," he says, "was free born." So then his father also was a Roman. What then comes of this? He bound him, and brought him down to the Jews. And the chief captain was afraid, after he learnt that he was a Roman. Why then it was no falsehood.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Retractions on Acts · Written before 735.

proposed

The tribune also feared, after he discovered that he was a Roman citizen. For citizen, the same word in Greek is placed, which above was for inhabitant, that is, πολίτης.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Nay, and the colonel himself, though we may suppose him to have a considerable interest, was afraid when he heard he was a Roman, because, though he had not beaten him, yet he had bound him in order to his being beaten. Thus many are restrained from evil practices by the fear of man who would not be restrained from them by the fear of God.
Then straightway they departed from him, which should have examined him,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Then straightway - Immediately. They saw that by scourging him they would have Violated the Roman law, and exposed themselves to its penalty. Which should have examined him - Who were about to torture him by scourging him, Act 22:24. Because he had bound him - Preparatory to scourging him. The act of binding a Roman citizen with such an intent, untried and uncondemned, was unlawful. Prisoners Who were to be scourged were usually bound by the Romans to a pillar or post; and a Similar custom prevailed among the Jews.
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

art thou a Roman?--showing that this being of Tarsus, which he had told him before (Ac 21:39) did not necessarily imply that he was a Roman citizen.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

After he knew that he was a Roman - He who was going to scourge him durst not proceed to the torture when Paul declared himself to be a Roman. A passage from Cicero, Orat. pro Verr. Act. ii. lib. v. 64, throws the fullest light on this place: Ille, quisquis erat, quem tu in crucem rapiebas, qui tibi esset ignotus, cum civem se Romanum esse diceret, apud te Praetorem, si non effugium, ne moram quidem mortis mentione atque usurpatione civitatis assequi potuit? “Whosoever he might be whom thou wert hurrying to the rack, were he even unknown to thee, if he said that he was a Roman citizen, he would necessarily obtain from thee, the Praetor, by the simple mention of Rome, if not an escape, yet at least a delay of his punishment.” The whole of the sixty-fourth and sixty-fifth sections of this oration, which speak so pointedly on this subject, are worthy of consideration. Of this privilege he farther says, Ib. in cap. lvii., Illa vox et exclamatio, Civis Romanus sum, quae saepe multis in ultimis terris opem inter barbaros et salutem tulit, etc. That exclamation, I am a Roman citizen, which often times has brought assistance and safety, even among barbarians, in the remotest parts of the earth, etc. Plutarch likewise, in his Life of Pompey, (vol. iii. p. 445, edit. Bryan), says, concerning the behavior of the pirates, when they had taken any Roman prisoner, Εκεινο δε ην ὑβριϚικωτατον κ. τ. λ. what was the most contumelious was this; when any of those whom they had made captives cried out, Ῥωμαιος ειναι, That He Was a Roman, and told them his name, they pretended to be surprised, and be in a fright, and smote upon their thighs, and fell down (on their knees) to him, beseeching him to pardon them! It is no wonder then that the torturer desisted, when Paul cried out that he was a Roman; and that the chief captain was alarmed, because he had bound him.

The words behind it

23 Greek words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

6 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Acts 21:33The commander came up and arrested Paul, ordering that he be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done.5 worksActs 16:38So the officers relayed this message to the magistrates, who were alarmed to hear that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.5 worksActs 22:24–26the commander ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. He directed that Paul be flogged and interrogated to determine the reason for this outcry against him.3 worksHebrews 11:35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused their release, so that they might gain a better resurrection.3 worksActs 22:26On hearing this, the centurion went and reported it to the commander. “What are you going to do?” he said. “This man is a Roman citizen.”2 worksMatthew 27:2They bound Him, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate the governor.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 11:35

    Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused their release, so that they might gain a better resurrection.

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 4:27–37

      When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul…

    • 1 Kings 17:22–24

      And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah, and the child’s life returned to him, and he lived.

    • Philippians 3:11

      and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

    • Acts 9:41

      Peter took her by the hand and helped her up. Then he called the saints and widows and presented her to them alive.

    • Acts 24:15

      and I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

  • Through

    Acts 21:33

    The commander came up and arrested Paul, ordering that he be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done.

    it leads to

    • Ephesians 6:20

      for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it fearlessly, as I should.

    • Acts 21:11

      Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands, and said, “The Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt…

    • Acts 12:6

      On the night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, with sentries standing guard at the entrance to the prison.

Where this verse is studied

About Acts

The Pentecost, El Greco, about 1600, Museo del Prado. Public domain.
The Pentecost, El Greco, about 1600, Museo del Prado. Public domain.
Acts: the study guide →Read Acts 22 →
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on Acts; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Retractions on Acts; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 48; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.

Read on in Acts 22 →