Acts 22

Acts 22:1

Good News for Everyone An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of Acts www.easyenglish.info Marion Adams This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 22 Paul speaks to the crowd, 22:1-21 v1 ‘Brothers and fathers, listen to me! I will explain what happened.’

v2 The crowd became even quieter. This was because they heard Paul speak in *Aramaic. Paul continued, v3 ‘I am a *Jew. I was born in Tarsus in Cilicia. But I grew up in this city. Gamaliel taught me.

I learnt every *Law of our *ancestors. I was eager to obey God. I was as eager as all of you here today. v4 I *persecuted everyone who followed the Way. I even killed them. I arrested both men and women and I put them in prison. v5 The *high priest and the whole *Sanhedrin can prove that this is true. They even gave me letters to the *Jewish leaders in Damascus so that I could arrest people there.

I could bring them to *Jerusalem for their punishment. v6 It was about noon when I came near to Damascus. Suddenly, there was a bright light from heaven. It flashed round me. v7 I fell to the ground. I heard a voice. It was asking me, “Saul, Saul, why do you *persecute me?” v8 “Who are you, *Lord?” I asked. “I am Jesus of *Nazareth, the person whom you *persecute”, he replied. v9 The men with me saw the light. But they did not hear the voice. v10 “*Lord, what do you want me to do?” I asked. “Get up”, the *Lord said. “Go to Damascus.

There, someone will tell you what to do.” v11 I was blind because of the light. My companions took my hand and they led me into Damascus.

v12 A man called Ananias lived in that city. He was a *holy man who obeyed Moses’ *Law. All the *Jews who lived there respected him. v13 He came to me and he stood by me. He said, “Saul, my friend, now you can see again!”

Immediately I could see. I looked at Ananias. v14 He said, “The God of our *ancestors has chosen you. You will know what he wants to happen. He has chosen you to see his *Righteous Servant and to hear his voice. v15 You will be his witness. You must tell everyone what you have seen. You must tell them what you have heard. v16 Do not wait any longer. Get up! Receive *baptism. Wash away your *sins by praying to the *Lord.” ’

Verses 1-5 Almost all of Paul’s audience were *Jews. So, Paul called them his ‘brothers and fathers’ (verse 1). He spoke in the *Jewish language, *Aramaic. This made them listen.

Paul wanted them to know that he was a true *Jew. He was not against the *Jewish religion. He had learned everything about the *Law. Gamaliel, the most famous *Jewish teacher, had taught him.

Paul was very eager to obey God. That was why he had *persecuted *Christians. He had believed that they had turned against the *Jewish religion. But he was wrong.

Verse 6-11 Luke tells this story in Acts 9:1-19. Here, we can read it in Paul’s own words.

Paul emphasised that he did not decide to become a *Christian by himself. He changed because of something that God did. He said that he saw the light at noon. So, it was brighter than the sun! He heard the voice of Jesus of *Nazareth. He asked Jesus what to do. He obeyed the voice. He was blind, so his companions led him into Damascus.

Verse 12 Paul’s account here emphasised things that were important to the *Jews. He described Ananias as ‘a *holy man who obeyed Moses’ *Law’. Also, he said that ‘all the *Jews who lived there (in Damascus) respected him (Ananias)’.

Verses 13-14 Ananias cured Paul. Then he said that God had chosen Paul. ‘The God of our *ancestors’ (verse 14) and ‘his *Righteous Servant’ were *Jewish phrases. So, this God was the same God that the *Jews *worshipped. His *Righteous Servant was Jesus of *Nazareth.

Verses 15-16 God wanted Paul to tell everyone about this. So, Ananias told him to get up and go immediately. He told Paul to receive *baptism and to pray.

v17 ‘Then I returned to *Jerusalem. I went to the *Temple to pray. There, I had a *vision. v18 I saw the *Lord. He was saying to me, “Hurry! Leave *Jerusalem immediately. The people will not listen to what you say about me.” v19 “*Lord”, I answered, “they know what I did. I went to the *synagogues. I arrested people who had *faith in you. I hurt them. v20 Stephen died because he was your witness. I was there and I approved of his murder. I looked after the coats of the men who killed him.” v21 But the *Lord said, “Go! I will send you far away, to the *Gentiles.” ’

Verses 17-18 Paul mentioned the *Temple here. This showed that he was not against the *Temple! He went there to pray as a *Christian. While he was there, Jesus appeared to him.

In Acts 9:26-31, Luke records that the *Jews were plotting against Paul. They wanted to kill him. Paul did not want to say that to his audience! But he knew about the plot when he prayed. So, Jesus told him to leave *Jerusalem. The *believers helped Paul to do this (Acts 9:30).

Verses 19-21 Paul seemed to argue with Jesus. He did not want to leave the *Jews. He thought that they would listen to him. This was because he had changed so much. Only God could change a person like this. Before, Paul had *persecuted *Christians. He had approved of Stephen’s death. Now, he believed because he had spoken to Jesus himself. Again, Jesus told him to go. The *Jews would not believe what he said. Instead, he must go to the *Gentiles. Paul – the *Roman citizen, 22:22-30 v22 The crowd were listening, until Paul said this. Then they started to shout loudly, ‘Take him away! Kill him! He does not deserve to live!’

v23 They continued to shout. They threw off their coats. They threw dust up in the air. v24 The *Roman soldiers’ leader ordered people to take Paul into the *fort. He ordered them to whip Paul and he ordered them to ask Paul questions. The people were shouting at Paul. The soldiers’ leader wanted to know why. v25 They got ready to whip Paul.

As they tied him, he asked the captain there a question. He said, ‘Is it legal to whip a *Roman citizen before his *trial?’ v26 When the captain heard this, he went to the soldiers’ leader. He said, ‘Be careful about what you are doing! This man is a *Roman citizen!’ v27 The soldiers’ leader went to Paul. He said, ‘Tell me! Are you a *Roman citizen?’ ‘Yes, I am’, Paul answered. v28 Then the soldiers’ leader said, ‘I paid a lot of money to become a *Roman citizen.’ Paul answered, ‘But I was born a *Roman citizen.’ v29 The men who were ready to whip Paul left immediately.

The soldiers’ leader was afraid. He realised that Paul was a *Roman citizen. But he had put Paul in chains.

Verses 22-23 Paul said that *Gentiles could know God. God wanted them to know him. They did not have to become *Jews first. Paul’s words meant that *Gentiles were equal with *Jews to God.

The *Jews showed their anger. They threw off their coats and they threw dust. Paul had spoken in *Aramaic. So, the soldiers’ leader did not understand. He did not know why the crowd was angry.

Verses 24-26 The soldiers’ leader did not want a *riot. So, he ordered his soldiers to take Paul into the *fort. He needed to know what Paul had said.

He was not patient any longer. He ordered his men to whip Paul. This was the usual way that the *Romans got information from prisoners. The *Romans made their whips from long pieces of leather. They attached sharp bits of metal and bone to the leather. Then they tied the pieces of leather to a strong wooden stick. Often, prisoners died when people hit them with this whip. It gave them terrible injuries.

As the soldiers prepared to whip Paul, he asked the captain a question. The answer was no! It was not legal to whip a *Roman citizen before a *trial. We know this because the *Roman writer Cicero (106-43 *BC) said so.

When Paul asked this question, the captain knew that Paul was a *Roman citizen. If they whipped him, they were going against *Roman law. This was very serious. The soldiers’ leader would lose his job. The *Roman government might even punish him with death. So, the captain told the soldiers’ leader. The soldiers’ leader asked Paul if he was a *Roman citizen. Paul said, ‘Yes’.

Verses 28-29 Paul’s father was a *Roman citizen. So, Paul was a *Roman citizen by birth. The soldiers’ leader had paid money to become a citizen. This was not legal. But some people paid money in secret to bad government officials. These bad officials let them become *Roman citizens. This happened often when Claudius (10 *BC – *AD 54) was *Emperor. Perhaps this is why the soldiers’ leader added the name Claudius to his real *Greek name Lysias (see Acts 23:26).

The soldiers did not whip Paul. They left. The soldiers’ leader realised that he had made a serious mistake. But he did not let Paul go free. He still thought that Paul had done a crime.

v30 The *Jewish leaders were accusing Paul. The soldiers’ leader wanted to discover the exact reason why. So, the next day, he ordered people to take Paul’s chains off. He ordered the chief priests and all the *Sanhedrin to meet together. Then he brought Paul in. He made Paul stand in front of them.

Verse 30 So, he kept Paul in chains for one night. This was probably to keep Paul safe. The crowd wanted to kill him. The soldiers’ leader still wanted to know what Paul had done.

He probably thought that Paul’s crime was against the *Jewish religion. This was why he ordered the most important priests and *Jewish leaders to meet. He wanted them to listen to Paul. They could decide if he deserved a punishment.

© 1997-2005, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

April 2005

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var w0 = new Array;w0[0]=’<b%3EAramaic</b%3E ~ a local Jewish language. Jesus spoke Aramaic.