Acts 22:24-25

22:24 the commanding officer ¹  ordered Paul ²  to be brought back into the barracks. ³  He told them ⁴  to interrogate Paul ⁵  by beating him with a lash ⁶  so that he could find out the reason the crowd ⁷  was shouting at Paul ⁸  in this way. 22:25 When they had stretched him out for the lash, ⁹  Paul said to the centurion ¹⁰  standing nearby, “Is it legal for you to lash a man who is a Roman citizen ¹¹  without a proper trial?” ¹² 

Acts 22:29

22:29 Then those who were about to interrogate him stayed away ¹³  from him, and the commanding officer ¹⁴  was frightened when he realized that Paul ¹⁵  was ¹⁶  a Roman citizen ¹⁷  and that he had had him tied up. ¹⁸ 

[22:24]  ¹ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). In Greek the term χιλίαρχος (ciliarco") literally described the “commander of a thousand,” but it was used as the standard translation for the Latin tribunus militum or tribunus militare, the military tribune who commanded a cohort of 600 men.

[22:24]  ² tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:24]  ³ tn Or “the headquarters.” BDAG 775 s.v. παρεμβολή 2 has “barracks/headquarters of the Roman troops in Jerusalem Ac 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32.”

[22:24]  ⁴ tn Grk “into the barracks, saying.” This is a continuation of the same sentence in Greek using the participle εἴπας (eipas), but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence a new sentence was begun in the translation here. The direct object “them” has been supplied; it is understood in Greek.

[22:24]  ⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:24]  ⁶ sn To interrogate Paul by beating him with a lash. Under the Roman legal system it was customary to use physical torture to extract confessions or other information from prisoners who were not Roman citizens and who were charged with various crimes, especially treason or sedition. The lashing would be done with a whip of leather thongs with pieces of metal or bone attached to the ends.

[22:24]  ⁷ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:24]  ⁸ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:25]  ⁹ tn Grk “for the thongs” (of which the lash was made). Although often translated as a dative of means (“with thongs”), referring to thongs used to tie the victim to the whipping post, BDAG 474-75 s.v. ἱμάς states that it “is better taken as a dat. of purpose for the thongs, in which case οἱ ἱμάντες = whips (Posidonius: 87 fgm. 5 Jac.; POxy. 1186, 2 τὴν διὰ τῶν ἱμάντων αἰκείαν. – Antiphanes 74, 8, Demosth. 19, 197 and Artem. 1, 70 use the sing. in this way).”

[22:25]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[22:25]  ¹¹ tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.

[22:25]  ¹² tn Or “a Roman citizen and uncondemned.” BDAG 35 s.v. ἀκατάκριτος has “uncondemned, without due process” for this usage.

[22:29]  ¹³ tn BDAG 158 s.v. ἀφίστημι 2.b has “keep away…ἀπό τινος… Lk 4:13; Ac 5:38; 2 Cor 12:8…cp. Ac 22:29.” In context, the point would seem to be not that the interrogators departed or withdrew, but that they held back from continuing the flogging.

[22:29]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 24.

[22:29]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:29]  ¹⁶ tn This is a present tense (ἐστιν, estin) retained in indirect discourse. It must be translated as a past tense in contemporary English.

[22:29]  ¹⁷ tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.

[22:29]  ¹⁸ sn Had him tied up. Perhaps a reference to the chains in Acts 21:33, or the preparations for the lashing in Acts 22:25. A trial would now be needed to resolve the matter. The Roman authorities’ hesitation to render a judgment in the case occurs repeatedly: Acts 22:30; 23:28-29; 24:22; 25:20, 26-27. The legal process begun here would take the rest of Acts and will be unresolved at the end. The process itself took four years of Paul’s life.