Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 22:28
And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was [free] born.
28. obtained I this freedom ] Better “ this citizenship ” ( Rev. Ver.). Probably at the time when the A. V. was made “freedom” conveyed somewhat of this sense as we speak still of bestowing on any one the “freedom” of a city, meaning thereby all the rights of a citizen. It was the Roman boast “I am a Roman citizen,” (Cic. in Verr. v. 63). The sale of the freedom of Rome was at times the perquisite of some of the Imperial parasites and favourites, who made what they could of such a privilege.
I was free born ] Rev. Ver. “I am a Roman born.” How St Paul came to be a Roman citizen by birth we cannot tell, probably some ancestor for meritorious conduct had been rewarded with enfranchisement. Tarsus was a free city, and had its own laws and magistrates, but that did not constitute its inhabitants Roman citizens.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
With a great sum obtained I this freedom – The freedom or privilege of Roman citizenship. From this it would seem that the privilege of being a Roman citizen might be purchased, unless perhaps he refers to the expenses which were necessarily attendant in passing through the proper forms of becoming a Roman citizen. The argument of the tribune in this case is this: I obtained this privilege at a great price. Whence did you, Paul, thus poor and persecuted, obtain the means of becoming a Roman citizen? Paul had informed him that he was a native of Tarsus Act 21:39; and the chief captain supposed that that was not a free city, and that Paul could not have derived the privilege of citizenship from his birth.
But I was free born – I was born a Roman citizen, or I am such in virtue of my birth. Various opinions have been formed on the question in what way or for what reasons Paul was entitled to the privileges of a Roman citizen. Some have supposed that Tarsus was a Roman colony, and that he thus became a Roman citizen. But of this there does not appear to be sufficient proof. Pliny says (Act 21:27) that it was a free city. Appian says that it was endowed with the privileges of a free city by Augustus Caesar after it had been greatly afflicted and oppressed by wars. Dio Chrysost. says to the people of Tarsus, He (Augustus) has conferred on you everything which anyone could bestow on his friends and companions, a country (that is, a free country), laws, honor, authority over the river (Cydranus) and the neighboring sea. Free cities were permitted in the Roman empire to use their own laws, customs, and magistrates, and they were free from being subject to Roman guards. They were required only to acknowledge the supremacy and authority of the Roman people, and to aid them in their wars. Such a city was Tarsus; and, having been born there, Paul was entitled to these privileges of a free man. Many critics have supposed that this privilege of Roman citizenship had been conferred on some of the ancestors of Paul in consequence of some distinguished military service. Such a conferring of the rights of citizenship was not unusual, and possibly might have occurred in this case. But there is no direct historical proof of it; and the former fact that he was born in a free city, will amply account for his affirmation that he was free born. Compare the notes on Act 16:37.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 28. With a great sum obtained I this freedom] So it appears that the freedom, even of Rome, might be purchased, and that it was sold at a very high price.
But I was free born.] It has been generally believed that the inhabitants of Tarsus, born in that city, had the same rights and privileges as Roman citizens, in consequence of a charter or grant from Julius Caesar. Calmet disputes this, because Tarsus was a free not a colonial city; and he supposes that Paul’s father might have been rewarded with the freedom of Rome for some military services, and that it was in consequence of this that Paul was born free. But that the city of Tarsus had such privileges appears extremely probable. In Ac 21:39, Paul says he was born at Tarsus in Cilicia, and in Ac 22:28, he says he was free born; and, at Ac 22:26, he calls himself a Roman; as he does also Ac 16:37. From whence it has been concluded, with every show of reason, that Tarsus, though no Roman colony, yet had this privilege granted to it, that its natives should be citizens of Rome. PLINY, in Hist. Nat. lib. v. 27, tells us that Tarsus was a free city. And APPIAN, De Bello Civil. lib. v. p. 1077, edit. Tollii, says that Antony, , , made the people of Tarsus free, and discharged them from paying tribute. DIO CASSIUS, lib. xlvii. p. 508, edit. Reimar, farther tells us, Adeo Caesari priori, et ejus gratia etiam posteriori, favebant Tarsenses, ut urbem suam pro Tarso JULIOPOLIN vocaverint: “that, for the affection which the people of Tarsus bore to Julius Caesar, and afterwards to Augustus, the former caused their city to be called Juliopolis.” The Greek text is as follows:- , ‘ , , ‘ . To which I add, that PHILO, de Virt. vol. ii. p. 587, edit. Mang., makes Agrippa say to Caligula, You have made whole countries, to which your friends belong, to be citizens of Rome. See Clarke on Ac 21:39. These testimonies are of weight sufficient to show that Paul, by being born at Tarsus, might have been free born, and a Roman. See Bishop Pearce on Ac 16:37.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The historian relates, that the emperor Claudius sold this privilege to such foreigners as had not by any notable service merited to have it conferred upon them. At first it cost them very much to obtain it, as it did this chief captain; but afterwards it was more cheap and contemptible.
I was free born; though Paul was born of Hebrew parents, yet he was born at Tarsus, to the natives of which town Augustus had given this privilege, for the assistance that the citizens afforded him in his wars with Brutus and Cassius; or, as some will have it, for favouring of Julius Caesar, this privilege was granted unto that place by him: and they, on the other side, to continue the sense of his favour, caused their town to be called Juliopolis, or the city of Julius.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
28. With a great sum obtained I thisfreedomRoman citizenship was bought and sold in the reign ofClaudius, we know, at a high price: at a subsequent date, for next tonothing. But to put in a false claim to this privilege was a capitalcrime.
I was freebornborn to it, by purchase, or in reward of services, on thepart of his father or some ancestor.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the chief captain answered, with a great sum obtained I this freedom,…. For, it seems, he was not a Roman born, but very likely a Grecian, or Syrian, by his name Lysias; and as all things were now venal at Rome, the freedom of the city was to be bought with money, though a large sum was insisted on for it: this the chief captain said, as wondering that so mean a person, and who he understood was a Jew by birth, should be able to procure such a privilege, which cost him so much money:
and Paul said, but I was free born; being born at Tarsus; which, as Pliny says l, was a free city, and which had its freedom given it by Mark Antony, and which was before the birth of Paul; and therefore his parents being of this city, and free, he was born so.
l Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 27.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
With a great sum ( ). The use of (from , head) for sums of money (principal as distinct from interest) is old and frequent in the papyri. Our word capital is from (head). The genitive is used here according to rule for price. “The sale of the Roman citizenship was resorted to by the emperors as a means of filling the exchequer, much as James I. made baronets” (Page). Dio Cassius (LX., 17) tells about Messalina the wife of Claudius selling Roman citizenship. Lysias was probably a Greek and so had to buy his citizenship.
But I am a Roman born ( ). Perfect passive indicative of . The word “Roman” not in the Greek. Literally, “But I have been even born one,” (i.e. born a Roman citizen). There is calm and simple dignity in this reply and pardonable pride. Being a citizen of Tarsus (21:39) did not make Paul a Roman citizen. Tarsus was an urbs libera, not a colonia like Philippi. Some one of his ancestors (father, grandfather) obtained it perhaps as a reward for distinguished service. Paul’s family was of good social position. “He was educated by the greatest of the Rabbis; he was at an early age entrusted by the Jewish authorities with an important commission; his nephew could gain ready access to the Roman tribune; he was treated as a person of consequence by Felix, Festus, Agrippa, and Julius” (Furneaux).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Sum [] . Lit., capital. The purchase of Roman citizenship was an investment. Under the first Roman emperors it was obtained only at large cost and with great difficulty; later, it was sold for a trifle. I was free born [ ] . Lit., I am even so born, leaving the mind to supply free or a Roman. Better, as Rev., I am a Roman born.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And the chief captain answered,” (apekrithe de ho chiliarchos) “Then the chief captain replied,” or responded. Claudius Lysias is believed to have been a Greek, who took the name Claudius (a Roman name), when he bought his citizenship under Claudius Caesar, the Roman emperor.
2) “With a great sum obtained I this freedom.” (ego pollou kepalaiou ten politeian tauten ektesamen) “I acquired this citizenship(of my position) for a great sum of money.” That is, he bought his citizenship, and the privileges of freedom it afforded under Roman law.
3) “And Paul said, But I was free born.” (ho de Paulos ephe ego de kai gegennemai) “Then Paul explained (asserted), but I honestly have been born as a Roman,” have been a Roman, even from birth. His father was a Roman citizen, whether he received it by purchase or from special service is not known, but Paul inherited his Roman citizenship. Both the chief captain (Lysias) and the centurion knew that to claim to be a Roman citizen falsely was a serious crime, but no more serious than for a Roman official to beat a Roman citizen before an open trial, on mere allegations of charges against a prisoner.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
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28. With a great sum. The chief captain objecteth this to refute him as if he should say, that the freedom of the city is not so common, and easily to be obtained. How can it be that thou, being some base fellow of the country of the Cilicians, shouldst obtain this honor, for which I paid sweetly? Whereas Paul maketh answer, that he was free born, who never saw the city, yea, whose father it may be was never there, there is no cause why this should trouble any man. For those who are skillful in the Roman history know that certain were made free of the city who dwelt in the provinces, if, having deserved well of the commonwealth, or in war, or in other weighty affairs, they did desire and crave this reward of the deputies, [proconsuls] so that it is no absurdity to say that he was born a citizen of Rome, who, descending by his ancestors of some province far distant from Rome, did never set foot in Italy. Notwithstanding, the question is, how this can hang together, that the chief captain was afraid, because he had bound a citizen of Rome, and yet he did not loose him from his bonds until the morrow? It may be that he deferred it till the next day, lest he should show some token of fear. Notwithstanding, I think that the chief captain was afraid, because Paul was bound at his commandment, that he might be scourged, because this was to do injury to the body of a citizen of Rome, and to break the common liberty, and that [although] it was lawful to put a Roman in prison.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(28) With a great sum obtained I this freedom.Better, this citizenship, the word expressing, not the transition from bondage to freedom, but from the position of an alien to that of a citizen. Probably the translators used the word in the sense in which we still speak of the freedom of a city. The chiliarch was himself, apparently, an alien by birth, and, as was customary at the time, had obtained the citizenship by the payment of a large bribe. As the admission of citizens now rested with the Emperor, as holding the office of Censor, the money had probably been paid to Narcissus, or some other of Claudius favourite freed-men who carried on a traffic of this kind.
I was free born.The Greek is somewhat more emphatic: I am one even from birth. This implies that St. Pauls father or grandfather had received the citizenship; how, we cannot tell. Many of the Jews who were taken to Rome by Pompeius as slaves first obtained their freedom and became libertini, and afterwards were admitted on the register as citizens. (See Note on Act. 6:9; Act. 16:37.) The mention of kinsmen or friends at Rome (Rom. 16:7; Rom. 16:11), makes it probable, as has been said, that the Apostles father may have been among them.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
28. With a great sum Messalina, the mother of the emperor Claudius, freely sold the right of citizenship for money. The article did not long require “a great sum,” and gradually became very cheap.
Free born (See our note on Act 16:37.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Act 22:28. But I was free born. This is thought, by some, to have been in consequence of his being a native of Tarsus; but Dr. Lardner has produced many strong arguments against admitting that city to have been a colony, or what the Romans call municipium, that is, a place where all the natives were free of Rome by birth. It seems therefore much more probable, that St. Paul’s father, or some other of his ancestors, might have been rewarded with the freedom of the city for his fidelity and bravery in some military service, as an auxiliary to the Romans, as Josephus says several Jews were. It is also most certain that the freedom of the city of Rome might be bought.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Act 22:28-29 . . . . .] The tribune, to whom it was known that a native of Tarsus had not, as such , the right of citizenship, thinks that Paul must probably have come to it by purchase, and yet for this the arrested Cilician appears to him too poor. With the sale of citizenship, it was sought at that time (Dio Cass. 60:17) by an often ridiculed abuse to fill the imperial chest. Comp. Wetstein and Jacobs, ad Del. Epigr . p. 177.
See examples of , capital, sum of money , as to the use of which in ancient Greek (Plat. Legg . v. p. 742 C) Beza was mistaken in Kypke, II. p. 116.
] But I am even so ( ) born , namely, as , so that my , as hereditary, is even ! a bold answer, which did not fail to make its impression.
. .] and the tribune also was afraid . On , atque etiam , see on Joh 6:51 . “Facinus est, vinciri civem Romanum; scelus, verberari; prope parricidium necari,” Cic. Verr . v. 66. Comp. on Act 16:37 . And the binding had taken place with arbitrary violence before any examination . [140] It is otherwise Act 26:27 , Act 26:29 . See on these two passages. Therefore , which evidently points to Act 21:33 , is not to be referred, with Bttger, Beitr . II. p. 6, to the binding with a view to scourging (on account of Act 22:30 ); nor, with de Wette, is the statement of the fear of the tribune to be traced back to an error of the reporter, or at all to be removed by conjectural emendation (Rinck: ). And that Paul was still bound after the hearing (Act 23:18 ), was precisely after the hearing and after the occurrences in it in due order. See Bttger, I.c. ; Wieseler, p. 377.
dependent on : and because he was in the position of having bound him .
[140] During imprisonment preparatory to trial binding was legally admissible, so far as it was connected with the custodia militaris .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
28 And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.
Ver. 28. With a great sum ] Or, with long service. This privilege was first sold at a dear rate to foreigners, but afterwards for a small matter. (Dio in Claudio.)
But I was freeborn ] Tarsus, Paul’s country, was a Roman colony, and made free of Rome by Mark Antony.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
28. ] Dio Cassius, lx. 17, mentions that, in the reign of Claudius, Messalina used to sell the freedom of the city, and at very various prices at different times: , , , .
.] But I (besides having the privilege like thee of being a Roman citizen) was also born one . How was Paul a Roman citizen by birth ? Certainly not because he was of Tarsus: for (1) that city had no such privilege, but was only an ‘urbs libera, not a Colonia nor a Municipium: and (2) if this had been so, the mention of his being a man of Tarsus (ch. Act 21:39 ) would have of itself prevented his being scourged. It remains, therefore, that his father or some ancestor must have obtained the civitas, either as a reward for service (‘urbes, merita erga P. R. allegantes, civitate donavit,’ Suet. Aug [148] 47) or by purchase. It has been suggested that the father of Saul may have been sold into slavery at Rome, when Cassius laid a heavy fine on the city [of Tarsus] for having espoused the cause of Octavius and Antony, Appian, B. C. iv. 64, and very many of the Tarsians were sold to pay it. He may have acquired his freedom and the citizenship afterwards. See Mr. Lewin, i. p. 4. But this is mere conjecture.
[148] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo , 395 430
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 22:28 . ., cf. LXX, Lev. 5:24 (Lev 6:4 ), Num 5:7 ; Jos., Ant. , xii., 2, 3 (used by Plato of capital ( caput ) as opposed to interest). Mr. Page compares the making of baronets by Jas 1 . as a means of filling the exchequer. : “this citizenship,” R.V., jus civitatis, cf. 3Ma 3:21 ; 3Ma 3:23 , so in classical Greek. Probably A.V. renders “freedom” quite as we might speak of the freedom of the city being conferred upon any one. On the advantages of the rights of Roman citizenship see Schrer, div. ii., vol. ii., pp. 277, 278, E.T., and “Citizenship,” Hastings’ B.D. : Dio Cassius, lx., 17, tells us how Messalina the wife of Claudius and the freedmen sold the Roman citizenship, and how at one time it might be purchased for one or two cracked drinking-cups (see passage in full in Wetstein, and also Cic., Ad Fam. , xii., 36). Very probably the Chiliarch was a Greek, Lysias, Act 23:26 , who had taken the Roman name Claudius on his purchase of the citizenship under the emperor of that name. : “but I am a Roman even from birth”: “item breviter et cum dignitate,” Blass. St. Paul’s citizenship of Tarsus did not make him a Roman citizen, otherwise his answer in Act 21:39 would have been sufficient to have saved him from the present indignity. Tarsus was an urbs libera , not a colonia or municipium , and the distinction made in Acts between the Roman and Tarsian citizenship of Paul is in itself an additional proof of the truthfulness of the narrative. How his father obtained the Roman citizenship we are not told; it may have been by manumission, Philo Leg. ad . , 23, or for some service rendered to the state, Jos., Vita , 76, or by purchase, but on this last supposition the contrast here implied would be rendered less forcible. However the right was obtained, it is quite certain that there is nothing strange in St. Paul’s enjoyment of it. As early as the first century B.C. there were many thousands of Roman citizens living in Asia Minor; and the doubts raised by Renan and Overbeck are pronounced by Schrer as much too weak in face of the fact that it is precisely in the most trustworthy portion of Acts that the matter is vouched for.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
sum. Greek. kephalaion. Only here and Heb 8:1. In Septuagint Lev 6:4. Num 4:2; Num 5:7 (principal), &c.
obtained. Greek. ktaomai. See note on Act 1:18.
freedom. Greek. politeia = citizenship. Here and Eph 2:12.
born = “even born so. “
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
28.] Dio Cassius, lx. 17, mentions that, in the reign of Claudius, Messalina used to sell the freedom of the city, and at very various prices at different times: , , , .
.] But I (besides having the privilege like thee of being a Roman citizen) was also born one. How was Paul a Roman citizen by birth? Certainly not because he was of Tarsus: for (1) that city had no such privilege, but was only an urbs libera, not a Colonia nor a Municipium: and (2) if this had been so, the mention of his being a man of Tarsus (ch. Act 21:39) would have of itself prevented his being scourged. It remains, therefore, that his father or some ancestor must have obtained the civitas, either as a reward for service (urbes, merita erga P. R. allegantes, civitate donavit, Suet. Aug[148] 47) or by purchase. It has been suggested that the father of Saul may have been sold into slavery at Rome, when Cassius laid a heavy fine on the city [of Tarsus] for having espoused the cause of Octavius and Antony, Appian, B. C. iv. 64, and very many of the Tarsians were sold to pay it. He may have acquired his freedom and the citizenship afterwards. See Mr. Lewin, i. p. 4. But this is mere conjecture.
[148] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo, 395-430
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 22:28. , but I even) The freedom of speech of Paul is therein indicated.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
freedom citizenship.
was free born am a Roman born, i.e. of a father who had obtained citizenship.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
But: It is extremely probable that the inhabitants of Tarsus, born in that city, had the same rights and privileges as Roman citizens, in consequence of a grant or charter from Julius Cesar, from whom it was called Juliopolis. But if this were not the case, St. Paul’s father, or some of his ancestors, might have been rewarded with the freedom of the city of Rome, for his fidelity and bravery in some military service, as Josephus says several of the Jews were; or his father might have obtained it by purchase, as in the instance of the chief captain. Act 22:28
Reciprocal: Act 22:25 – Is it
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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Act 22:28. Freedom is from POLITEIA, which Thayer defines, “Citizenship, the rights of a citizen,” and Robinson defines it in the same way. Being born within the territory of the Roman Empire did not always confer upon one the full rights of citizenship. Some special favors might be conferred upon a region that made all of its population full citizens of the Empire. That had been done for Tarsus, the city where Paul was born, which made him a full citizen of the nation. Sometimes a man could bribe the officers in charge and buy his citizenship, which was the way the captain obtained his.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 22:28. And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. More literally, and at the same time more forcibly, obtained I this citizenship; the word, as Plumptre well remarks, expressing not the transition from bondage to freedom, but from the position of an alien to that of a citizen. The chief captain was no doubt an alien by birth, and by the payment of a heavy bribe had obtained the rights of a citizen of Rome. The power of granting this privilege now rested solely with the reigning emperor as holding the office of Censor.
It was by no means uncommon for persons of wealth and position to purchase this citizenship. It appears that many of the Asian Jews had thus acquired the right to style themselves citizens of Rome.
Under the first Csars the freedom of Rome was obtained with great difficulty, and cost a large sum of money; but in the latter days of Claudius these prized rights were freely sold by his wicked favourite Messalina.
But I was free-born. It has been asked how Paul obtained this freedom; for Tarsus, the city of his birth, although possessing many great and important privileges, was a metropolis and a free city, and did not confer the rights of the Roman citizenship upon its citizens. It was neither a Colonia nor a Municipium. It must have been from his father or from some ancestor that he inherited it, either as a reward for service done to Rome or else by purchase.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
See notes on verse 25
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
28. And the kiliarch responded, I obtained the same freedom for a great sum. But Paul said: But, indeed, I have been born. We see here that Lysias unhesitatingly took Pauls word for his Roman citizenship. We need not wonder at this, because it was a penalty of death for any person falsely to claim Roman citizenship, the fallacy in any case being easily detected and the party exposed to certain death. Pauls father before him enjoyed this citizenship, how receiving it we know not. Consequently Paul was born a participant of this freedom, the grandest boon in the world during the Roman Empire, Lysias himself having only procured it with a great sum of money. So the kiliarch takes Pauls word, demanding no proof, the case being entirely too risky for him to proceed, as he certainly would have lost his office and probably his head, as it was contrary to law to cowhide a Roman citizen. Not only did Lysias forbid them to whip him, but he became much alarmed on learning that he was a Roman citizen, and because he had him in custody, as it was a very delicate and responsible matter to prosecute a Roman citizen, even though guilty of crime. Lysias is anxious to do the right thing; consequently the following day he proceeds to present Paul before the high priest and all the Sanhedrim, and demand of them specifications and charges.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 28
This freedom; the privileges of Roman citizen.–Free-born; born in a city, Tarsus, upon which, perhaps, as a city, these privileges had been conferred; or else entitled to them personally through his parents.