38<\/strong>. and they feared<\/em> ] Because each Roman citizen had the right of appeal to the Emperor, and the penalty for outraging the rights of such a man was severe.<\/p>\n They feared when they heard … – <\/B>They were apprehensive of punishment for having imprisoned them in violation of the laws of the empire. To punish unjustly a Roman citizen was deemed an offence to the majesty of the Roman people, and was severely punished by the laws. Dionysius Hal. (Ant. Rom.<\/I>, ii.) says, The punishment appointed for those who abrogated or transgressed the Valerian law was death, and the confiscation of his property. The emperor Claudius deprived the inhabitants of Rhodes of freedom for having crucified some Roman citizens (Dio Cass.<\/I>, lib. 60). See Kuinoel and Grotius.<\/P><\/p>\n Verse 38. They feared when they heard – they were Romans.<\/B><\/I>] They feared, because the Roman law was so constituted that an insult offered to a citizen was deemed an insult to the whole Roman people. There is a remarkable addition here, both in the Greek<\/I> and Latin<\/I> of the Codex Bezae<\/I>. It is as follows: “And when they were come with many of their friends to the prison, they besought them to go out, saying: We were ignorant of your circumstances, that ye were righteous men. And, leading them out, they besought them, saying, Depart from this city, lest they again make an insurrection against you, and clamour against you.”<\/P> <\/p>\n For the Romans (under whom these magistrates were) made it by their laws to be treason thus to abuse any of their citizens. God overruled their fear of man for the deliverance of his servants. <\/P> <\/p>\n 38. they feared when they heard theywere Romans<\/B>their authority being thus imperilled; for theywere liable to an action for what they had done.<\/P><\/p>\n And the sergeants told these words unto the magistrates<\/strong>,…. They returned to them, and acquainted them with what the prisoners said:<\/p>\n and they feared when they heard that they were Romans<\/strong>; they were not concerned for the injury they had done them; nor for the injustice and cruelty they had been guilty of; nor did they fear the wrath of God, and a future judgment; but they were put into a panic, when they found the men they had so ill used were Romans; lest they should be called to an account by the Roman senate, and be found guilty, and have their places taken away from them, and their persons punished.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 1) “And the serjeants told these words,”<\/strong> (apengeilan de hoi hrabdouchoi ta hremata tauta) “Then the serjeants reported these words of clear explanation.”<\/p>\n 2) “Unto the magistrates:”<\/strong> (tois strategois) “To the magistrates of the city of Philippi,” to those who had them publicly beaten on the previous day.<\/p>\n 3) “And they feared,”<\/strong> (ephobethesan de) “Then they were filled with fear,” for their reputation, their jobs, and perhaps their lives because of their illegal, impulsive, criminal like conduct the previous day, toward the apostles, Act 16:22-24<\/span>.<\/p>\n 4) “When they heard that they were Romans.”<\/strong> (akousantes hoti hromaioi eisin) “Hearing evidence that they were Romans,” who had been by them illegally detained, and publicly demeaned, and humiliated without a due, fair legal trial or public hearing, Act 22:24-30<\/span>; Joh 15:20<\/span>; Mat 5:10-12<\/span>; 2Ti 3:12<\/span>.<\/p>\n (38) They feared, when they heard that they were Romans.<\/strong>It is clear that the strategi<\/em> did not consider their ignorance of St. Pauls citizenship a sufficient defence. They had acted illegally, and the consequence of that illegality went further than they counted on; but they could not, therefore, shake off their responsibility. They were liable to a prosecution, such as that which Cicero, for like offences, instituted against Verres. The tables were turned; the accused had become a possible accuser, and they, instead of hushing the matter up, were compelled to make something like a formal apology. We may well believe that St. Pauls motive in insisting on this, was less the satisfaction of his own honour, than a desire to impress upon the strategi<\/em> that they were not to over-ride or strain the law to gratify the passions of a mob.<\/p>\n 38<\/strong>. <\/strong> Feared, when they heard<\/strong> But how is it that they were struck with panic at the mere claim <\/em> by Paul of citizenship? It was, first, <\/em> because they had already sad misgivings that they had violated the persons of holy men whose word was sacred; and, second, <\/em> because to make such a claim falsely was punishable with death and confiscation.<\/p>\n ‘And the lictors reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, and they came and besought them, and when they had brought them out, they asked them to go away from the city.’<\/p>\n When the magistrates learned that Paul and Silas were Romans they were afraid. They recognised that they also could now be accused of acting against Roman law. Thus they came and sought to make all right between them, publicly arranged their release and then asked them to leave Philippi. The last was presumably in order to prevent further actions by the mob so that good order might be maintained and Romans not be assaulted. They were not forbidden to return. The main concern was for law and order.<\/p>\n We do not know full details of the rights of Roman citizenship, but they certainly included protection for them from treatment meted out quite happily to lesser people. Presumably a Roman citizen carried with him some kind of certificate in order to prove his status. On the other hand, as all knew, an appeal to Caesar was not necessarily to the advantage of the appellant, thus the observation of the rules was probably mainly caused rather by consent and a theoretical fear of what could happen if such a citizen did appeal to Caesar. Other cases of Roman citizens having been illegally beaten are known, and disapproved of, but with no apparent central action having been taken.<\/p>\n Act 16:38<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>And the serjeants, <\/em><\/strong>&c.<\/strong> St. Paul seems, in his own conduct here, to have had a regard to the honour and interests of Christianity in this place, as well as to their own civil rights as men and Romans; for such a token of public respect from the magistrates, as the serjeants <\/em>or lictors <\/em>were commissioned to require, would undoubtedly encourage the new converts, and remove a stumbling-block out of the way of others, who might not have discerned the true lustre of the characters of Paul and Silas amid so much infamy as they had before suffered. <\/p>\n Act 16:38-39<\/span> . ] The reproach contained in did not trouble them, but the violation of citizenship was an offence against the majesty of the Roman people, and as such was severely punished, Dion. Hal. xi. p. 725; Grotius in loc<\/em> .<\/p>\n Act 16:39<\/span> . What a change in the state of affairs: (namely, to acquiesce) !<\/p>\n with the simple genitive, as in Mat 10:14<\/span> . Very frequent with Greek writers since subsequent to Homer. On , to give fair words<\/em> , comp. on 1Co 4:13<\/span> .<\/p>\n 38 And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Ver. 38. And they feared when they heard, &c.<\/strong> ] Their sin troubled them not, but their danger; for Irasci populo Romano nemo sapienter potest.<\/em> It was not safe dashing against the rock of Rome’s power. Cicero tells us, that Haec vox, Civis Romanus sum, saepe in ultimis terris, &c.<\/em> This one word, “I am a Roman,” relieved and rescued many in the utmost parts of the earth, and among barbarians. <\/p>\n 38. <\/strong> <\/strong> .<\/strong> ] For the account which they might have to give at Rome, as in Verres’ case, or even for their popularity with the very mob of Roman citizens who had demanded the punishment.<\/p>\n Act 16:38<\/span> . , see critical notes. , so the chief captain, Act 22:29<\/span> ; and no wonder, for the illegal punishment of Roman citizens was a serious offence. If convicted, the magistrates would have been degraded, and incapable in future of holding office; cf.<\/em> Cicero, In Verrem<\/em> , v., 66; Rep.<\/em> , ii., 31; and see Blass, note on Act 22:29<\/span> , Grotius, in loco<\/em> , and O. Holtzmann, Neutest. Zeitgeschichte<\/em> , p. 99. In A.D. 44 the Rhodians had been deprived by Claudius of their privileges for putting some Roman citizens to death ( Speaker’s Commentary, in loco<\/em> ).<\/p>\n ‘words. Greek. rhema. See note on Mar 9:32. <\/p>\n feared = were alarmed. Compare Act 22:29. They had violated the Roman law by which no Roman citizen could be scourged, or put to death, by any provincial governor without an appeal to the Emperor. Compare Act 25:11, Act 25:12. <\/p>\n 38. .] For the account which they might have to give at Rome, as in Verres case, or even for their popularity with the very mob of Roman citizens who had demanded the punishment.<\/p>\n and they: Act 22:29, Mat 14:5, Mat 21:46 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Act 25:10 – I stand<\/p>\n 8<\/p>\n Act 16:38. Being a Roman citizen entitled one to special consideration, and Paul and Silas had been denied such favors.<\/p>\n Act 16:38. And the Serjeants. Here, as in Act 16:35, literally, rod-bearers, lictors, officials who attended upon the magistrates and carried out their orders. In a colony these officers carried staves, not as in Rome, fasces.<\/p>\n And they feared. Hackett quotes from Lucian a case of false imprisonment, in which the governor of a province not only acknowledged his error, but paid a large sum of money to those whom he had injured, in order to bribe them to be silent.<\/p>\n Observe here, 1. What an awe God has over the consciences of men in general, and of magistrates in particular: they stoop to their prisoners, and beseech them to come out of prison, and to depart from the city. The same can God do for all his servants who have been disgracefully and despitefully used. He can make their enemies become their benefactors at his pleasure, and their very persecutors shall be their deliverers. <\/p>\n Observe, 2. That as desirable as liberty was, those honest hearts chose rather to go without it, than to accept it upon dishonourable terms, either to the blemishing of their innocency, or to the aspersion of the gospel. Had they privately released, they might have been public slandered for making their escape by compact with the gaoler, whom they had now made their own; therefore they stay in prison, till publicly discharged, and then they go forth: The magistrates besought them, and brought them forth.<\/p>\n Observe, 3. The holy use which these good men made of their restored liberty: they visit the brethern and comfort them, and confirm them and strengthen them in the faith of Christ.<\/p>\n Thus the chapter concludes with an account of what St. Paul did and suffered at Philippi, where he laid the foundation of that eminent church, to which he wrote his epistle, which bears the title of his Epistle to the Philippians; wherein he mentions many fellow-labourers that he had there, in the work of the gospel, Help those which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement, and other my fellow-labourers, whose names are in the book of life. Php 4:3<\/p>\n It is a happy encouragement to the ministers of Christ, when they are all found helping, and not hindering one another; strengthening each other’s hands, and not saddening one another’s hearts; but, by united endeavours, in public preaching, and private inspection, promoting the grand design of the gospel, namely, to fear God, honour their superiors, love one another. So be it.<\/p>\n See notes on verse 37<\/p>\n 16:38 {21} And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans.<\/p>\n (21) The wicked are not moved with the fear of God, but with the fear of men: and by that means also God provides for his, when it is needed.<\/p>\n Roman officials charged with mistreating Roman citizens faced the danger of discipline by their superiors. These magistrates meekly appealed to Paul and Silas not to file a complaint. They also wanted them to leave Philippi since popular opinion was still hostile to them because Paul had healed the slave-girl. Furthermore the local magistrates did not want to have to protect Paul’s party of foreigners from irate local residents.<\/p>\n And the sergeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans. 38. and they feared ] Because each Roman citizen had the right of appeal to the Emperor, and the penalty for outraging the rights of such a man was severe. Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 16:38”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27480\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"