2. Riot and Arrest (21:27-22:29)

Paul’s Jewish opponents from the mission field (Asia) initiate the action against Paul (21:27), claiming, as James had noted (v.21), that Paul’s teaching undermines the old covenant community (“people”) and its law, adding the charge of defiling its temple cultus (vv.28-29). Paul was dragged out of the Court of Israel, the inner part of the temple that surrounded the sanctuary and Holy of Holies, and into the Court of the Gentiles, which surrounded the sacred precincts (v.30). This larger portion of the temple area (900 ft. x 1,500 ft.) was capable of holding a tremendous crowd. Apparently, a large number of people were mobilized for the attack upon Paul, for at least two hundred Roman soldiers are brought to put down the disturbance (“centurions” [kjv] implies at least two, each at the head of one hundred men). The Roman soldiers were housed in the citadel located at the northwest corner of the temple area and had direct access to the temple area via stairs from the citadel down to the Court of the Gentiles. It was up these stairs that the soldiers carried Paul as the crowd sought to kill him (vv.31-36).

The profound balance of the Spirit-filled life, which Paul attests in Php 4:11-13, is evident in his response to this deadly situation. He has the courage to ask his Roman captor for permission to address those who seek to kill him (21:37-40). The commander (tribune) believed that he had captured the Egyptian false prophet who had led an uprising of fanatic religious revolutionaries (“assassins,” or Sicarii) about a.d. 54 (Josephus, Wars 2.13.4; Antiquities 20.8.6). At the time, tensions were increasing between these radical religious Jewish nationalists and the Roman authorities, and the tribune was sensitized to this.

Paul recounts for his attackers his own transformation from a zealous Jewish persecutor of Christianity to its most ardent promulgator (22:1-21). He stresses his profoundly orthodox position within Judaism, emphasizing that he once had acted toward Christians exactly as they were acting toward him (vv.3-5). (On the Way, see note under 9:1-31). He accents the reality of his encounter with the Lord, emphasizing God’s intrusion into his zealous pursuit of Christians (vv.6-11). He stresses the piety and Jewish affirmation of Ananias, emphasizing his role as God’s agent in revealing to Paul the nature of God’s purpose (vv.12-16). He points to his continued Jewish piety through his worship in the temple, emphasizing that God appeared to him there, and, even though he had been a persecutor of the Christians, commissioned him to go to the Gentiles (vv.17-21). In brief, Paul tells them he was exactly like they were—but his God and theirs had redirected his life.

The idea of including Gentiles in God’s purposes is too much for the Jews. They react violently to a truth they cannot accept, and the tribune resorts to violence to extract a truth he cannot apprehend (22:22-24). Contrary to Philippi (see on 16:9ff.), Paul claims his Roman citizenship (vv.25-29), realizing that this time no purpose will be served by being scourged. The original source of Paul’s citizenship is unknown. Obviously his father and/or his mother had citizenship, but how they came by it is unknown.