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Acts 22:28-30
New Catholic Bible
Acts 22:28-30
New Catholic Bible
28 The commander responded, “It cost me a great deal of money to acquire this citizenship.” Paul replied, “But I was born a citizen.” 29 Then those who were about to interrogate him withdrew hurriedly, and the commander himself was alarmed when he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had put him in chains.
30 Paul’s First Trial—before the Sanhedrin.[a] Since the commander wanted to learn with certitude what Paul was being accused of by the Jews, he released him on the following day and ordered the chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin to meet. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Acts 22:30 In the last cycle of Acts, each discourse is inserted into a very colorful account. The episode of the affront to the high priest, a man with a poor reputation, is not lacking in irony. In addition, each time there is a “suspense” created that becomes ever more intense. In the present case, the subject of the resurrection stirs discord among the hearers, because it was a matter of dispute within Jewish theology. In fact, belief in the resurrection, with the resultant different fates of the good and the bad, came into existence late in Judaism (2 Mac 7:9, 11, 14, 23, 29, 36; 12:38-46; Dan 12:2f; see Wis 3:1-5, 16). It was accepted by the Pharisees, but the Sadducees tried to combat it, even by ridiculing it (see Mt 22:23-33; Mk 12:18-27; Lk 20:27-38).
As is the case with the other discourses, this one also wishes to make clear that Paul and the Churches are innocent of the accusations of the Jews and the suspicions of the Romans. Then the debate, which at first was carried out on the juridical level, is raised to the level of theological realities.
