Page 106 - Acts Student Textbook

What was the citizenship of Paul, Roman or Jewish, and how was he a citizen? (22:25-28)

When the soldiers rescued Paul from the mob they wanted to make him confess why the Jews
wanted to kill him. They wanted to achieve this by beating him, but Paul called upon his rights as a
Roman citizen for Protection (22:25). The commander questioned Paul about his Citizenship (22:26-
28). The commander then responded that he had purchased his citizenship at a great price (perhaps
by bribery). Perhaps he thought this was how Paul had become a citizen. The comment may have
been intended to see what Paul knew about citizenship and even to determine whether he was
genuinely a citizen. Paul responded that he was a citizen by birth. He was automatically born a
Roman citizen because his parents had been citizens.

The commander said "I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money" (22:28). There were
three ways to be a Roman citizen: “(1). by birth; (2). given for special service to the state; and (3).
Purchased. This soldier's name implies that he purchased his citizenship under Claudius and that he
was a Greek (Claudius Lysias, cf. 23:26). Claudius' wife, Messaline, often sold Roman citizenships for
large sums of money.”
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Jews frequently were not Romans, so the commander had apparently assumed Paul was not.
However, Paul was both a Jew and a Roman. He was willing to use this advantage for good. Note that
all Paul had to do was to claim citizenship. Apparently, the commander demanded no proof of
citizenship except for an affirmation. Making a false claim of citizenship was of itself a severe crime
(Some historians claims it was punishable by death) so much so that apparently the commander just
accepted Paul’s claim.

Defense before the Sanhedrin

The commander then ceased examining Paul but attempted to find out from the Jews why they were
upset with Paul, so the next day he called the chief priests and the council (Sanhedrin) to come and
state their accusations against Paul (22:29,30). He brought Paul into their midst. This set the stage for
the next confrontation with the Jews, as recorded in the next chapter.

Chapter 23

When is conscience reliable? (23:1)

Paul claimed to have "a perfectly good conscience" (23:1). Paul uses the term "conscience" often in
the Corinthian letters (cf. 4:4; 8:7, 10, 12; 10:25, 27, 28, 29; 2 Cor. 1:12; 4:2; 5:11). It refers to that
moral inner sense of what is appropriate or inappropriate (cf. Acts 23:1). The conscience can be
affected by our past lives, our poor choices, or by the Spirit of God.

So, conscience is that faculty of mind by which one knows within himself whether or not he is doing
what he believes to be right. When he does what he believes he ought to do, his conscience
approves. When he does what he believes to be wrong, his conscience disapproves. Paul spoke in
defense of his present conduct. He affirmed that he knew nothing worthy of being imprisoned. He
was, in effect, pleading “not guilty.” Yet it is interesting that he affirmed this for his whole life,
including his days as a Jew before his conversion. In 26:9 he claimed that he had persecuted the
church believing that was what he really ought to do. As a Jew he did not believe Jesus was God’s
son. He persecuted Christians not realizing he was in error, so his conscience did not bother him.

57 Dio Cassius, Roman History, (60:17:5-6).
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