Acts 16:22

Acts 16:22-24 . And the multitude rose up against them — Excited and inflamed by these accusations; and the magistrates — Or the pretors; rent off their clothes — That is, the clothes of Paul and Silas; for such was the Roman method of proceeding in such cases. Their magistrates were wont to command the lictors to rend open the clothes of the criminals, and to beat their bodies with rods; as Grotius here observes. And when they had laid many stripes upon them — Had severely scourged them; (either they did not immediately say they were Romans, or in the tumult it was not regarded;) they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely — Lest, among their numerous friends, a rescue should be attempted; who, having received such a charge — A charge so strict, and from persons of such great rank; thrust them into the inner prison — Where he thought them perfectly secure; especially as he also made their feet fast in the stocks — These were probably those large pieces of wood, in use among the Romans, which not only loaded the legs of the prisoner, but kept them extended in a very painful manner. So that it is highly probable the situation of Paul and Silas here was much more painful than that of an offender sitting in the stocks among us, especially if they lay, as it is very possible they did, with their backs, so lately scourged, on the damp and dirty ground.

The multitude; generality and unanimity alone cannot authorize opinions or practices. Rent off their clothes; Paul’s and Silas’s clothes, to disgrace them the more, or in order unto their being scourged; though some think that the magistrates rent their own clolhes, in detestation of the pretended blasphemy which was laid to Paul’s charge, as the high priest did, Mark 14:63 .

Acts 16:22 . Συνεπέστη ) ἐπέστη , the multitude rose up with ( σὺν ) the masters of the damsel.— περιῤῥήξαντες , having torn off ) The magistrates themselves tore off the garments of Paul and Silas: for there follows after this word, and not till then, ἐκέλευον , commanded .— αὐτῶν , their ) viz. of Paul and Silas.

22. the multitude rose up together against them—so Ac 19:28, 34; 21:30; Lu 23:18. the magistrates rent off their—Paul's and Silas' clothes—that is, ordered the lictors, or rod-bearers, to tear them off, so as to expose their naked bodies (see on [2035]Ac 16:37). The word expresses the roughness with which this was done to prisoners preparatory to whipping. and commanded to beat them—without any trial (Ac 16:37), to appease the popular rage. Thrice, it seems, Paul endured this indignity (2Co 11:25).

Verse 22. - Rent their garments off them for rent off their clothes , A.V.; beat them with rods for beat them , A.V. Beat them ; ῤαβδίζειν , marking that they were beaten by the lictors, or ῤαβδοῦχοι (see ver. 35). The phrase rent ... off ( περιῥῤήξαντες ) is only found here in the New Testament, but it is frequently used of stripping off garments, in classical Greek and in 2 Macc. 4:38; and by Josephus ('Ant. Jud.,' 6. 14:6) of David rending his garments - a circumstance not mentioned in the Bible narrative ( 1 Samuel 30:4 ). Acts 16:22

22 . the multitude rose up together ] i.e. together with the aggrieved proprietors of the damsel. the magistrates rent off their clothes ] i.e. the clothes of Paul and Silas, as is clear from the Greek verb, but not so evident from the A.V. Better, “ rent their clothes off them .” (So R. V. only changing clothes into garments .) and commanded to beat them ] The Greek signifies “to beat them with rods,” which was the office of the Roman lictor, who carried rods for the purpose when attending on the magistrates. The use of this special word is an indication that St Luke was aware of the particular kind of beating, and perhaps beheld the infliction. This is one of the occasions, no doubt, to which St Paul alludes ( 2 Corinthians 11:25 ), “Thrice was I beaten with rods.”

Acts 16:22-23 . And at the same time (“cum ancillae dominis,” Bengel) the multitude rose up (in a tumultuary manner) against them; therefore the praetors, intimidated thereby, in order temporarily to still the urgency of the mob, commanded the accused to be scourged without examination, and then, until further orders, to be thrown into strict confinement. περιῤῥήξ . αὐτῶν τὰ ἱμάτια ] after having torn off their clothes . The form of expression of Acts 16:23 shows that the praetors did not themselves (in opposition to Bengel) do this piece of work, which was necessary and customary for laying bare the upper part of the body (Grotius and Wolf in loc. ), but caused it to be done by their subordinate lictors. Erasmus erroneously desired to read αὑτῶν , so that the praetors would have rent their own clothes from indignation. Apart from the non-Roman character of such a custom, there may be urged against this view the compound περιῤῥ ., which denotes that the rending took place all round about the whole body (Plat. Crit. p. 113 D: περιῤῥήγνυσι κύκλῳ , Polyb. xv. 33, 4, al.; comp. Tittmann, Synon. p. 221). ἐκέλευον ] The reference of the relative tense is to the personal presence of the narrator; see Winer, p. 253 [E. T. 337]. Paul and Silas submitted to this maltreatment (one of the three mentioned in 2 Corinthians 11:25 ) with silent self-denial, and without appealing to their Roman citizenship, committing everything to God; see on Acts 16:37 .

Men of strong character may, amidst unjust suffering, exhibit in presence of their oppressors their moral defiance , even in resignation . We make this remark in opposition to Zeller (comp. Baur), who finds the brutal conduct of the praetors, and the non-employment by the apostles of their legal privilege in self-defence (which Paul, moreover, renounced not merely on this occasion, 2 Corinthians 11:25 ), inexplicable. Bengel well remarks: “Non semper omnibus praesidiis omni modo utendum; divino regimini auscultandum.” In a similar plight, Acts 22:25 , Paul found it befitting to interpose an assertion of his privilege, which he here only used for the completion of his victory over the persecution, Acts 16:37 ,—a result which, in Acts 22:25 , according to the divine destination which he was aware of, he recognised as unattainable.

(22) Commanded to beat them. —The Greek verb gives the special Roman form of punishment, that of being beaten with the rods of the lictors. This, therefore, takes its place as one of the three instances to which St. Paul refers in 2Corinthians 11:25 . The question naturally occurs, why he did not, on these occasions, claim, as he did afterwards at Jerusalem ( Acts 22:25 ), the privileges of a Roman citizen. Some have supposed that the violence of the mob rendered it impossible for his claim to be heard. Others have even questioned the truthfulness of his claim. A more natural supposition is that he would not assert in this instance a right which would only have secured exemption for himself, and left his companion to suffer the ignominious penalty of the law, and that by putting the strategi in the wrong, he sought to secure for his disciples afterwards a more tolerant treatment. As far as the first part of this hypothesis is concerned, it may, perhaps, be accepted (see, however, Note on Acts 16:37 ); but such of the Philippian disciples as belonged to the colonia, were already protected from outrages of this kind as Roman citizens. Others, however, of the freed-men class, were still liable to them.