Acts 22:19Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

By every consideration it was to be expected that they would receive him. "They know," he says, "that I imprisoned and beat those who believed in Thee." For this very reason they ought to have received him, and yet they did not. Therefore it was revealed to him "in a trance" that they would not receive his testimony. Why then did he say, "They know that I imprisoned those who believe in Thee"? In this he was not contradicting Christ. May it not be so. He wished to receive instruction in so wondrous a matter.

Why did he say, "They themselves know"? He said this not in contradiction to Christ, but because he wished to understand such an incomprehensible thing. But Christ did not explain it to him. He only told him to go.

At the entrance to the fortress, on the stairs, the Apostle Paul asked the tribune for permission to speak to the people. He then addressed them and, in defense of himself, recounted the history of his wondrous conversion to Christ; see the interpretations on chapter 9.

Having escaped danger, Saul then went to Jerusalem. There was no longer any place for him among the Jewish elders, and he had to seek refuge among his new brethren, the Christians.

Even while he was still a persecutor, he had probably heard of the Apostle Peter. Peter stood out among the other apostles by his courage in preaching and was renowned for miracles. Saul resolved to “see” him, so as to find in him a courageous friend and teacher.

The Apostle Peter received him with his characteristic warmth. Saul stayed with him about fifteen days, and during that time he also became acquainted with James, the brother of the Lord.

"They know": see the note on Acts 8:3.

Paul’s report that he answered the Lord’s summons to preach among the Gentiles, rather than in Jerusalem, also aimed to show the apostle’s attachment to all that was native to him. This attachment appeared doubly, for he did not wish to leave Jerusalem. He thought that his zeal for the Law, known there, would serve the greater vindication of the truth.

But the Lord is more wise and far-seeing, and therefore He sent him away from there. How the Jews could look back on his former zeal was shown by Paul’s present hearers.

Until this moment they had not yet hindered him from speaking. But when he pointed to his participation in the killing of Stephen, they completely lost patience. Paul’s speech was involuntarily cut short.