Acts 22:29Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

"The tribune was afraid," he says, "when he learned that he was a Roman citizen." Therefore Paul did not lie when he called himself a Roman. He called himself a Roman in order to avoid scourging, for if he had been scourged, he would have been subjected to contempt. By saying this, he brought them into great fear. If they had scourged him, the matter would have taken another turn, and they would even have killed him. But now it did not happen so. See how God permits many things to be accomplished by human means, both in this case and in others.

Paul, according to the prophecy, had been bound in Jerusalem, and the prophetic word was fulfilled. What happens afterward? The tribune unbinds Paul and brings him to the Jews. Thus it is not false that he is a Roman, for the tribune was afraid that he was a Roman, that is, a man of noble rank.

Then the tribune commanded that the apostle be brought into the fortress. In order to learn precisely of what he was guilty, he wished to subject him to torture.

Paul had already been stretched out with straps for this purpose. But he appealed to the protection of his rank as a Roman citizen, which he possessed by birth. This saved him from undeserved blows.

When the tribune learned that Paul was a Roman citizen, he was afraid even because he had bound him (v. 29). Nevertheless, wishing to know reliably what the Jews accused him of, he did not release him.

On the next day he freed him from the bonds and ordered the chief priests and the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul out of the fortress and set him before them (v. 30).

This statement troubled Lysias himself. He could fear trouble for himself if the Apostle brought a complaint about his treatment. He therefore tried to hand the prisoner over quickly for judgment by the Sanhedrin, so as to free himself from all responsibility in this case, which was evidently religious rather than civil.

“Are you a Roman citizen?” The tribune himself had bought the right of Roman citizenship for a large sum. He probably doubted that his poor prisoner had enough money to purchase this right (compare Chrysostom).

But when he learned that Paul possessed this right by inheritance, he believed him. He was afraid not only because he had wanted to torture him, but also because he had bound him (compare the note on Acts 16:38).

For not only bodily punishment, but also the binding of a Roman citizen in chains, was a crime if it had been done by force and without prior inquiry into his guilt. Up to that point no such inquiry had yet been made.

The commander’s fear over his harsh treatment of Paul shows that he had a sufficient spirit of subordination, but little humanity and little modesty. He was not ashamed to say that he had acquired Roman citizenship not by merit, but with a large sum of money.

However, according to Saint John Chrysostom, “he said this because he suspected whether Paul’s claim to be a Roman might be a deception. Perhaps he judged so from Paul’s outward simplicity. What then came of this? After removing his chains, the tribune brought him to the Jews. Therefore he did not lie when he called himself a Roman, for he also gained benefit from it and was freed from the bonds.”