Acts 28:16Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Do you see that he was permitted to live separately? This is no small proof of how greatly they admired him. They did not place him among the others. "Paul was permitted to live separately."

Paul already enjoyed such respect that he was allowed to live separately. This is not surprising. If they had received him kindly before, much more did they do so now. Surely this was so that no plots could be formed against him. There they could no longer stir up disorder.

Therefore the soldier did not so much guard him as watch that nothing unpleasant might be done to him. In such a city, where the king was, and when the case had been transferred to his judgment, disorder was not fitting. Thus what seems to be against us always serves our good. The soldier was Paul's guard.

"Paul was permitted." Paul was held in such honor that he was allowed to live by himself. If the centurion had been kindly disposed toward him until then, he was much more so now. "With the soldier who guarded him," in order to prevent the possibility of new plots against Paul. Thus the soldier was not watching him, but watching so that no trouble might befall him.

In the spring, when free navigation by sea had opened, Paul and his companions landed on the shores of Italy at the place called Puteoli. There he found brethren, stayed about a week, and set out for Rome. There the believers met him as they came out from the city, at the Three Taverns.

At the beginning of his stay, and afterward as well, Paul enjoyed freedom. Yet a soldier lived with him and guarded him. He was not in prison, but rented a house and could have free access to everyone. He could also send letters wherever he wished. Taking advantage of these circumstances, Paul, three days after his arrival, assembled the Jews. As in other cities, so here also he wished to begin his preaching with the Jews.

In Rome there were two chief provincial officials, called praefecti praetoriae. Among their duties was receiving and keeping those who arrived from the provinces for Caesar's judgment. At their disposal was a special praetorian detachment, the praetoriani milites, through whom supervision of prisoners was carried out.

When the centurion Julius arrived in Rome with his prisoners, he handed them over to the military commander, the praetor or prefect of the praetorium. The prefect did not place Paul in common confinement with the other prisoners. He allowed him to live separately, and indeed in a private house, though under the supervision of a special praetorian soldier.

At last, here is the capital of the world, with its endless streets and vast squares, filled with a sea of human beings. The Apostle entered Rome in the seventh year of Nero's reign. Thus the long-standing desire of the great Apostle of the nations was fulfilled, though he entered Rome not as a free preacher, but as a bound prisoner. There, until his case was heard, he was placed under military supervision. Yet this supervision was so light that the Apostle was granted considerable freedom. He used it for the glory of God and for the spreading of the faith of Christ.

The centurion handed the prisoners over to the military commander, that is, to one of the so-called prefects of the praetorians. There were usually two of these. Among their duties was receiving and keeping those who came from the provinces for Caesar's judgment.

Paul was permitted to live separately, apart from the other prisoners, in a special lodging and in freedom (cf. vv. 30-31). He was only with the soldier who guarded him, probably a praetorian, who watched over him according to Roman custom (cf. the note on Acts 24:27). Such freedom was probably granted to the prisoner Paul because of the favorable reports about him from Festus (Acts 25:26-27) and from the centurion Julius.

The Apostle Paul's stay in Rome was quite free, though not entirely so. As a Roman citizen he did not share the same lot as the other prisoners, who were probably confined in the Mamertine prison. Nevertheless, he had to live under the watch of a special soldier. In this, of course, there were both inconveniences and certain advantages.