Paul gives his testimony
Early Church · Draft · BSB
Content revision: 7c7669e5b84f1227 · No editorial review date recorded
Date: c. AD 57–59. Paul spends two years in custody under Felix before Festus succeeds him (Acts 24:27).
From the steps of the barracks, Paul addresses the crowd in Hebrew (probably Aramaic), telling of his conversion and his commission to the Gentiles. At that word the crowd erupts; when the commander orders him flogged, Paul reveals that he is a Roman citizen.
Primary Scripture
21:37 As they were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?” “Do you speak Greek?” he replied.
21:38 “Aren’t you the Egyptian who incited a rebellion some time ago and led four thousand members of the Assassins into the wilderness?”
21:39 But Paul answered, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Now I beg you to allow me to speak to the people.”
21:40 Having received permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. A great hush came over the crowd, and he addressed them in Hebrew:
22:1 “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.”
22:2 When they heard him speak to them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet. Then Paul declared,
22:3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.
22:4 I persecuted this Way even to the death, detaining both men and women and throwing them into prison,
22:5 as the high priest and the whole Council can testify about me. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to apprehend these people and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.
22:6 About noon as I was approaching Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.
22:7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’
22:8 ‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ He replied.
22:9 My companions saw the light, but they could not understand the voice of the One speaking to me.
22:10 Then I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ ‘Get up and go into Damascus,’ He told me. ‘There you will be told all that you have been appointed to do.’
22:11 Because the brilliance of the light had blinded me, my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.
22:12 There a man named Ananias, a devout observer of the law who was highly regarded by all the Jews living there,
22:13 came and stood beside me. ‘Brother Saul,’ he said, ‘receive your sight.’ And at that moment I could see him.
22:14 Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear His voice.
22:15 You will be His witness to everyone of what you have seen and heard.
22:16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on His name.’
22:17 Later, when I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance
22:18 and saw the Lord saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem quickly, because the people here will not accept your testimony about Me.’
22:19 ‘Lord,’ I answered, ‘they know very well that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in You.
22:20 And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’
22:21 Then He said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
22:22 The crowd listened to Paul until he made this statement. Then they lifted up their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He is not fit to live!”
22:23 As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air,
22:24 the commander ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. He directed that Paul be flogged and interrogated to determine the reason for this outcry against him.
22:25 But as they stretched him out to strap him down, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it lawful for you to flog a Roman citizen without a trial?”
22:26 On hearing this, the centurion went and reported it to the commander. “What are you going to do?” he said. “This man is a Roman citizen.”
22:27 The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he answered.
22:28 “I paid a high price for my citizenship,” said the commander. “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.
22:29 At once those who were about to interrogate Paul stepped back, and the commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put a Roman citizen in chains.
Location evidence
Event map marker: Identified site; [longitude, latitude] = [35.23494, 31.77744]. This is a teaching marker, not an exact event venue.
Jerusalem: Identified site. Coordinates [longitude, latitude]: [35.23494, 31.77744]. Classification source: rule.
Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire
Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire
Interpretation and reuse
Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.
Record source: theographic (373)
Record source: editorial
Events and places adapted from Theographic Bible Metadata (github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata), CC BY-SA 4.0. This adapted data is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm