Bibelkommentare

Acts 22:1. ἄνδρες ἀ. καὶ π., cf. Acts 7:2. So St. Stephen had addressed a similar assembly, in which had been Saul of Tarsus, who was now charged with a like offence as had been laid to the charge of the first Martyr. Those whom he addressed were his brethren according to the flesh, and his fathers, as the representatives of his nation, whether as Sanhedrists, or priests, or Rabbis. The mode of address was quite natural, since St. Paul’s object was conciliatory: τοῦτο τιμῆς, ἐκεῖνο γνησιότητος, Chrys., Hom., xlvii.—ἀκούσατε: “hear from me,” cf. John 12:47, a double genitive of the person and thing, as in classical Greek, or “hear my defence,” cf. 2 Timothy 4:16.—ἀπολογίας: five times in St. Paul’s Epistles, once elsewhere in Acts 25:16, in a strictly legal sense (cf. 1 Peter 3:15). Used with the verb ἀπολογέομαι of defending oneself against a charge, Wis 6:10, Xen., Mem., iv., 8, 5. In 2Ma 13:26 the verb is also used of Lysias ascending the rostrum and addressing the people in defence.

Acts 22:2. προσεφώνει: only in Luke and Paul, except Matthew 11:16, cf. Matthew 6:13; Matt 7:32; Matthew 13:12; Matthew 23:20, Matthew 21:40, see Friedrich, p. 29, for the frequency of other compounds of φωνεῖν in Luke.—μᾶλλον παρ. ἡσυχ: the phrase is used similarly in Plut., Coriol., 18, Dion Hal., ii., 32, and LXX, Job 34:29; on the fondness of St. Luke for σιγή, σιγᾶν, ἡσυχάζειν, and the characteristic way in which silence results from his words and speeches, or before or during the speech, see Friedrich, p. 26, cf. Luke 14:4; Luke 15:26, Acts 11:18; Acts 15:12, Acts 12:17; Acts 21:40, and for ἡσυχάζειν, 1 Thessalonians 4:11, Luke 14:4, Acts 11:18; Acts 21:14, so too παρέχειν with accusative of the thing offered by any one, Acts 19:24, Acts 28:2 (Acts 16:16). The verb is used only in Matthew 26:10, and parallel, Mark 14:6, except in Luke and Paul, Luke 6:29; Luke 7:4; Luke 11:7; Luke 18:5, Acts 16:16; Acts 17:31, and as above, and five times in St. Paul’s Epistles.

Acts 22:3. γεγενν. ἐν Τ., see above p. 202.—ἀνατεθ. δὲ: although by birth a foreign Jew, yet brought up in Jerusalem, and so belonging to his hearers. It was important for the Apostle to emphasise this, as his close association with Jerusalem had a significant bearing on his future life. The comma best after Γαμ., so that each clause begins with a participle, but Weiss places comma after ταύτῃ (so De Wette, Hackett). Probably Paul went to Jerusalem not later than thirteen, possibly at eleven, for his training as a teacher of the law. ἀνατεθ.: only in Luke, cf. Acts 7:20-21, Luke 4:16 (W.H[365] margin), “educated,” so in classical Greek, 4Ma 10:2; 4Ma 11:15, but in latter passage AR τραφ. In Wis 7:4 we have ἐν σπαργάνοις ἀνετράφην (A ἀνεστρ.).—παρὰ τοὺς πόδας: the more usual attitude for teacher and taught according to the N.T. and the Talmud; according to later Talmudic tradition the sitting on the ground was not customary until after the death of Gamaliel I., J. Lightfoot, Hor. Heb., on Luke 2:46; cf. also Schürer, Jewish People, div. ii., vol. 1, p. 326, E.T., and Taylor, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, pp. 14, 15, 2nd edit.; even if the later tradition was true, the scholar standing would still be at the feet of his teacher on his raised seat.—κατὰ ἀκρίβειαν: noun only here in N.T., but cf. Acts 26:5, “according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers,” R.V., and so practically A.V. For a comment on the words cf. Jos., Ant., xvii., 2, 4, Vita, 38, and B.J., ii., 8, 18. φαρισαῖοι οἱ δοκοῦντες μετὰ ἀκριβείας ἐξηγεῖσθαι τὰ νόμιμα: Edersheim, Jesus the Messiah, ii., 314, note on ἀκρίβεια as used by Josephus and St. Paul, Schürer, Jewish People, div. ii., vol. ii., p. 54. E.T. Whether therefore τοῦ πατ. νόμου (3Ma 1:23) included anything besides the Mosaic law or not, the words before us at least refer to the strictness upon which the Pharisees prided themselves in the observance of the law. In Galatians 1:14 St. Paul speaks of being a zealot of the traditions handed down from his fathers, πατρικῶν, where the traditions are apparently distinguished from the written law, Jos., Ant., xiii., 16, 2, and 10, 6; but the “oral law” which the scribes developed was apparently equally binding with the written Thorah in the eyes of the Pharisees, Schürer, Jewish People, div. ii., vol. ii., pp. 10, 11, E.T., but cf. also Lightfoot, u. s. The word πατρῴου would appeal to the hearts of the people, who loved the Thorah as the chief good, but St. Chrysostom’s words are also to be remembered: “all this seems indeed to be spoken on their side, but in fact it told against them, since he, knowing the law, forsook it” Hom., xlvii.—ζηλωτὴς ὑπάρ. τοῦ Θεοῦ: St. Paul might have called himself a zealot of the law, or a zealot of God (Lightfoot, u. s.), cf. 2Ma 4:2, ζηλ. τῶν νόμων, sued of Phinehas, 4Ma 18:12.—καθὼς πάντες … σήμερον: he recognises that their present zeal was a zeal for God, as his own had been, ἀλλ ̓ οὐ κατʼ ἐπίγνωσιν, Romans 10:2 : argumentum concilians, Bengel.

[365] Westcott and Hort’s The New Testament in Greek: Critical Text and Notes.

Acts 22:4. ταύτην τὴν ὁδὸν, see above Acts 9:2.—ἄχρι θανάτου: sometimes taken to mean not that he prosecuted the Christians “unto death” (for if this was the meaning the following participles would sound feeble), but that this was his aim; Acts 22:20 and Acts 26:10, however, seem fully to justify the former meaning.—φυλακὰς: plural, perhaps in relation to Acts 26:11, where Paul’s persecuting fury extends to strange cities; usually singular.

Acts 22:5. ὡς καὶ ὁ ἀρχ.: not the high priest at the time he was speaking, for that was Ananias, Acts 23:2, but rather to the high priest Caiaphas who gave him his commission to Damascus, and who may have been still alive, hence μαρτυρεῖ, present.—τοὺς ἀδελ.: the word was used by the Jews of each other, Exodus 2:14, Deuteronomy 15:3, and St. Paul uses it here to show that he regarded the Jews as still his brethren, cf. Romans 9:3.—τοὺς ἐκεῖσε ὄντας, cf. Acts 21:3, the adverb may imply those who had come thither only, so that refugees, not residents in Damascus, are meant, but the word may simply = ἐκεῖ, see on Acts 21:3, and Winer-Moulton, liv. 7. In Hipp., Vict. San., ii., 2, p. 35, we have οἱ ἐκεῖσε οἰκέοντες.—τιμωρηθῶσιν: only here and in Acts 26:11 in N.T.: used as here in classical Greek, but in this sense more frequent in middle.

Acts 22:6. περὶ μεσημ., cf. Acts 26:12, not mentioned in 9, note of a personal recollection.—ἐξαίφνης: only here in Acts and in Acts 9:3, see note; twice in Luke’s Gospel, only once elsewhere in N.T.; see further on Acts 26:12 note, on the three accounts of St. Paul’s Conversion.—περιαστράψαι: so also in Acts 9:3, nowhere else in N.T., see note above, cf. Acts 26:13, περιλάμπειν (note); the supernatural brightness of the light is implied here in δόξης, Acts 22:11.

Acts 22:7. ἔπεσον: on the form ἔπεσα W.H[366] see Kennedy, Sources of N.T. Greek, p. 159, Winer-Schmiedel, p. 111.—ἔδαφος: only here in N.T. (in LXX, 1 Kings 6:15, Wis 11:5, etc., and in 4Ma 6:7, πίπτων εἰς τὸ ἕδ.), but the verb ἐδαφίζειν is found in Luke 19:44, and there only in N.T.—ἤκουσα φωνῆς, see on Acts 9:4; Acts 9:7, cf. Daniel 10:6-9.—Σαοὺλ, Σαοὺλ, as in Acts 9:4, see note on Acts 26:14 (and cf. reading in [367] text).

[366] Westcott and Hort’s The New Testament in Greek: Critical Text and Notes.

[367] R(omana), in Blass, a first rough copy of St. Luke.

Acts 22:8-9. See on Acts 9:5 and Acts 9:4; Acts 9:7; Acts 9:9.—ἔμφ. ἐγέν., see critical note.