Acts 16:22 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.

NIV: The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods.

NASB: The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods.

CSB: The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods.

NLT: A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods.

KJV: And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.

NKJV: Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods.

Paul has expelled a fortune-telling demon out of a slave girl, ruining her owners' income source. In response, the owners accuse Paul and Silas of advocating unlawful customs (Acts 16:21). The charge is a serious one. The Roman Empire strongly controlled what gods its inhabitants could worship. Judaism was authorized, but while Rome sometimes grandfathered Christianity under Judaism, Christians teach the worship of a man, Jesus of Nazareth, placing Him on the same level or higher than the emperor. The Roman statesman Cicero, who lived in the first century BC, said in De Legibus, ii.8, "No person shall have any separate gods, or new ones; nor shall he privately worship any strange gods, unless they be publicly allowed." The response of the crowd and the city leaders is immediate, possibly due to the fact Philippi, although in Macedonia, was a Roman city (Acts 16:23–24).

It so happens that the response of the magistrates, itself, was illegal. Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, who were entitled to a trial before being beaten. Though the local leaders attempt to cover up their error, Paul ensures they admit to their mistake (Acts 16:36–39).

Later, Paul will write to the Thessalonians about this day, how he and Silas had "suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi" (1 Thessalonians 2:2). Despite this and despite the treatment they receive in Thessalonica, Paul says, "our coming to you was not in vain" (1 Thessalonians 2:1). God promised Paul he would suffer for the spread of the gospel (Acts 9:16), and he did (2 Corinthians 11:24–28).

After Philippi, Paul, Silas, and Timothy will go southwest to Thessalonica. Unlike Philippi, which didn't even have a synagogue, Thessalonica had many Jews. Some of the Jews in Thessalonica will be stubborn enough not only to start a riot and drive Paul and Silas away, but also to follow them to Berea and start more problems. It will get so bad, the believers rush Paul away to Athens (Acts 17:4–15).

Acts 16:16–24 shows that religiously confused Gentiles can hinder Paul's ministry as much as Jews. Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke are in Philippi on the border of Macedonia and Greece. When Paul expels a demonic spirit from a slave girl, her owners accuse Paul and Silas of illegally promoting a foreign god. The crowd and the city magistrates beat and imprison the pair. Only later do they realize their mistake: Paul and Silas are both Roman citizens (Acts 16:37), and you can't punish Roman citizens without a trial.

Acts 16 follows Paul and Silas as they take the letter of Acts 15 into modern-day Asia Minor and Macedonia. They collect Timothy in Lystra and Luke in Troas. In Philippi, they meet Lydia and baptize her family. After expelling a demon from a fortune-telling girl, city officials illegally beat and imprison Paul and Silas. An earthquake frees them of their chains, but they stay and bring the jailer and his family to Christ. The next morning, Paul and Silas refuse to leave quietly, politely insisting that their civil rights have been violated. The officials apologize, and Paul, Silas, and Timothy go to Thessalonica.

Acts 15 ends with Paul and Silas spreading the news that Gentile Christians don't have to be circumcised. Acts 16 begins with Paul circumcising a Jewish man, Timothy, to prevent difficulties in preaching to older Jews as the boy grows into church leadership. Paul's second missionary trip finds the church growing east, into Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth (Acts 16:11—18:18). On his way back to Syrian Antioch, Paul will stop by Ephesus and soften the Jews for the extended ministry of Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos. During his first trip, Paul planted churches and ordained elders; in his second, he commissions more missionaries.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.