Acts 22:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women,

NIV: I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,

NASB: I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons,

CSB: I persecuted this Way to the death, arresting and putting both men and women in jail,

NLT: And I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison.

KJV: And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

NKJV: I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women,

Paul stands accused of breaking the Mosaic law. First, rumors spread that he taught Jews they no longer needed to circumcise their sons (Acts 21:20–21). Now, others accuse him of bringing a Gentile into the temple (Acts 21:27–29). Paul starts his defense by describing his childhood under the tutelage of the famous Pharisee rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). No one trained by Gamaliel could help but revere the Law.

Now, he tells the crowd that his zeal for the Law led him to persecute the early Jesus-followers (Acts 8:1–3; 9:1–2). Later, Paul will admit he approved of Stephen's murder (Acts 22:20). He will give more detail to Herod Agrippa II:

"I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities" (Acts 26:10–11).

"The Way" is how the early church identified itself. The Jews who follow Jesus don't think themselves any less Jewish; they believe they follow the Jewish Messiah who shows them the way to reconciliation with God (John 14:6). In his earlier years, Paul's zeal for God led him to persecute the church. His conversion to worshipping Jesus didn't abate his zeal, it corrected the course and focus of his energy and conviction. But the fact that The Way is open to Gentiles is more than the crowd of Jews can handle (Acts 22:21–22).

Acts 22:1–5 begins Paul's defense against false rumors he brought a Gentile into the temple. He reminds the crowd how much he formerly hated Jesus-followers. Gamaliel, the great Pharisee rabbi, trained Paul in the strict ways of the law. Paul embodied that training by chasing down Christians and imprisoning them. In fact, he chased them far from Jerusalem—as far as Damascus. The incidents described in the early part of Paul's speech are also explained in Acts 9:1–2.

In Acts 22, a young Roman military officer realizes he cannot control Jews who do not wish to be controlled. He has just rescued Paul from a crowd that largely doesn't know why they want to kill Paul. In hopes of gathering information, the tribune allows Paul to speak to the crowd. The crowd listens only briefly, then explodes again. The tribune tries flogging but is foiled by Paul's Roman citizenship. Finally, the tribune schedules a meeting with the Sanhedrin. It does not go well (Acts 23:1–10).

Paul came to Jerusalem to tell the church of his ministry's success with Gentiles. The leaders are more worried about a rumor that Paul no longer respects the Jewish law. Paul agrees to perform a very Jewish ritual, but in the process is falsely accused of bringing a Gentile into the temple. A mob assaults him, and the Roman tribune arrests him (Acts 21:17–36). The tribune tries to uncover the truth by letting Paul speak to the crowd, then almost flogging him (Acts 21:37—22). Next, he will bring Paul to the Sanhedrin, to no avail (Acts 23:1–10).

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.