Acts 22:5 - Printer Friendly

ESV: as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.

NIV: as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

NASB: as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brothers, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.

CSB: as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. After I received letters from them to the brothers, I traveled to Damascus to arrest those who were there and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.

NLT: The high priest and the whole council of elders can testify that this is so. For I received letters from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me to bring the followers of the Way from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be punished.

KJV: As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.

NKJV: as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished.

Persons unknown accused Paul of telling Jews they should forsake the Mosaic law (Acts 21:20–21). Jews from Asia, a province in modern-day Turkey, accuse him of bringing a Gentile into the temple (Act 21:27–29). Paul tries to defend himself. Teaching against the Mosaic law was a capital offense in Judaism, but the Jews had largely lost their right to execution (John 18:31). Defacing a religious structure, however, was a capital offense against the Roman law.

Paul starts his defense by recounting his earlier intense devotion to the Mosaic law. He had been trained by the Pharisee Gamaliel, a very influential rabbi. Gamaliel taught Paul not only the Law, but the extra-biblical regulations Pharisees devoutly follow. When the church started growing in Jerusalem, Paul fought fervently against it. He not only looked on with approval as a vicious mob murdered the evangelist Stephen (Acts 7:54–60; 22:20), he tracked down Jesus-followers in Jerusalem so violently they fled to Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1–3; 26:10–11). When he had done all he could in Judea, he requested and received permission from the Sanhedrin to hunt Christians in Damascus (Acts 9:1–2).

The "council" is the Sanhedrin—the group of elders, scribes, and priests responsible for enforcing the Mosaic law. The Mosaic law designates qualified descendants of Aaron as priests and one single man as high priest, but in the time between the Old and New Testaments, the priesthood became corrupt and then politicized. By this time, it was ruled largely by a single family. "High priest" was a title not only for the single ruling priest but also those who held the position before as well as others with influence. Elders were typically businessmen who acted as judges for their cities. It is likely that at least some of these men are present. It is the council who authorized Paul's earlier attacks against Christians.

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.