CHAPTER 22
Acts 21:39-40-22:1-29 Brethren and fathers, hear my defense which I now make to you. And when they heard that I had spoken to them out of the Hebrew dialect, they kept the more silence. And he said: I am a man, a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia; but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, strictly instructed according to the law of our fathers, being zealous toward God, as you all are this day. And I persecuted this way to death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women; as also the high priest can bear me witness, and all the elders; from whom also I received letters to the brethren, and journeyed to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound to Jerusalem, that they might be punished. And it came to pass, that as I made my journey, and came near to Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? And I answered, Who are you, Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute. And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they did not hear the voice of him that spoke to me. And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said to me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told to you of all things which are appointed for you to do. And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. And a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, came to me; and he stood, and said to me, Brother Saul, receive your sight. And at that same hour I looked up upon him. And he said, The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, and to see the just One, and to hear the voice of his mouth; for you shall be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why you remain? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. And it came to pass, that when I was returned to Jerusalem, and while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; and I saw him saying to me, Hurry, and you get quickly out of Jerusalem; for they will not receive your testimony concerning me. And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on you; and when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting to his death, and guarding the garments of them that slew him. And he said to me, Depart: for I will send you far therefore to the Gentiles. And they gave forth their voices, and cried out, and cast off their garments, and threw dust into the air; and the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the barracks, and ordered that he should be examined with scourging, that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. But as they bound him with the straps, Paul said to the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, What will you do? for this man is a Roman. Then the chief captain came, and said to him, Tell me, are you a Roman? And he said, Yes. And the chief captain answered, I bought this citizenship with much money. But Paul said, But I was born a citizen. Immediately then they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain, also being afraid, because he recognized that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.
How does Paul say, “ I am a man, a Jew, a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia, not of an insignificant city ,” and shortly after, “ If a man is a Roman and uncondemned ,” and the following? How, then, having said these things, and not at another time but at that very moment when he spoke those words, and to the very same hearers, does he say: “ Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned ”? And when the tribune asks, “ Are you a Roman ?” he demonstrated that he was a Roman, and not merely saying it casually, but by appeal, because “ I was born a citizen .” From this above all it is clear that he spoke the truth. For if at one time he said he was from Tarsus and at another time a Roman, or spoke that to some hearers and this to others, one might reasonably say that the claim of being a Roman was perhaps fabricated, thinking to deceive those present into believing that he was from Tarsus. But he, saying that he was from Tarsus, if he were not most conscious of the truth for himself, would not have dared to declare to the same men that he was a Roman, and then to be about to be beaten. For it is clear that by denying him he not only did not free him from the blows, but made the punishment even more severe. And he faithfully related also the slanders against him by the Jews, that he is a deceiver, and a liar, and a sorcerer, which above all Paul strove to put away. Moreover the tribune, if he had not been convinced that he was a Roman, would not have ceased from whipping him, he would not have rescued him urgently from the Jews who were plotting against him. He would not have written on his behalf to Felix that he was a Roman, and that as a Roman he had been snatched from the plot of the Jews.
The Jews would not have brought him before the magistrates, inventing charges against him that did not exist, but from this very thing, if he lied in claiming to be a Roman, beginning their slander with that and concerning the other matters they would seem also to be telling the truth. But how is it possible to be both from Tarsus and a Roman? Hear then the Philippians, when they dragged Paul and Silas before the rulers into the marketplace, since the Pythoness' slave-girl was released, what do they say? that “These men are disturbing our city, being Jews, and proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to practice, being Romans.” (Acts 16:20-21) Do you see the Philippians calling themselves Romans? Therefore nothing prevents Paul from being both from Tarsus and a Roman. For since it seemed a thing of honor to be called a Roman, and he who was called by this name was thought to acquire something more than others in terms of glory, many people, both collectively by cities and some individually, were eager to acquire this title for themselves. And while each was named after his native land, whichever it happened to be, indicating the place that bore him, he was also called a Roman, ascribing this title to himself as a mark of dignity. Therefore, at any rate, Paul also, when they were about to dishonor and strike him, brought forward this name, seeking to strike them with fear and to check them in their daring act. But they say: Let these things be so. How is it possible for Paul to have been born both in Tarsus and in Rome? For it has been shown to be in no way impossible to have been born in Tarsus and yet be called a Roman, having acquired this title for himself by way of some honor. And that he was also born in Tarsus and in Rome, how is that possible? And where does Paul say that he was born in Rome? “ Yes ,” he says. For when the centurion said, “ I bought this citizenship with much money ,” Paul says, “I was born a citizen.” And what does this mean? For he did not say, I was born in Rome, but he indicates it from what follows. For when the centurion mentioned not Rome, but the Roman citizenship, he added, “ I was born a citizen .” Not in Rome (for the centurion did not say that he had acquired a great sum), but in the Roman state and honor, just as he said he acquired. How then was he born in the Roman state, if he was not born in Rome? Because when his father acquired this honor, and by it being revered and celebrated, he himself was born to him. Therefore when he says, " I was born a citizen ," he means: He has recently obtained the honor himself, having acquired it, while I bear the paternal glory and have shared in it. For this reason he says, " I was born a citizen ."
And in another way . Paul was not lying in calling himself a Roman, although being a Jew, as he himself said a little earlier. For from Hadrian it happened that all were Romans. For those who were therefore esteemed to be called had then great privilege. He says these things so that, if he had been whipped, he would not become despised. For if they had scourged him, they would also have urged the matter and would have killed him. But now even if not for another reason, yet for this one not only did they not scourge him, but they also released him. Paul therefore asserts that his father was a Roman. For before Paul was born, Cilicia having become subject to the Romans, it was necessary that he too, being under them, be a Roman. But later he was bound in Jerusalem according to the prophecy. What then follows from this? Having loosened him, he led him before the Jews. Therefore it was not a falsehood. For the tribune feared, he says, having recognized that he is a Roman, that is, of the class of officials.