Acts 22:19

And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(19) Lord, they know that I imprisoned . .—This was said at the time, and it was repeated now. as with a two-fold bearing. It was partly an extenuation of the unbelief of the people. They were, as he had once been, sinning in ignorance, which, though as yet unconquered, was not invincible. Partly it expressed the hope that they too might listen when they saw him whom they had known as a vehement persecutor preaching the faith which he had once destroyed.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

22:12-21 The apostle goes on to relate how he was confirmed in the change he had made. The Lord having chosen the sinner, that he should know his will, he is humbled, enlightened, and brought to the knowledge of Christ and his blessed gospel. Christ is here called that Just One; for he is Jesus Christ the righteous. Those whom God has chosen to know his will, must look to Jesus, for by him God has made known his good-will to us. The great gospel privilege, sealed to us by baptism, is the pardon of sins. Be baptized, and wash away thy sins; that is, receive the comfort of the pardon of thy sins in and through Jesus Christ, and lay hold on his righteousness for that purpose; and receive power against sin, for the mortifying of thy corruptions. Be baptized, and rest not in the sign, but make sure of the thing signified, the putting away of the filth of sin. The great gospel duty, to which by our baptism we are bound, is, to seek for the pardon of our sins in Christ's name, and in dependence on him and his righteousness. God appoints his labourers their day and their place, and it is fit they should follow his appointment, though it may cross their own will. Providence contrives better for us than we do for ourselves; we must refer ourselves to God's guidance. If Christ send any one, his Spirit shall go along with him, and give him to see the fruit of his labours. But nothing can reconcile man's heart to the gospel, except the special grace of God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And I said, Lord - This shows that it was the Lord Jesus whom Paul saw in a trance in the temple. The term "Lord" is usually applied to him in the Acts . See the notes on Acts 1:24.

They know - Christians know; and they will therefore be not likely to receive to their fellowship their former enemy and persecutor.

Beat in every synagogue - Beating, or scourging, was often done in the synagogue. See the notes on Matthew 10:17. Compare Acts 26:11. It was customary for those who were converted to Christianity still to meet with the Jews in their synagogues, and to join with them in their worship.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

18. get … quickly out of Jerusalem—compare Ac 9:29.

for they will not receive thy testimony … And I said, Lord, they know, &c.—"Can it be, Lord, that they will resist the testimony of one whom they knew so well as among the bitterest of all against Thy disciples, and whom nothing short of resistless evidence could have turned to Thee?"

Matthew Poole's Commentary

This was Paul’s objection which he made against the will of God concerning his leaving Jerusalem, and the Jews in it; and shows how apt carnal reason is in the very best men to set up itself against the wisdom of God, and to argue for what we fancy best to be done, or left undone. The sum of his reasoning is this, That he was most likely to do more good amongst the Jews than amongst the Gentiles, whither God was sending of him, because the Jews knew how zealous he had been not only to observe the law himself, but to procure its observation by all others; and that it was no less than a miracle which changed his mind about it. He shows also by this his great love unto the Jews, whom he would have staid with, had it been at his choice, and did only remove from by God’s command.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And I said, Lord, they know, that I imprisoned,.... Men and women, that made a profession of the Christian religion, Acts 8:3

and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee; in Jerusalem there were many synagogues, and in these scourging and beating of offenders were used; See Gill on Matthew 10:17.

Geneva Study Bible

And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Acts 22:19-21. “I interposed by way of objection[137] the contrast, in which my working for Christianity (my μαρτυρία) would appear toward my former hostile working[138] (which contrast could not but prove the truth and power of my conversion and promote the acceptance of my testimony), and (Acts 22:21)

Christ repeated His injunction to depart, which He further specially confirmed by ὍΤΙ ἘΓῺ ΕἸς ἜΘΝΗ ΜΑΚΡᾺΝ ἘΞΑΠΟΣΤ. ΣΕ.” “Commemorat hoc Judaeis Paulus, ut eis declararet summum amorem, quo apud eos cupivit manere iisque praedicare; quod ergo iis relictis ad gentes iverit, non ex suo voto, sed Dei jussu compulsum fuisse,” Calovius.

αὐτοὶ ἐπιστ.] is necessarily to be referred to the subject of ΠΑΡΑΔΈΞΟΝΤΑΙ, Acts 22:18, to the Jews in Jerusalem, not to the foreign Jews (Heinrichs).

ἐγὼ ἤμην κ.τ.λ.] I was there, etc.

καὶ αὐτός] et ipse, as well as other hostile persons. On συνενδοκ., comp. Acts 8:1.

Acts 22:21. ἘΓΏ] with strong emphasis. Paul has to confide in and obey this I.

ἐξαποστελῶ] This promised future sending forth ensued at Acts 13:2, and how effectively! see Romans 15:19.

ΕἸς ἜΘΝΗ] among Gentiles.

[137] Ewald, p. 438, understands ver. 19 f. not as an objection, but as assenting: “however humanly intelligible it might strictly be, that the Jews would not hear him.” But the extraordinary revelation in itself most naturally presupposes in Paul a human conception deviating from the intimation contained in it, to which the heavenly call runs counter, as often also with the prophets (Moses, Jeremiah, etc.), the divine intimation encounters human scruples. If, moreover, the words here were meant as assenting, we should necessarily expect a hint of it in the expression (such as: ναί, χύριε).

[138] In which I was engaged in bringing believers to prison (φυλακίζ., Wis 18:4), and in scourging them (Matthew 10:17), now in this synagogue, and now in that (κατὰ τὰς συναγ.). Comp. Acts 26:11.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Acts 22:19. Κύριε, Acts 9:5.—αὐτοὶ ἐπίσ.: Paul seems as it were to plead with his Lord that men cannot but receive testimony from one who had previously been an enemy of Jesus of Nazareth; the words too are directed to his hearers, so that they may impress them with the strength of the testimony thus given by one who had imprisoned the Christians.—δέρων: on the power of the Sanhedrim outside Jerusalem see on p. 151.—κατὰ τὰς συν., cf. Acts 8:3, Acts 20:20, and for such punishments in the synagogues cf. Matthew 10:17; Matthew 23:34, Mark 13:9, Luke 21:12, cf. Luke 12:11, Edersheim, History of the Jewish Nation, p. 374.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

19. Lord, they know, &c.] The Rev. Ver. gives “they themselves know” to mark that the pronoun is emphatic. This is not English, but there seems to be no other way of indicating in our language the emphasis which is expressed in the original. Saul is confident that he will be well known by many to whom he is speaking, and that his zealous persecution of the Christians less than four years before cannot have fallen out of men’s memories.

I imprisoned and beat] The Greek implies that this conduct was of some continuance. Saul was regularly engaged in the work.

in every synagogue] For the synagogues as places where such punishment was inflicted cp. Matthew 10:17; Matthew 23:34, Mark 13:9, Luke 21:12. That they were also places in which charges were heard is seen from Luke 12:11.

Bengel's Gnomen

Acts 22:19. Αὐτοὶ, they themselves) Paul thought that the conversion of himself is so effectual an argument, that even the Jews would be moved by it; but the Lord answers, that the Gentiles rather would be moved by it.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 19. - They themselves for they, A.V. In every synagogue. It appears from Matthew 10:18 that offenders were beaten in the synagogue, and doubtless by command of the synagogue authorities. A delation to any synagogue that any member of it was a blasphemer (i.e. a Christian) would lead to such a punishment. But probably the meaning here rather is that he went or sent to every synagogue to find out who there was among them that believed in Jesus, and then had them punished at Jerusalem (Acts 9:2). Acts 22:19