Acts 16:22, commentary and pictures

At Philippi the crowd rose as one against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates themselves tore off their outer garments and ordered the apostles stripped and scourged, joining official power to the mob spirit against innocent men. The outbreak came because Paul had freed a possessed fortune-telling slave from the evil spirit, restoring her to her right mind to follow Christ, and her masters saw their profit from her divinations cut off if the gospel continued. Enraged at the loss, they dragged Paul and Silas before the rulers crying that as Jews they troubled the city and taught customs unlawful for Romans, and the magistrates hastily commanded the beating amid the uproar before learning the character and work of the men. The scourging with many stripes was the rigorous Roman penalty for the worst criminals, followed by imprisonment in the inner prison with feet fast in the stocks. Yet thrown into the dungeon in that painful position, Paul and Silas did not complain but sang praises to God at midnight, showing that those devoted to the truth can count it a privilege and even a joy to suffer for it and must keep obeying God rather than man when laws and powers oppose Him.

Setting and Events

The time had come for the gospel to be proclaimed beyond the confines of Asia Minor, and the way was opening for Paul and his fellow workers to cross over into Europe after the night vision at Troas on the borders of the Mediterranean Sea in which a man of Macedonia pleaded for help. The attack at Philippi followed Paul freeing a possessed fortune-telling woman from an evil spirit, and she was restored to her right mind and chose to become a follower of Christ. She had been enslaved and a trouble to the city.

Her masters saw all hope of money from her divinations was gone and their income cut off if the gospel continued. Many others in the city who gained money through satanic delusions feared a power that could stop their work. Driven by anger over the loss, they brought Paul and Silas before the rulers and raised a mighty cry against the servants of God. They charged that being Jews they exceedingly troubled the city and taught customs unlawful for Romans to receive or observe, which stirred the city into frenzy of excitement.

The multitude rose up together against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates themselves tore off their outer garments and commanded that they be stripped and scourged. In this the mob spirit was sanctioned by the authorities with official power despite the apostles' innocence. The command was a hasty, prompt and decisive measure to quell the tumult, inflicted amid uproar before the magistrates knew the men's character and work, after which they returned home congratulating themselves for stopping it. It meant scourging with many stripes followed by imprisonment, the rigorous Roman penalty reserved for the worst criminals, laid on two innocent men and ending in the inner prison with feet made fast in the stocks.

The magistrates later learned further particulars and saw the freed woman, once a trouble to the city, now quiet and peaceable with changed countenance and demeanor and in her right mind. They recognized they had probably punished two innocent men under the severe penalty, were indignant with themselves, and decided in the morning to have them privately released and escorted safely from the city beyond danger of violence from the mob. The beating led to imprisonment that in God's direct providence brought the light of truth within the prison walls so the jailer and his household believed. The apostles' visible injuries and appearance at Thessalonica still bore witness to the shameful public abuse they had endured at Philippi, which they explained while magnifying God's grace in their deliverance rather than dwelling on their own afflictions.

Faithful Suffering and Witness

Thrown into the dungeon in a painful position with feet fastened in the stocks in the inner prison, Paul and Silas did not complain but at midnight sang praises to God. Love for Christ's work cheered them through suffering, and their scourging and imprisonment were borne with joy. Their joy shows that those devoted to the truth can count it a privilege to suffer for it, that faith can make it joyful to suffer for the truth, and that such suffering need not deter them from their work.

Paul endured this violent opposition and imprisonment in Macedonia without turning from his purpose to serve Christ. His faith, strengthened through effort and sacrifice, sustained him through persecution. When he and Silas came to Thessalonica their appearance still bore evidence of the shameful public abuse endured at Philippi, and they explained what they had suffered. They magnified God's grace in their deliverance rather than dwelling on their own afflictions and suffering.

Carrying God's aggressive truth brings reproach, persecution, beating and imprisonment when laws and powers oppose God, yet obedience to God rather than man must continue. Their imprisonment was in the direct providence of God so that the light of truth could reach within those prison walls and convert the jailer, proving believers have a message to bear wherever they are and must constantly let their light shine. By the same pattern those who stem the current of prevailing iniquity and obey the truth in the face of the world will be brought into strait places, especially when the message goes with a loud cry, because the whole world will not be in harmony with the law.