Acts 22:24
The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.
The Roman commander could not understand the charge from the violent outcry of the crowd against Paul, so he commanded that Paul be brought into the fortress and examined by scourging in order to discover the reason for their accusation. That scourging was unlawful because Paul was a Roman citizen and an uncondemned man, and when this became known the commander halted it and was afraid because he had bound Paul. On the next day the commander loosed Paul from his bonds and brought him before the Jewish council to learn what the accusation was.
In this episode Paul's life was endangered by his enemies while a heathen Roman magistrate protected him. It fits a repeated pattern in which Roman officials recognized his innocence, while Jewish tribunals condemned him without proving guilt.