Acts 22:30, commentary and pictures

The verse stands in the last part of Acts 22, after the close of Paul's voyage to Jerusalem, his reception there, his arrest in the temple, and his defense before the Jews which occupies the chief part of the chapter. It opens the proceedings before the Sanhedrin whose scene and chief report belong to chapter 23. That hearing comes before his dispatch to Felix, his defense before Felix by preaching the Gospel, the succession of Festus to Felix in governing the province, and his appeal to Caesar rather than be tried by the Jews.

Its setting is Paul as a prisoner at Jerusalem after the attack in the temple and his rescue by the Romans. After he had made his defense by telling of the vision given him while praying in the temple and the Lord's command to leave Jerusalem and preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, the uproar of the Jews led to preparation for his scourging. His declaration of Roman citizenship saved him from being scourged, so his examination before the Jewish council followed his examination by the Roman centurion and he was held to be set before the Jewish leaders.

The verse means that on the morrow, the next day, the Roman commander and captain Lysias, seeking to know with certainty exactly why Paul was accused by the Jews, loosed and released him from his bands, bonds and restraints. He commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear and meet, and brought Paul down from the castle and set him before them in order to determine the charge against him. He was brought from the castle with enough guards to protect him from an attempt on his life. In ordering this hearing Lysias remained anxious about his unlawful treatment of Paul and sought to hand the matter over to the Sanhedrin.

The council before which Paul was set included the high priest and men who had once been his associates in the school of Gamaliel and had joined him in persecuting the followers of Jesus. Paul recognized them as the council that had condemned Stephen and remembered his own part in seeking Stephen's condemnation. The verse belongs to Paul's defense before the multitude at Jerusalem in which he is not even accused of having made any change in the day of worship and has no occasion to defend himself concerning the sanctification of a new day, which shows he had not taught the sanctification of the first day in place of the seventh. As part of Paul's experience in Jerusalem, the verse illustrates that his strong desire to return to his people could influence his sense of duty even when the Lord had directed him otherwise, teaching that personal feelings and plans are not always a safe guide, that God's direction and timing are best, and that his people should follow his providence without complaint.