Acts 22:25-29 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

And as they The soldiers ordered by the tribune; were binding him with thongs In order to their scourging him; Paul said unto the centurion that stood by To see the tribune's orders executed; Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? A freeman of Rome might be bound with a chain, and beaten with a staff; but he might not be bound with thongs, neither scourged nor beaten with rods. The centurion told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest Greek, Ορα τι μελλεις ποιειν, consider what thou art about to do; for this man is a Roman Yea, and there was a stronger reason to stop proceedings, and to consider, for this man was a servant of God. Paul said, I was free born Not, as some have supposed, because he was born at Tarsus; for, as Dr. Lardner has unanswerably proved, that was not a Roman colony, or what the Romans called municipium, a free town, or a place where all the natives were free of Rome by birth. But, it is probable, either his father, or some of his ancestors, had been made free of Rome for some military service. We learn hence, that we are under no obligations, as Christians, to give up our civil privileges (which we ought to receive and prize as the gifts of God) to every insolent invader. In a thousand circumstances, gratitude to God and duty to men will oblige us to insist upon them, and engage us to strive to transmit them improved to posterity. Then straightway they Who had bound him, and were about to examine him by scourging; departed from him Not daring to proceed; and the chief captain Whom we may justly suppose to have had considerable influence at Rome; also was afraid, because Though he had not scourged him, yet he had bound him In order to his being scourged; which was a breach of privilege, for which he might have been accused by Paul to his superiors.