Acts 22:2

Act_22:2-3

And when they heard that he spoke in the Hebrew tongue.

Pauls method of quieting the mob

The Hebrew language was their dearest language. It touched them at the point of sympathy. Paul had a new hold on them when he spoke in that language. He knew that, and therefore he chose that language in speaking to them. Paul showed his wisdom and showed a kindly, loving spirit in the very words of his choice at this time. It is always better to choose points of agreement, rather than of difference, in any attempt to reach others for their good, or for the cause of truth. Yet there are those who will choose the points of difference as a starting point in such an effort, and then will count themselves martyrs when they experience the results of a conflict which they have needlessly brought about. (H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)

Preachers should speak intelligibly

When the people heard Paul speak in an intelligible language, they became quiet and attentive. Many preachers are to blame for the inattention of their audiences. They speak affectedly, or above the comprehension of the people. A preacher whose object is to edify, should apply himself to present the truth in the simplest and most comprehensible manner, and to address himself to the heart. The teaching of Jesus is the most complete and blessed example. (Apostolic Pastor.)

I am verily a man which am a Jew.

The value of personal experience

A mans experience is an element of power in his teaching and he has a right to make use of it for good. Whether he thinks the same now as formerly, or has changed his opinions, he speaks with added force to his hearers, when he shows them that he knows all about their way of looking at things, from having been in their place himself. What do you know about it? is a very common way of sneering at a wisemans wise counsel against conduct wholly at variance with his present course of living. Ive been through it all myself, is a fair answer to that sneer. Paul understood the value of this sort of response; and it is well for us all to have it in mind also. (H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)

Brought up … at the feet of Gamaliel.--

The advantages of a Rabbinical education to Paul

The course of instruction which a rabbi had to undergo was lengthened and peculiar. It consisted entirely of the study of the Scriptures and the comments of the sages and masters upon them. The words of Scripture and the sayings of the wise were committed to memory; discussions were carried on about disputed points; and by a rapid fire of questions, which the scholars were allowed to put as well as the masters, the wits of the students were sharpened and their views enlarged. The outstanding qualities of Pauls intellect, which were conspicuous in his subsequent life--his marvellous memory, the keenness of his logic, the superabundance of his ideas, and his original way of taking up every subject--first displayed themselves in this school, and excited, we may well believe, the warm interest of his teacher. He himself learned much here which was of great moment in his subsequent career. Although he was to be specially the missionary of the Gentiles, he was also a great missionary to his own people. In every city he visited where there were Jews he made his first public appearance in the synagogue. There his training as a rabbi secured him an opportunity of speaking, and his familiarity with Jewish modes of thought and reasoning enabled him to address his audiences in the way best fitted to secure their attention. His knowledge of the Scriptures enabled him to adduce proofs from an authority which his hearers acknowledged to be supreme. Besides, he was destined to be the great theologian of Christianity, and the principal writer of the New Testament. Now the New grew out of the Old; the one is in all its parts the prophecy and the other the fulfilment. But it required a mind saturated not only with Christianity, but with the Old Testament, to bring this out; and, at the age when the memory is most retentive, Paul acquired such a knowledge of the Old Testament that everything it contains was at his command: its phraseology became the language of his thinking; he literally writes in quotations, and he quotes from all parts with equal facility--from the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Thus was the warrior equipped with the armour and the weapons of the Spirit before he knew in what cause he was to use them. (J. Stalker, D. D.)

Zealous toward God.--

Zeal

I. Its nature--fervour--from a verb signifying to boil. It stands opposed to indifference or lukewarmness. Its object may be good or bad, a person or thing, truth or error. The Jews and Saul were zealous for the law and the tradition of their fathers; and through zeal persecuted the Church.

II. Its criteria.

1. Not.

(1) The object. There can indeed be no holy zeal for sin or error; but there may be an unholy zeal for God and truth, as was the case with Saul.

(2) The energy, or the self-denial and exertions to which it leads: Many unholy men are exceedingly fervid and self-sacrificing.

2. But--

(1) The source.

(a) The source of false zeal is either some selfish interest, as in the ease of the Jews, the Romanists, etc.; or party spirit, national feeling, esprit de corps; or false doctrine, hatred of the truth.

(b) The source of true zeal--i.e., as a Christian grace--is the Holy Spirit, as the Author of all good, together with spiritual apprehension of the excellence of its object, whether God, truth, or the Church.

(2) The concomitants and effects.

(a) False zeal is malignant; true is benevolent. The one is the fervour of the unrenewed; the other of the renewed mind--as illustrated by Jesus and the Jews.

(b) False zeal is proud; true is humble. The one arises from a sense of superiority which it seeks to assert and vindicate; the other from such views of God and things Divine as tend to produce humility.

(c) False zeal is irreverent; true is reverent.

(d) True zeal is connected with a holy life.

III. Its obligation. It is demanded by--

1. The infinite importance of the interests at stake--the glory of God, the progress of truth, the salvation of men. To be unconcerned about these is the greatest sin and peril. God therefore declares His special abhorrence of the cold and lukewarm.

2. Our relations to God and Christ. A child is zealous for its father, a subject for his sovereign, a soldier for his commander, a captive for his redeemer.

3. The fact that zeal is a chief source of spiritual power. This qualification in the absence of others can accomplish wonders.

IV. The means of its cultivation.

1. Avoid all pretence and affectation; all expression of more interest than you feel.

2. Gather warmth by continual intercourse with God, and cherish the influence of His Spirit.

3. Keep your minds filled with the subjects about which you should be zealous, and your attention devoted to them.

4. Remember that zeal being a gift of the Spirit, whatever grieves Him quenches our zeal. (C. Hodge, D. D.)

Zeal analysed

Dr. Bonar tells of a dream he once had. In his dream the angels weighed his zeal, and he was delighted with the result. It reached the maximum, and turned the scale at a hundred. Then they analysed it, and his delight vanished. For (out of the hundred) fourteen parts were pure selfishness, fifteen parts sectarianism, twenty-two parts ambition, twenty-three parts love for man, and twenty-six parts love to God. He awoke from his dream sobered and saddened, but resolved on a new consecration. How much religious zeal (if analysed) would prove even more corrupt! True zeal is consistent: it burns with a steady flame. It is humble: not puffed up nor vaunting itself. It is pure: shunning all evil methods. It is learnt from Christ, who was full of zeal, because He was love itself. Its secret is the love which Christs love kindles in human hearts. Let us seek, then, a zeal which is pure and undefiled, which will endure the searching test of God. (G. H. James.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 22:2. Τῇ Ἑβραΐδι, in the Hebrew tongue) Many seem to have been previously ignorant, that the person about whom the commotion was raised, even knew Hebrew.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 22:2 . προσεφώνει : only in Luke and Paul, except Mat 11:16 , cf. Mat 6:13 ; Matt 7:32 ; Mat 13:12 ; Mat 23:20 , Mat 21:40 , see Friedrich, p. 29, for the frequency of other compounds of φωνεῖν in Luke. μᾶλλον παρ . ἡσυχ : the phrase is used similarly in Plut., Coriol. , 18, Dion Hal., ii., 32, and LXX, Job 34:29 ; on the fondness of St. Luke for σιγή , σιγᾶν , ἡσυχάζειν , and the characteristic way in which silence results from his words and speeches, or before or during the speech, see Friedrich, p. 26, cf. Luk 14:4 ; Luk 15:26 , Act 11:18 ; Act 15:12 , Act 12:17 ; Act 21:40 , and for ἡσυχάζειν , 1Th 4:11 , Luk 14:4 , Act 11:18 ; Act 21:14 , so too παρέχειν with accusative of the thing offered by any one, Act 19:24 , Act 28:2 (Act 16:16 ). The verb is used only in Mat 26:10 , and parallel, Mar 14:6 , except in Luke and Paul, Luk 6:29 ; Luk 7:4 ; Luk 11:7 ; Luk 18:5 , Act 16:16 ; Act 17:31 , and as above, and five times in St. Paul’s Epistles.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 2. When they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue] He had probably been traduced by the Jews of Asia as a mere Gentile, distinguished only by his virulence against the Jewish religion; which virulence proceeded from his malice and ignorance.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. That he spake Hebrew. This is indeed an usual thing, that when men which speak diverse languages are together, we hear those more willingly who speak our own language; but the Jews were moved with another peculiar cause, because they imagined that Paul was offended with his own kindred, so that he did even hate their tongue, or that he was some rogue which had not so much as learned the speech of that nation whereof he said he came. Now, so soon as they heard their own language, they began to have some better hope. Furthermore, it is uncertain whether Paul spake in the Hebrew or in the Syrian tongue; for we know that the speech of the Jews was corrupt and degenerate after their exile, forasmuch as they had much from the Chaldeans and Syrians. For mine own part, I think, that because he spake as well to the common sort as unto the elders, he used the common speech which was at that day usual.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(2) They kept the more silence.—The opening words had done the work they were meant to do. One who spoke in Hebrew was not likely to blaspheme the sacred Hebrew books. What follows was conceived in the same spirit of conciliation.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. And … Hebrew tongue] The beckoning with the hand (Act_21:40) had procured silence enough for the Apostle’s first words to be heard, and now they caught the sound of their own dialect.

they kept the more silence] The noun in the original refers not only to peace from cries and shouts, but to general quietness, such as would be produced by refraining from all movements. It expresses a very high degree of quietness. Rev. Ver. has “they were the more quiet.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them,.... See Gill on Act 21:40.

they kept the more silence; it being their mother tongue, and which they best understood; and which the captain and the Roman soldiers might not so well under stand; and chiefly because the Hellenistic language was not so agreeable to them, nor the Hellenistic Jews, who spoke the Greek language, and used the Greek version of the Bible; and such an one they took Paul to be, besides his being a Christian; wherefore when they heard him speak in the Hebrew tongue, it conciliated their minds more to him, at least engaged their attention the more to what he was about to say:

and he saith; the Syriac and Ethiopic versions add, "to them", as follows.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

2 (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)

Ver. 2. In the Hebrew tongue] {See Trapp on "Act 21:40"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Hebrew tongue - See the notes on Act 21:40.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Hebrew tongue; the ordinary Hebrew; that which was taken for Hebrew, and spoken by the Hebrews after their return from the captivity, though mixed with the Syriac; as Act 21:40.

They kept the more silence; it being more grateful unto them to hear Paul speak in their mother tongue, especially they having so great a prejudice against all other nations and languages.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. Hebrew tongue—The Jews were bilingual, speaking two languages, Greek and Aramaic, or the then modern Hebrew. The Greek was most prevalent in large towns; and hence, probably, had he spoken Greek, his audience would have understood him. His speaking Aramaic secured the momentary sympathy of the Jews, but lost that of the chiliarch. Could he have spoken both Hebrew and Greek at once, the chiliarch would have learned that Paul’s only crime was favour toward the Gentiles; it would have been rather a merit than an offence to him. We may analyze this speech thus: Paul’s Jewish enmity to Christ, (3-5;) his miraculous conversion, (6-10;) his authentication and baptism by Ananias, (11-16;) his subsequent return to Jerusalem and commission by Jesus, (17-21.)

Among all this bitter audience none is so bitter as once, alas! was I. With the highest Jewish education and proudest prospects, I was the bloodiest of persecutors.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Unto them in the Hebrew language for in the Hebrew tongue to them, A.V.; were the more quiet for kept the more silence, A.V. When they heard, etc. This trait is wonderfully true to nature, and exhibits also St. Paul"s admirable tact and self-possession. It was strikingly in harmony with his addressing them as "brethren" that he should speak to them in their own mother tongue. There is a living reality in such touches which seems at once to refute Renan"s suspicion that St. Luke invented this and other of St. Paul"s speeches in the later chapters of the Acts. The full report of these later speeches is abundantly accounted for by the fact that through this time St. Luke was with St. Paul, and heard the speeches.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes on verse 1

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. ἀκούσαντες δέ, and when they heard. The beckoning with the hand (Act 21:40) had procured silence enough for the Apostle’s first words to be heard, and now they caught the sound of their own dialect.

μᾶλλον παρέσχον ἡσυχίαν, they were the more quiet. ἡσυχία is stillness as opposed to motion, while σιγή (Act 21:40) is quiet as opposed to noise. The phrase in this verse indicates that the crowd not only abstained from cries and shouts, but kept still in their places that they might hear the better. Thus a very high degree of quiet is described.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Kept - silence [παρεσχον ησυχιαν] . Lit., gave quiet.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.