[The posts which follow make extensive use of The Acts of the Apostles, by Madame Cecilia, (Religious of St Andrew's Convent, Streatham), with an Imprimi potest dated 16 October 1907 (Westminster); Burns, Oates & Washbourne Ltd. (London). With grateful prayers for the author and her team:
REQUIEM æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.ETERNAL rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.]
Acts XXIII : 23-35
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| St Paul's journey from Jerusalem to Cæsarea |
[24] And provide beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe to Felix the governor.
[25] (For he feared lest perhaps the Jews might take him away by force and kill him, and he should afterwards be slandered, as if he was to take money.) And he wrote a letter after this manner:
[26] Claudius Lysias to the most excellent governor, Felix, greeting.
[27] This man being taken by the Jews, and ready to be killed by them, I rescued coming in with an army, understanding that he is a Roman:
[28] And meaning to know the cause which they objected unto him, I brought him forth into their council.
[29] Whom I found to be accused concerning questions of their law; but having nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bands.
[30] And when I was told of ambushes that they had prepared for him, I sent him to thee, signifying also to his accusers to plead before thee. Farewell.
[31] Then the soldiers, according as it was commanded them, taking Paul, brought him by night to Antipatris.
[32] And the next day, leaving the horsemen to go with him, they returned to the castle.
[33] Who, when they were come to Caesarea, and had delivered the letter to the governor, did also present Paul before him.
[34] And when he had read it, and had asked of what province he was, and understood that he was of Cilicia;
[35] I will hear thee, said he, when thy accusers come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall.
[23] Et vocatis duobus centurionibus, dixit illis : Parate milites ducentos ut eant usque Caesaream, et equites septuaginta, et lancearios ducentos a tertia hora noctis, [24] et jumenta praeparate ut imponentes Paulum, salvum perducerent ad Felicem praesidem. [25] ( Timuit enim ne forte raperent eum Judaei, et occiderent, et ipse postea calumniam sustineret, tamquam accepturus pecuniam.)
[26] Scribens epistolam continentem haec : Claudius Lysias optimo praesidi, Felici salutem. [27] Virum hunc comprehensum a Judaeis, et incipientem interfici ab eis, superveniens cum exercitu eripui, cognito quia Romanus est. [28] Volensque scire causam quam objiciebant illi, deduxi eum in concilium eorum. [29] Quem inveni accusari de quaestionibus legis ipsorum, nihil vero dignum morte aut vinculis habentem criminis. [30] Et cum mihi perlatum esset de insidiis quas paraverant illi, misi eum ad te denuntians : et accusatoribus ut dicant apud te. Vale.
[31] Milites ergo secundum praeceptum sibi, assumentes Paulum, duxerunt per noctem in Antipatridem. [32] Et postera die dimissis equitibus ut cum eo irent, reversi sunt ad castra. [33] Qui cum venissent Caesaream, et tradidissent epistolam praesidi, statuerunt ante illum et Paulum. [34] Cum legisset autem, et interrogasset de qua provincia esset : et cognoscens quia de Cilicia : [35] Audiam te, inquit, cum accusatores tui venerint. Jussitque in praetorio Herodis custodiri eum.
Notes
23. two centurions. One commander of each of the two bands of one hundred men, i.e. of the infantry.
soldiers .... horsemen .... spearmen. The component parts of a Roman army were represented in every cohort. The infantry were heavily armed and were under centurions. The horsemen were under a decurio or captain of a “turma,” i.e. squadron, which generally numbered thirty-three men. The Greek word (δεξιολαβοι), which the Vulgate renders “lancearii” (spearmen), is not found elsewhere in the Scriptures, nor in any very ancient Greek authors. It signifies literally “right hand graspers” ; hence commentators conclude that they were armed with a light spear or javelin, which was carried in the right hand.
Ewald suggests that St Luke refers to the famous Arabian slingers that were employed to defend the rear and flanks of the Roman armies.
the third hour of the night. About nine o’clock, according to Jewish reckoning, when the soldiers relieved the guard. Thus St Paul would be taken away under cover of darkness ; and as all the men were mounted, by daylight he would be beyond the reach of his enemies.
24. And provide beasts. The word “ beasts ” here means any beasts of burden, such as asses, camels, and horses for riding. The latter are intended here.
Felix the governor. Felix was the brother of Pallas, the favourite freedman of Claudius. To his brother’s influence, Felix owed his appointment as Procurator of Judea in A.D. 53.
Both Jewish and Roman historians refer to his avarice, cruelty, and licentiousness. The Jews having lodged complaints against him, he was recalled by Nero in A.D. 53, and replaced by Festus.
25. For he feared, etc. All this sentence, which is bracketed in our Rheims Testament and in the Vulgate, has only the authority of the Philoxian, Syriac, and the Armenian Cursives. It is not given in any codex.
he wrote a letter. It is probable that this letter was written in Latin, as both the sender and the receiver were Romans. Letters sent to a higher tribunal, giving the charge against the accused, were called “ elogia.”
26. most excellent. This was a customary epithet given to a magistrate. St Luke gives the same title to Theophilus, to whom be dedicated his gospel. He apparently translates the actual text of the letter.
27. coming in with a army, etc. The tribune words his letter to suit bis own ends, viz. to shew his zeal in rescuing a Roman citizen. Hence be does not mention that be only ascertains him to be such after having given orders for him to be scourged. The reference is evidently to the first time that be rescued St Paul.
29. questions of their law. The ttibune, by his investigations, had learned that the. point at issue was the Resurrection of Christ, which St Paul adduced as a proof that Jesus was the Messias. Also be found that the immediate cause of St Paul’s arrest was the supposed profanation of the Temple. Neither of these questions would have had any interest or importance for the Roman tribune.
30. signifying also, etc. This injunction was evidently given on the morrow, when the delegates from the Sanhedrin presented their petition to the tribune, and when St Paul was on his road to the Roman capital of Judea.
Farewell. Both the opening greeting and the final salutation resemble those of the letter from the Assembly at Jerusalem to the Gentile converts.
31. the soldiers .... brought him by night
“At the third hour, or nine o’clock, under the shades of night, the escort were ready at the gates of Fort Antonia, with horses for Paul and the soldier to whom he was linked, Lysias delivered the letter, and Paul mounted, and the cavalcade set forward on the road to Cæsarea. The Roman capital lay at a distance of sixty-eight miles, or, according to Josephus, seventy-five miles. They travelled all night, and passing through Lydda, then the next day (the 26th of May) reached Antipatris, a pleasant city twenty-six miles from Cæsarea. Here the foot soldiers no danger being now apprehended, retraced their steps, under the command of one of the two centurions, to Jerusalem. The horsemen, i.e. both the heavy and light horse, under the command of the other centurion, pressed on with Paul to Cæsarea. On arriving they proceeded to the palace of Herod, or to the prætorium, the residence of Felix the governor, and there delivered the despatch and presented their prisoner ” (Lewin, Life and Epistles of St Paul, pp. 165-156).
Antipatris. This town lay on the route to Cesarea, forty-two miles from Jerusalem. It was built by Herod the Great, and named after his father. Josephus calls it “Caphar Saba.” The modern name is Kefr-Saba. Formerly a Roman road, of which a few ruins remain, connected Antipatris with Jerusalem.
The cavalcade set out by night for Antipatris, hut only arrived there some time on the following day, probably towards evening. The fact that as many as 470 men were sent in charge of the apostle shews how troubled those times were, and how seriously the Roman governor estimated the resources of the conspirators, who were probably Sicarii.
33. when they were come, — i.e. the horsemen.
35. I will hear thee. The Greek verb (διακουσομαι) implies making a full enquiry into the charge.
Having received an “ elogium,” he was bound to try the accused within three days. But as St Paul's’ accusers had to come from Jerusalem, it is probable the trial took place a little later.
to be kept. This verb (φυλασσεσθαι) does not imply close confinement in a dungeon, but simply privation of liberty. St Paul was not a condemned prisoner, and during his captivity in Cesarea he was allowed many privileges (see ch. xxiv. 23).
Herod's judgment-hall. The noun used here (πραιτωριον) ‘‘ prætorium ” may mean a palace, a general’s tent, or soldiers’ barracks. Here it doubtless means the palace which Herod the Great had built for himself, and which, at this time, was the official residence of the governor.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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