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The men who laid the charge against the apostle and his companions were too wise to refer to their private
grievances; they were very conscious of the pride that held sway in a Roman Colony, and it was to this pride that
they appealed. Had the apostle or Silas uttered the words, Civis Romanus sum (`I am a Roman'), even the pride of
Philippi would have yielded to the pride of Rome, but they evidently refrained and endured the ignominy of being
beaten in the market place. On three occasions the apostle tells us that he was `beaten with rods', and in each case
he could have saved himself by announcing his citizenship. Let those who have somewhat hastily condemned the
apostle for his appeal to Cæsar, ponder these facts.
The `rending off' of their clothes shows that brutal violence was indulged in (perirregnumi) - a part of the
`shameful' treatment to which the apostle refers in 1 Thessalonians 2:2. The Roman procedure would be adhered to
in a Roman Colony, and the apostle and his companions would be stripped, either completely or to the waist, and
tied to a post erected for that purpose in the market place.
`It was the first of three such scourgings with the rods of Roman lictors which Paul endured, and it is needless to
dwell even for a moment on its dangerous and lacerating anguish ... But such horrors occurred eight times at
least in the story of one whose frame was more frail with years of suffering than that of our English missionaries,
and in whose life these pangs were but such a drop in the ocean of his endurance, that, of the eight occasions on
which he underwent these horrible scourgings, this alone has been deemed worthy of even passing
commemoration' (Farrar).
After the scourging, the keeper of the prison was enjoined to keep his prisoners `safe', and this he interpreted by
thrusting them into the inner prison, and fastening their feet in the stocks. Here, unattended, with backs lacerated,
with feelings outraged, in utter darkness, lay the men who had so willingly responded to the call of the man of
Macedonia to `come over and help us'. If Paul and Silas had moaned throughout the night, refusing comfort and
accusing one another of having made a complete mistake, it would have been but human. We must remember,
however, that Paul had received his commission in terms of suffering (Acts 9:16), while Silas was commended to
the churches as one who had `hazarded' his life for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we read:
`And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them' (Acts 16:25).
The original here is proseuchomenoi humnoun, `praying, they were singing' and it is possible that the `hymn'
may refer to the group of Psalms called the `Hallel' (cf. Matt. 26:30: `And when they had sung an hymn, they went
out into the mount of Olives').
Hobart has given us a volume dealing with Luke as a physician, and draws attention to the many medical terms
found in his writings. The word describing how the prisoners `heard' the singing of Paul and Silas through the
prison wall, is epakroaomai, a term used in the medical profession at that time for `hearing by placing the ear to the
body'.
While the apostle and his companions were singing, and the other prisoners listening, there came the shock of an
earthquake. The doors flew open, and everyone's bands were loosed. The first impulse of the jailor was to draw his
sword and we read that he `would have killed himself', for under the Roman law the jailor would have had to endure
the same punishment as the prisoners who escaped. We find the same anxiety about the escape of prisoners later on
in the narrative, in Acts 27:42.
The jailor uses the word kurioi, `Sirs', in his appeal to Paul and Silas, and in their reply they point him away to
Ton Kurion, `The Lord'. Whether the jailor meant by the word `saved' what the Scriptures mean, we cannot tell,
but, that after being given the answer: `Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house', we
read that Paul and Silas `spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house'. It is well to
remember that the `word' here, logos, implies a `logical account' showing that after preaching the way of salvation
in the simple terms of verse 31, the preachers followed the declaration with explanation and instruction.
The jailor then washes the wounded backs of the Lord's servants, and in turn he and his house are baptized.
The magistrates were, apparently, rather perturbed about their very un-Roman conduct, and `when it was day'
sent the sergeants (or lictors, the bearers of the rod) saying `Let these men go'.