 |  |
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
(perirregeumi)--a part of the "shameful" treatment to which the Apostle refers in
I Thess. 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 a hymn, they went out unto 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.