Discovery BoxActs 22:24-25 
Context22:24 the commanding officer 1 ordered Paul 2 to be brought back into the barracks. 3 He told them 4 to interrogate Paul 5 by beating him with a lash 6 so that he could find out the reason the crowd 7 was shouting at Paul 8 in this way. 22:25 When they had stretched him out for the lash, 9 Paul said to the centurion 10 standing nearby, “Is it legal for you to lash a man who is a Roman citizen 11 without a proper trial?” 12
1 tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). In Greek the term χιλίαρχος (ciliarco") literally described the “commander of a thousand,” but it was used as the standard translation for the Latin tribunus militum or tribunus militare, the military tribune who commanded a cohort of 600 men.
2 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Or “the headquarters.” BDAG 775 s.v. παρεμβολή 2 has “barracks/headquarters of the Roman troops in Jerusalem Ac 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32.”
4 tn Grk “into the barracks, saying.” This is a continuation of the same sentence in Greek using the participle εἴπας (eipas), but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence a new sentence was begun in the translation here. The direct object “them” has been supplied; it is understood in Greek.
5 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 sn To interrogate Paul by beating him with a lash. Under the Roman legal system it was customary to use physical torture to extract confessions or other information from prisoners who were not Roman citizens and who were charged with various crimes, especially treason or sedition. The lashing would be done with a whip of leather thongs with pieces of metal or bone attached to the ends.
7 tn Grk “they”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Grk “for the thongs” (of which the lash was made). Although often translated as a dative of means (“with thongs”), referring to thongs used to tie the victim to the whipping post, BDAG 474-75 s.v. ἱμάς states that it “is better taken as a dat. of purpose for the thongs, in which case οἱ ἱμάντες = whips (Posidonius: 87 fgm. 5 Jac.; POxy. 1186, 2 τὴν διὰ τῶν ἱμάντων αἰκείαν. – Antiphanes 74, 8, Demosth. 19, 197 and Artem. 1, 70 use the sing. in this way).”
10 sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.
11 tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.
12 tn Or “a Roman citizen and uncondemned.” BDAG 35 s.v. ἀκατάκριτος has “uncondemned, without due process” for this usage.
sn The fact that Paul was a Roman citizen protected him from being tortured to extract information; such protections were guaranteed by the Porcian and Julian law codes. In addition, the fact Paul had not been tried exempted him from punishment.
