Acts 22:28

28 And the chief captain said, I got Roman rights for myself at a great price. And Paul said, But I had them by birth.

Acts 22:28 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 22:28

And the chief captain answered, with a great sum obtained I
this freedom
For, it seems, he was not a Roman born, but very likely a Grecian, or Syrian, by his name Lysias; and as all things were now venal at Rome, the freedom of the city was to be bought with money, though a large sum was insisted on for it: this the chief captain said, as wondering that so mean a person, and who he understood was a Jew by birth, should be able to procure such a privilege, which cost him so much money:

and Paul said, but I was free born;
being born at Tarsus; which, as Pliny says ^F12, was a free city, and which had its freedom given it by Mark Antony, and which was before the birth of Paul; and therefore his parents being of this city, and free, he was born so.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 27.

Acts 22:28 In-Context

26 And hearing this, the man went to the chief captain and gave him an account of it, saying, What are you about to do? for this man is a Roman.

27 And the chief captain came to him and said, Give me an answer, are you a Roman? And he said, Yes.

28 And the chief captain said, I got Roman rights for myself at a great price. And Paul said, But I had them by birth.

29 Then those who were about to put him to the test went away: and the chief captain was in fear, seeing that he was a Roman, and that he had put chains on him.

30 But on the day after, desiring to have certain knowledge of what the Jews had to say against him, he made him free, and gave orders for the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to come together, and he took Paul and put him before them.