Acts 22:26

26 When the captain heard that, he went and reported it to the commander, "Do you realize what you're doing? This man is a Roman citizen!"

Acts 22:26 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 22:26

When the centurion heard that
The question put by Paul, which strongly suggested that he was a Roman:

he went and told the chief captain; what Paul had said: saying, take
heed what thou dost;
or "art about to do"; lest some bad consequences should follow; lest he should affront the Roman people and senate, and lose his place, if not incur some corporeal punishment:

for this man is a Roman;
and it can never be answered to bind and beat a Roman.

Acts 22:26 In-Context

24 so the commander ordered him brought into the barracks and directed that he be interrogated and whipped, in order to find out why they were yelling at him like this.

25 But as they were stretching him out with thongs to be flogged, Sha'ul said to the captain standing by, "Is it legal for you to whip a man who is a Roman citizen and hasn't even had a trial?"

26 When the captain heard that, he went and reported it to the commander, "Do you realize what you're doing? This man is a Roman citizen!"

27 The commander came and said to Sha'ul, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes," he said.

28 The commander replied, "I bought this citizenship for a sizeable sum of money." "But I was born to it," Sha'ul said.