Acts 22:2

He spake (prosepwnei). Imperfect active, was speaking. See aorist active prosepwnhsen in Acts 21:40 . They were the more quiet (mallon parescon hsucian). Literally, The more (mallon) they furnished or supplied (second aorist active indicative of parecw) quietness (hsucian, old word, in the N.T. only here and 2 Thessalonians 3:12 ; 1 Timothy 2:11 ). Precisely this idiom occurs in Plutarch (Cor. 18) and the LXX ( Job 34:29 ). Knowling notes the fondness of Luke for words of silence (sigh, sigaw, hsucazw) as in Luke 14:4 ; Luke 15:26 ; Acts 11:18 ; Acts 12:17 ; Acts 15:12 ; Acts 21:14 Acts 21:40 . It is a vivid picture of the sudden hush that swept over the vast mob under the spell of the Aramaic. They would have understood Paul's Koin Greek, but they much preferred the Aramaic. It was a masterstroke.