Acts 22:27

27 The captain came back and took charge. "Is what I hear right? You're a Roman citizen?" Paul said, "I certainly am."

Acts 22:27 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 22:27

Then the chief captain came, and said unto him
To Paul:

tell me, art thou a Roman?
he had told him before that he was a Jew of Tarsus, and which was true, and had said nothing of his being a Roman; wherefore the chief captain desires that he would tell him the whole truth of the matter, whether he was a Roman or not:

he said yea;
that he was one.

Acts 22:27 In-Context

25 As they spread-eagled him with thongs, getting him ready for the whip, Paul said to the centurion standing there, "Is this legal: torturing a Roman citizen without a fair trial?"
26 When the centurion heard that, he went directly to the captain. "Do you realize what you've done? This man is a Roman citizen!"
27 The captain came back and took charge. "Is what I hear right? You're a Roman citizen?" Paul said, "I certainly am."
28 The captain was impressed. "I paid a huge sum for my citizenship. How much did it cost you?" "Nothing," said Paul. "It cost me nothing. I was free from the day of my birth."
29 That put a stop to the interrogation. And it put the fear of God into the captain. He had put a Roman citizen in chains and come within a whisker of putting him under torture!
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.