The Meaning of Acts 22:26 Explained

Acts 22:26

KJV: When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman.

YLT: and the centurion having heard, having gone near to the chief captain, told, saying, 'Take heed what thou art about to do, for this man is a Roman;'

Darby: And the centurion, having heard it, went and reported it to the chiliarch, saying, What art thou going to do? for this man is a Roman.

ASV: And when the centurion heard it, he went to the chief captain and told him, saying, What art thou about to do? for this man is a Roman.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

When  the centurion  heard  [that], he went  and told  the chief captain,  saying,  Take heed  what  thou doest:  for  this  man  is  a Roman. 

What does Acts 22:26 Mean?

Context Summary

Acts 22:17-30 - Saved For Further Service
To the story of his conversion, as given in Acts 9:1-43, the Apostle here adds a detailed account of that memorable interview in the Temple, when he questioned the advisability of the Lord's command that he should leave Jerusalem, and received his final and irrevocable commission to go to the Gentiles. It is a great privilege to be permitted to overhear this dialogue! How close and intimate is the disciple's relationship with his Lord! God allowed Abraham, Moses, and Jeremiah to reason with Him. He does not crush down our intelligence. It is His own word, "Come, let us reason together." But there is a point beyond which we may not go, when we must accept without question the final instructions of our Captain.
A free-born Roman was Paul. More than once he had asserted his rights as a Roman citizen, as at Philippi. There are various social and political advantages which we can turn to account in our service of the gospel, but they cannot carry us very far, and ultimately we are better off if we step out upon the unwonted waters, simply because Jesus says, Come! [source]

Chapter Summary: Acts 22

1  Paul declares how he was converted to the faith,
17  and called to his apostleship
22  At the very mentioning of the Gentiles the people exclaim on him
24  He would have been scourged;
25  but claiming the privilege of a Roman, he escapes

Greek Commentary for Acts 22:26

What art thou about to do? [Τι μελλεις ποιειν]
On the point of doing, sharp warning. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Acts 22:26

Luke 7:2 Centurion‘s servant [εκατονταρχου τινος δουλος]
Slave of a certain centurion (Latin word centurio, commander of a century or hundred). Mark 15:39, Mark 15:44 has the Latin word in Greek letters, χεντυριο — kenturiōn The centurion commanded a company which varied from fifty to a hundred. Each cohort had six centuries. Each legion had ten cohorts or bands (Acts 10:1). The centurions mentioned in the N.T. all seem to be fine men as Polybius states that the best men in the army had this position. See also Luke 23:47. The Greek has two forms of the word, both from κεντυριων — hekaton hundred, and εκατον — archō to rule, and they appear to be used interchangeably. So we have αρχω — hekatontarchos here, the form is -εκατονταρχος — archos and αρχος — hekatontarchēs the form is -εκατονταρχης — archēs in Luke 7:6. The manuscripts differ about it in almost every instance. The -αρχης — archos form is accepted by Westcott and Hort only in the nominative save the genitive singular here in Luke 7:2 and the accusative singular in Acts 22:25. See like variation between them in Matthew 8:5, Matthew 8:8 (-αρχος — archos) and Matthew 8:13 So also -αρχηι — archon (Acts 22:25) and -αρχον — archēs (Acts 22:26). [source]
Acts 16:22 Rent their garments off them [περιρηχαντες αυτων τα ιματια]
First aorist active participle of περιρηγνυμι — perirēgnumi old verb, to break off all around, to strip or rend all round. Here only in the N.T. The duumvirs probably gave orders for Paul and Silas to be stripped of their outer garments As a Roman citizen this was unlawful, but the duumvirs looked on Paul and Silas as vagabond and seditious Jews and “acted with the highhandedness characteristic of the fussy provincial authorities” (Knowling). Commanded (εκελευον — ekeleuon). Imperfect active, repeatedly ordered. The usual formula of command was: “Go, lictors; strip off their garments; let them be scourged.” To beat them with rods Present active infinitive of ραβδιζω — rhabdizō old verb, but in the N.T.=virgis caedere only here and 2 Corinthians 11:25 where Paul alludes to this incident and two others not given by Luke He came near getting another in Jerusalem (Acts 22:25). Why did not Paul say here that he was a Roman citizen as he does later (Acts 16:37) and in Jerusalem (Acts 22:26.)? It might have done no good in this hubbub and no opportunity was allowed for defence of any kind. [source]
Acts 16:22 To beat them with rods [ραβδιζειν]
Present active infinitive of ραβδιζω — rhabdizō old verb, but in the N.T.=virgis caedere only here and 2 Corinthians 11:25 where Paul alludes to this incident and two others not given by Luke He came near getting another in Jerusalem (Acts 22:25). Why did not Paul say here that he was a Roman citizen as he does later (Acts 16:37) and in Jerusalem (Acts 22:26.)? It might have done no good in this hubbub and no opportunity was allowed for defence of any kind. [source]
Acts 9:10 In a vision [εν οραματι]
Zeller and others scout the idea of the historicity of this vision as supernatural. Even Furneaux holds that “it is a characteristic of the Jewish Christian sources to point out the Providential ordering of events by the literary device of a vision,” as “in the early chapters of Matthew‘s and Luke‘s Gospels.” He is content with this “beautiful expression of the belief” with no interest in the actual facts. But that is plain illusion, not to say delusion, and makes both Paul and Luke deceived by the story of Ananias (Acts 9:10-18; Acts 22:12-16, Acts 22:26). One MS. of the old Latin Version does omit the vision to Ananias and that is basis enough for those who deny the supernatural aspects of Christianity. [source]

What do the individual words in Acts 22:26 mean?

Having heard then the centurion having gone to the commander he reported [it] saying What are you going to do for man this a Roman is
Ἀκούσας δὲ ἑκατοντάρχης προσελθὼν τῷ χιλιάρχῳ ἀπήγγειλεν λέγων Τί μέλλεις ποιεῖν γὰρ ἄνθρωπος οὗτος Ῥωμαῖός ἐστιν

Ἀκούσας  Having  heard 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἀκουστός 
Sense: to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf.
ἑκατοντάρχης  centurion 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἑκατοντάρχης 
Sense: an officer in the Roman army.
προσελθὼν  having  gone 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: προσέρχομαι  
Sense: to come to, approach.
τῷ  to  the 
Parse: Article, Dative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
χιλιάρχῳ  commander 
Parse: Noun, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: χιλίαρχος  
Sense: a chiliarch, the commander of a thousand soldiers.
ἀπήγγειλεν  he  reported  [it] 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἀγγέλλω 
Sense: to bring tidings (from a person or a thing), bring word, report.
λέγων  saying 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: λέγω 
Sense: to say, to speak.
μέλλεις  are  you  going 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 2nd Person Singular
Root: μέλλω  
Sense: to be about.
ποιεῖν  to  do 
Parse: Verb, Present Infinitive Active
Root: ποιέω  
Sense: to make.
ἄνθρωπος  man 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἄνθρωπος  
Sense: a human being, whether male or female.
οὗτος  this 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
Ῥωμαῖός  a  Roman 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: Ῥωμαῖος  
Sense: a resident of the city of Rome, a Roman citizen.

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