ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Acts 22.3

Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV
  1. Brethren and fathers, hear ye the defence which I now make unto you. 2. And when they heard that he spake unto them in the Hebrew language, they were the more quiet: and he saith,

3. I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as ye all are this day:

  1. and I persecuted this Way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. 5. As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and journeyed to Damascus to bring them also that were there unto Jerusalem in bonds to be punished. (Acts 22:1-5, ASV)
WEB
  1. “Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense which I now make to you.” 2. When they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they were even more quiet. He said,

3. “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict tradition of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as you all are today.

  1. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. 5. As also the high priest and all the council of the elders testify, from whom also I received letters to the brothers, and traveled to Damascus to bring them also who were there to Jerusalem in bonds to be punished. (Acts 22:1-5, WEB)
KJV
  1. Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you. 2. (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)

3. I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

  1. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. 5. As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. (Acts 22:1-5, KJV)
YLT
  1. 'Men, brethren, and fathers, hear my defence now unto you;' 2. and they having heard that in the Hebrew dialect he was speaking to them, gave the more silence, and he saith,

3. 'I, indeed, am a man, a Jew, having been born in Tarsus of Cilicia, and brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, having been taught according to the exactitude of a law of the fathers, being zealous of God, as all ye are to-day.

  1. 'And this way I persecuted unto death, binding and delivering up to prisons both men and women, 5. as also the chief priest doth testify to me, and all the eldership; from whom also having received letters unto the brethren, to Damascus, I was going on, to bring also those there bound to Jerusalem that they might be punished, (Acts 22:1-5, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul, addressing the crowd in Hebrew
  • Audience: the Jerusalem crowd that had seized him in the temple
  • Location: Jerusalem, on the steps of the barracks
  • Time period: c. AD 57

Theological reading

Paul's self-description under the most hostile conditions in the book: a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated according to the strict manner of the law of the fathers, and zealous for God as all of you are this day.

Every clause is chosen for the audience. He speaks in Hebrew, claims Jerusalem upbringing rather than diaspora origin alone, names the most respected teacher of the previous generation, and grants his hearers the zeal he once had. The rhetorical strategy is identification before contradiction.

The verse is also the primary evidence for Paul's education. "At the feet of Gamaliel" is the idiom for formal discipleship, and Gamaliel is the figure who counselled restraint at Acts 5. The claim matters for assessing Paul's handling of Scripture: on his own account he was trained in it before he was persuaded about Jesus.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

People:

Lexicon:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.