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Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Acts 22:2

This verse is not available in the MSG!

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Hebrew;   Paul;   Thompson Chain Reference - Hebrew;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Damascus;   Lysias;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Paul the Apostle;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Ordination;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Antonia;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Prophet;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Damascus;   Language of Christ;   Language of the Nt;   Paul the Apostle;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Hebrews;   Hellenism;   Language of Christ;   Paul;   Science (2);   Tongue ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Washing;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Claudius;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Hebrews;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Saul of Tarsus;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Tongue;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter.
King James Version (1611)
(And when they heard that hee spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)
King James Version
(And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)
English Standard Version
And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet. And he said:
New American Standard Bible
And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he said,
New Century Version
When they heard him speaking the Hebrew language, they became very quiet. Paul said,
Amplified Bible
When they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet. And he continued,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he said,
Legacy Standard Bible
And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even quieter; and he *said,
Berean Standard Bible
When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became even more silent. Then Paul declared,
Contemporary English Version
When the crowd heard Paul speak to them in Aramaic, they became even quieter. Then Paul said:
Complete Jewish Bible
When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they settled down more; so he continued:
Darby Translation
And hearing that he addressed them in the Hebrew tongue, they kept the more quiet; and he says,
Easy-to-Read Version
When the Jews heard Paul speaking Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said,
Geneva Bible (1587)
(And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrewe tongue to them, they kept the more silence, and he sayd)
George Lamsa Translation
And when they heard him speak to them in the Hebrew tongue (Aramaic), they were the more quiet: And he said,
Good News Translation
When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they became even quieter; and Paul went on:
Lexham English Bible
And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Aramaic language, they became even more silent. And he said,
Literal Translation
And hearing that he spoke in the Hebrew dialect to them, they showed more quietness. And he said:
American Standard Version
And when they heard that he spake unto them in the Hebrew language, they were the more quiet: and he saith,
Bible in Basic English
And, hearing him talking in the Hebrew language, they became the more quiet, and he said,
Hebrew Names Version
When they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they were even more quiet. He said,
International Standard Version
When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet, and he continued,
Etheridge Translation
And when they heard that Hebrew he was speaking with them, the more they ceased; and he said to them,
Murdock Translation
And when they perceived that he addressed them in Hebrew, they were the more quiet: and he said to them:
Bishop's Bible (1568)
(And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrue tongue to the, they kept ye more scilence. And he saith:)
English Revised Version
And when they heard that he spake unto them in the Hebrew language, they were the more quiet: and he saith,
World English Bible
When they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they were even more quiet. He said,
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
(And when they heard that he addressed them in the Hebrew tongue, they kept the more silence:
Weymouth's New Testament
And on hearing him address them in Hebrew, they kept all the more quiet; and he said,
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And whanne sum herden that in Ebrew tunge he spak to hem, thei yauen the more silence.
Update Bible Version
And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they were the more quiet: and he says,
Webster's Bible Translation
(And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)
New English Translation
(When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter.) Then Paul said,
New King James Version
And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. Then he said:
New Living Translation
When they heard him speaking in their own language, the silence was even greater.
New Life Bible
When they heard him speak to them in their own language, they stopped making noise. Then he said,
New Revised Standard
When they heard him addressing them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet. Then he said:
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, when they heard that, in the Hebrew language, he had begun to address them, they kept the more quiet. And he saith -
Douay-Rheims Bible
(And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew tongue, they kept the more silence.)
Revised Standard Version
And when they heard that he addressed them in the Hebrew language, they were the more quiet. And he said:
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Whe they hearde that he spake in ye Ebrue tonge to them they kept the moore silence. And he sayde:
Young's Literal Translation
and they having heard that in the Hebrew dialect he was speaking to them, gave the more silence, and he saith, --
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Whan they herde that he spake vnto them in the Hebrue, they kepte the more sylence. And he sayde:
Mace New Testament (1729)
when they perceiv'd he talk'd Hebrew, they were the more silent.
Simplified Cowboy Version
When they heard Paul talking in their language, it got real quiet.

Contextual Overview

1"My dear brothers and fathers, listen carefully to what I have to say before you jump to conclusions about me." When they heard him speaking Hebrew, they grew even quieter. No one wanted to miss a word of this. He continued, "I am a good Jew, born in Tarsus in the province of Cilicia, but educated here in Jerusalem under the exacting eye of Rabbi Gamaliel, thoroughly instructed in our religious traditions. And I've always been passionately on God's side, just as you are right now. "I went after anyone connected with this ‘Way,' went at them hammer and tongs, ready to kill for God. I rounded up men and women right and left and had them thrown in prison. You can ask the Chief Priest or anyone in the High Council to verify this; they all knew me well. Then I went off to our brothers in Damascus, armed with official documents authorizing me to hunt down the followers of Jesus there, arrest them, and bring them back to Jerusalem for sentencing. "As I arrived on the outskirts of Damascus about noon, a blinding light blazed out of the skies and I fell to the ground, dazed. I heard a voice: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?' "‘Who are you, Master?' I asked. "He said, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, the One you're hunting down.' My companions saw the light, but they didn't hear the conversation. "Then I said, ‘What do I do now, Master?' "He said, ‘Get to your feet and enter Damascus. There you'll be told everything that's been set out for you to do.' And so we entered Damascus, but nothing like the entrance I had planned—I was blind as a bat and my companions had to lead me in by the hand. "And that's when I met Ananias, a man with a sterling reputation in observing our laws—the Jewish community in Damascus is unanimous on that score. He came and put his arm on my shoulder. ‘Look up,' he said. I looked, and found myself looking right into his eyes—I could see again! "Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has handpicked you to be briefed on his plan of action. You've actually seen the Righteous Innocent and heard him speak. You are to be a key witness to everyone you meet of what you've seen and heard. So what are you waiting for? Get up and get yourself baptized, scrubbed clean of those sins and personally acquainted with God.' "Well, it happened just as Ananias said. After I was back in Jerusalem and praying one day in the Temple, lost in the presence of God, I saw him, saw God's Righteous Innocent, and heard him say to me, ‘Hurry up! Get out of here as quickly as you can. None of the Jews here in Jerusalem are going to accept what you say about me.' "At first I objected: ‘Who has better credentials? They all know how obsessed I was with hunting out those who believed in you, beating them up in the meeting places and throwing them in jail. And when your witness Stephen was murdered, I was right there, holding the coats of the murderers and cheering them on. And now they see me totally converted. What better qualification could I have?' "But he said, ‘Don't argue. Go. I'm sending you on a long journey to outsider non-Jews.'" The people in the crowd had listened attentively up to this point, but now they broke loose, shouting out, "Kill him! He's an insect! Stomp on him!" They shook their fists. They filled the air with curses. That's when the captain intervened and ordered Paul taken into the barracks. By now the captain was thoroughly exasperated. He decided to interrogate Paul under torture in order to get to the bottom of this, to find out what he had done that provoked this outraged violence. 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?" When the centurion heard that, he went directly to the captain. "Do you realize what you've done? This man is a Roman citizen!" The captain came back and took charge. "Is what I hear right? You're a Roman citizen?" Paul said, "I certainly am." 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." 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!

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

in: Acts 21:40

Reciprocal: John 19:20 - in Acts 5:21 - But Acts 18:14 - when Acts 26:14 - in 1 Peter 3:15 - and be

Cross-References

Genesis 17:19
But God said, "That's not what I mean. Your wife, Sarah, will have a baby, a son. Name him Isaac (Laughter). I'll establish my covenant with him and his descendants, a covenant that lasts forever.
Genesis 22:9
They arrived at the place to which God had directed him. Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood. Then he tied up Isaac and laid him on the wood. Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill his son.
Genesis 22:12
"Don't lay a hand on that boy! Don't touch him! Now I know how fearlessly you fear God; you didn't hesitate to place your son, your dear son, on the altar for me."
2 Chronicles 3:1
So Solomon broke ground, launched construction of the house of God in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, the place where God had appeared to his father David. The precise site, the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, had been designated by David. He broke ground on the second day in the second month of the fourth year of his rule. These are the dimensions that Solomon set for the construction of the house of God: ninety feet long and thirty feet wide. The porch in front stretched the width of the building, that is, thirty feet; and it was thirty feet high. The interior was gold-plated. He paneled the main hall with cypress and veneered it with fine gold engraved with palm tree and chain designs. He decorated the building with precious stones and gold from Parvaim. Everything was coated with gold veneer: rafters, doorframes, walls, and doors. Cherubim were engraved on the walls. He made the Holy of Holies a cube, thirty feet wide, long, and high. It was veneered with six hundred talents (something over twenty-two tons) of gold. The gold nails weighed fifty shekels (a little over a pound). The upper rooms were also veneered in gold. He made two sculptures of cherubim, gigantic angel-like figures, for the Holy of Holies, both veneered with gold. The combined wingspread of the side-by-side cherubim (each wing measuring seven and a half feet) stretched from wall to wall, thirty feet. They stood erect facing the main hall. He fashioned the curtain of violet, purple, and crimson fabric and worked a cherub design into it. He made two huge free-standing pillars, each fifty-two feet tall, their capitals extending another seven and a half feet. The top of each pillar was set off with an elaborate filigree of chains, like necklaces, from which hung a hundred pomegranates. He placed the pillars in front of The Temple, one on the right, and the other on the left. The right pillar he named Jakin (Security) and the left pillar he named Boaz (Stability).
John 3:16
"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.
Hebrews 11:17
By faith, Abraham, at the time of testing, offered Isaac back to God. Acting in faith, he was as ready to return the promised son, his only son, as he had been to receive him—and this after he had already been told, "Your descendants shall come from Isaac." Abraham figured that if God wanted to, he could raise the dead. In a sense, that's what happened when he received Isaac back, alive from off the altar.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them,.... :-.

they kept the more silence; it being their mother tongue, and which they best understood; and which the captain and the Roman soldiers might not so well under stand; and chiefly because the Hellenistic language was not so agreeable to them, nor the Hellenistic Jews, who spoke the Greek language, and used the Greek version of the Bible; and such an one they took Paul to be, besides his being a Christian; wherefore when they heard him speak in the Hebrew tongue, it conciliated their minds more to him, at least engaged their attention the more to what he was about to say:

and he saith; the Syriac and Ethiopic versions add, "to them", as follows.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Hebrew tongue - See the notes on Acts 21:40.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Acts 22:2. When they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue — He had probably been traduced by the Jews of Asia as a mere Gentile, distinguished only by his virulence against the Jewish religion; which virulence proceeded from his malice and ignorance.


 
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