And he commanded the centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him. (Acts 24:23)
What centurion can be alluded to in this definite manner? A close attention to the history will explain it. When Lysias sent Paul with an escort to Cæsarea, “he called onto him two centurions,” who were to take two hundred soldiers, and horsemen threescore and ten, and two hundred spearmen. On the morrow, the horsemen went forward from Antipatris to Cæsarea, and the infantry returned to Jerusalem. It is natural to suppose that two centurions were employed, in order that one might take charge of each party after the separation. When the horsemen arrived, they were ordered to keep their prisoner in Herod’s prætorium. Hence the mention of the centurion is explained. It is doubtless the same who took charge of the horsemen, while the other returned with the foot soldiers to Jerusalem. Yet how indirect is the allusion, so delicate that it is entirely lost in the usual version!
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Author: T. R. Birks
Keywords: Paul the prisoner, Paul imprisoned, Paul inprisoned, Paul in prison, Felix, Paul in chains
Bible reference(s): Acts 24:17, Acts 24:23, Acts 24:26
Source: Horae Apostolicae (London: The Religious Tract Society, 1850).
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.