ACC ~ Acts 22 v4
PAUL’S WITNESSES. CHRYSOSTOM: He brings forward as witnesses the high priest and the elders. On the one hand, [Paul] makes himself their equal when he says, “I being a zealot just as you,” but then he shows through his deeds that he was a greater zealot than they. “I wasn’t waiting around,” he says, “to arrest them, but I was even stirring up the priests and being sent abroad. And I wasn’t after just men, as you are, but I sought out women too, put them in chains and even threw them into prison.” This is irrefutable testimony. His Jewish credentials could not be disputed. Count the witnesses he brings forward: the body of elders, the high priest, those in the city. Note how his defense is not fearful but instructive rather and educational. Had his audience not been stone, they would have given heed to his words. CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 22.4-5.
Acts