Acts 16:37

Paul said unto them. That is, he addressed his remarks to those who had been sent by the magistrates. His reply forms a concise indictment of the injustice done by the magistrates, for every word is judicially significant.

Beaten us openly. That is, publicly. No doubt they had been tied to the palus, or public whipping post, in the sight of the people of the town. By the Lex Valeria, 509 B.C., and the Lex Porcia, 248 B.C., Roman citizens were exempted from such a degrading punishment as scourging. The fact that Verres, governor of Sicily, had broken this law was one of the severest of the charges brought against him by Cicero: “To bind a Roman citizen is a crime, to flog him is an abomination” (Against Verres v. 66. 170; Loeb ed., Verrine Orations, vol. 2, p. 655). The statement “I am a Roman citizen” oftentimes acted almost like a charm in stopping the unjust violence of provincial magistrates.

Uncondemned. Or, “untried.” There had been no formal trial. The mob had haled the missionaries before the magistrates, but there had been no opportunity for defense (v. 22). Summary punishment had been meted out to prisoners who had not even been found guilty.

Being Romans. The slave masters had based their reasoning on a similar claim (v. 21). Here Paul includes Silas as being a Roman citizen. A false claim to Roman citizenship was a capital offense. The sort of challenge that Paul threw out to the city authorities is one to be made only by a consecrated, Spirit-led Christian. Paul’s method does not sanction belligerent self-defense on the part of accused believers.

Let them come. The magistrates had grievously erred in publicly punishing a man not judicially condemned. Paul now insists that they personally atone for the injustice. By so doing he may have hoped to ensure better treatment for Philippian converts, many of whom probably were Roman citizens. Not Paul’s personal honor, but that of the gospel, was at stake.