Born in Tarsus - See the notes on Acts 9:11.

Brought up in this city - In Jerusalem, sent there for the advantage of more perfect instruction in the Law.

At the feet of Gamaliel - As a scholar or disciple of Gamaliel. The phrase to sit at the feet of one is expressive of the condition of a disciple or learner. Compare Deuteronomy 33:3; Luke 10:39. It is probable that the expression arose from the fact that the learners occupied a lower place or seat than the teacher. On the character and rank of Gamaliel, see the notes on Acts 5:34. Paul mentions his having been instructed in this manner in order to show that he was entitled to the full privileges of a Jew, and that he had had every opportunity to become fully acquainted with the nature of the Law.

According to the perfect manner - κατὰ ἀκρίβειαν kata akribeian . By strict diligence or exact care; or in the utmost rigor and severity of that instruction. No pains were Spared to make him understand and practice the Law of Moses.

The law of the fathers - The law of our fathers; that is, the law which they received and handed down to us. Paul was a Pharisee, and the law in which he had been taught was not only the written Law of Moses, but the traditional law which had been handed down from former times. See the notes on Matthew 3:6.

And was zealous toward God - Galatians 1:14. He had a constant burning zeal for God and His Law, which was expressed not only by scrupulous adherence to its forms, but by persecuting all who opposed it, Acts 22:4-5.

I am verily a man which am a Jew - A periphrasis for, I am really a Jew: and his mentioning this adds weight to the conjecture in the preceding note. He shows that he could not be ignorant of the Jewish religion, as he had had the best instructer in it which Jerusalem could produce.

Yet brought up, etc. - Bp. Pearce proposes that this verse should be thus read and translated: but brought up in this city; instructed at the feet of Gamaliel, according to the most exact manner, being exceedingly zealous for the law of our fathers, as ye all are this day.

Born in Tarsus - See the notes on Acts 9:11; Acts 21:39.

Feet of Gamaliel - See a full account of this man in the note on Acts 5:34 (note).

It has been generally supposed that the phrase, brought up at the feet, is a reference to the Jewish custom, viz. that the disciples of the rabbins sat on low seats, or on the ground, whilst the rabbin himself occupied a lofty chair. But we rather learn, from Jewish authority, that the disciples of the rabbins stood before their teachers, as Vitringa has proved in his treatise De Synag. Vet. lib. i. p. 1, cap. 7. Kypke, therefore, contends that παρα τους ποδας, at the feet, means the same as πλησιον, near, or before, which is not an unfrequent mode of speech among both sacred and profane writers. Thus, in Acts 4:35, Acts 4:37; Acts 5:2, ετιθουν παρα τους ποδας των αποϚολων, they laid it at the apostles' feet, means only, they brought it to the apostles. So in 2 Maccabees 4:7, παρα ποδας ηδη τον ᾁδην ὁρωντες κειμενον, they saw death already lying at their feet; that is, as the Syriac translator has properly rendered it, they saw death immediately before them. So Themistius, Or. 27, p. 341, who adds the term by which the phrase is explained, εϚι και πλησιον αει τῳ δυναμενω λαμβανειν, ante pedes id temper et prope est, illi qui accipere potest. Also Lucian, De Conser. Hist. p. 669, ὡν παρα ποδας οἱ ελεγχοι. The refutation of which is at hand. The same kind of form occurs in the Hebrew, Exodus 11:8 : All the people that are at thy feet, ברגליך beragleica, i.e. who are with thee, under thy command, 2 Samuel 15:16. And the king went out, and all his household, ברגליו beraglaiv, at his feet; that is, with him, in his company. See Kypke. The phrase is used in the same sense among the Hindoos: I learned this at my father's feet - instead of, I learned it of my father. I was taught at the feet of such a teacher - my teacher's feet say so; meaning, simply, such and such persons taught me.

According to the perfect manner - That is, according to that strict interpretation of the law, and especially the traditions of the elders, for which the Pharisees were remarkable. That it is Pharisaism that the apostle has in view, when he says he was taught according to, ακριβειαν, the most extinct manner, is evident; and hence, in Acts 26:5, he calls Pharisaism ακριβεϚατην, the most exact system; and, under it, he was zealous towards God; scrupulously exact in every part of his duty, accompanying this with reverence to the supreme Being, and deep concern for his honor and glory.

I am verily a man which am a Jew,.... By birth, a thorough genuine one; an Hebrew of the Hebrews, both by father and mother side, both parents being Jews, and so a true descendant from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:

born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia; See Gill on Acts 21:39.

yet brought up in this city; the city of Jerusalem; though Tarsus was the place of his birth, he had his education at Jerusalem:

at the feet of Gamaliel; of whom see Acts 5:34 it was the custom of scholars among the Jews, to sit at the feet of their masters, when instructed by them; see Deuteronomy 33:3 hence that saying of Jose ben Joezer (a);

"let thy house be an house of resort for the wise men, and be thou dusting thyself, , "with the dust of their feet":''

which by one of their commentators (b) is interpreted two ways, either

"as if it was said that thou shouldst walk after them; for he that walks raises the dust with his feet, and he that goes after him is filled with the dust which he raises with his feet; or else that thou shouldst sit at their feet upon the ground, for so it was usual, that the master sat upon a bench, and the scholars sat at his feet upon the floor.''

This latter sense is commonly understood, and adapted to the passage here, as illustrating it; though it may be, that the sense may only be this, that the apostle boarded in Gamaliel's house, ate at his table, and familiarly conversed with him; which he modestly expresses by being brought up at his feet, who was a man that was had in great reverence with the Jews; and this sense seems the rather to be the sense of the passage, since his learning is expressed in the next clause; and since; till after Gamaliel's time, it was not usual for scholars to sit when they learned; for the tradition is (c), that

"from the times of Moses to Rabban Gamaliel, they (the scholars) did not learn the law but standing; after Rabban Gamaliel died, sickness came into the world, and they learned the law sitting; and hence it is said, that after Rabban Gamaliel died, the glory of the law ceased.''

It follows,

and taught according to the perfect law of the fathers; not the law which the Jewish fathers received from Moses, though Paul was instructed in this, but in the oral law, the "Misna", or traditions of the elders, in which he greatly profited, and exceeded others, Galatians 1:14.

And was zealous towards God; or "a zealot of God"; one of those who were called "Kanaim", or zealots; who in their great zeal for the glory of God, took away the lives of men, when they found them guilty of what they judged a capital crime; see Matthew 10:4. The Vulgate Latin version reads, "zealous of the law"; both written and oral, the law of Moses, and the traditions of the fathers:

as ye all are this day; having a zeal for God, and the law, but not according to knowledge.

(a) Misn. Pirke Abot, c. 1. sect. 4. (b) Bartenora in Misn. Piske Abot, c. 1. sect. 4. (c) T. Bab. Megilla, fol. 21. 1. Vid. Misn. Sota, c. 9. sect. 15.

At the feet

Referring to the Jewish custom of the pupils sitting on benches or on the floor, while the teacher occupied an elevated platform.

Gamaliel

One of the seven Rabbis to whom the Jews gave the title Rabban. Rab, "teacher," was the lowest degree; Rabbi, "my teacher," the next higher; and Rabban, "our teacher," the highest. Gamaliel was a liberal Pharisee. "As Aquinas among the schoolmen was called Doctor Angelicus, and Bonaventura Doctor Seraphicus, so Gamaliel was called the Beauty of the Law. He had no antipathy to the Greek learning. Candor and wisdom seem to have been features of his character" (Conybeare and Hewson). See Acts 5:34 sq.

Instructed (πεπαιδευμένος)

See on chastise, Luke 23:16.

According to the perfect manner (κατὰ ἀκρίβειαν)

Lit., according to the strictness. See on perfect understanding, Luke 1:3; and diligently, Acts 18:25. Compare, also, Acts 18:26; Acts 26:5.

Zealous (ζηλωτὴς)

Or a zealot. On the word as a title, see on Mark 3:18.

{1} I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the {a} 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) Paul, making a short declaration of his former life, proves both his calling and doctrine to be from God.

(a) That is, his daily hearer: the reason of this speech is this: those who teach commonly sit in the higher place, speaking to their students who sit upon benches beneath, and therefore he says at the feet of Gamaliel.

22:3 I am... a Jew. In order to refute their charge that he taught against Moses, he calls attention to his Jewish birth, and his education under their venerated doctor of the law, Gamaliel. For the character of this teacher, see PNT Ac 5:34.

Was zealous toward God. His zeal was like theirs, honest and ardent. Observe how he associates himself with his hearers. It was the first opportunity he had ever had to explain to the people of Jerusalem the reason why he had become a Christian.

22:3 I am verily - This defence answers all that is objected, Acts 21:28. As there, so here also mention is made of the person of Paul, Acts 22:3, of the people and the law, Acts 22:3,5,12; of the temple, Acts 22:17; of teaching all men, Acts 22:15 - 17,21; and of the truth of his doctrine, Acts 22:6. But he speaks closely and nervously, in few words, because the time was short. But brought up at the feet of Gamaliel - The scholars usually sat on low seats, or upon mats on the floor, at the feet of their masters, whose seats were raised to a considerable height. Accurately instructed - The learned education which Paul had received was once no doubt the matter of his boasting and confidence. Unsanctified learning made his bonds strong, and furnished him with numerous arguments against the Gospel. Yet when the grace of God had changed his heart, and turned his accomplishments into another channel, he was the fitter instrument to serve God's wise and merciful purposes, in the defence and propagation of Christianity.

3. a Jew of Tarsus, brought up in this city, at the feet-(See on [2091]Lu 10:39).

of Gamaliel-(See on [2092]Ac 5:34); a fact of great importance in the apostle's history, standing in the same relation to his future career as Moses' education in the Egyptian court to the work for which he was destined.

the perfect manner of the law of the fathers-the strictest form of traditional Judaism.

zealous-"a zealot."

toward God as ye all are this day-his own former murderous zeal against the disciples of the Lord Jesus being merely reflected in their present treatment of himself.

22:1-11 The apostle addressed the enraged multitude, in the customary style of respect and good-will. Paul relates the history of his early life very particularly; he notices that his conversion was wholly the act of God. Condemned sinners are struck blind by the power of darkness, and it is a lasting blindness, like that of the unbelieving Jews. Convinced sinners are struck blind as Paul was, not by darkness, but by light. They are for a time brought to be at a loss within themselves, but it is in order to their being enlightened. A simple relation of the Lord's dealings with us, in bringing us, from opposing, to profess and promote his gospel, when delivered in a right spirit and manner, will sometimes make more impression that laboured speeches, even though it amounts not to the full proof of the truth, such as was shown in the change wrought in the apostle.