23 Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready
two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as
far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night. [1] 24 Also provide mounts for
Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.” 25 And he wrote a
letter to this effect:
26 “Claudius Lysias,
to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings. 27 This man was seized by the
Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers
and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen. 28 And desiring to
know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their
council. 29 I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but
charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. 30 And when it was
disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you
at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against
him.”
31 So the soldiers,
according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to
Antipatris. 32 And on the next day they returned to the barracks, letting the
horsemen go on with him. 33 When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the
letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. 34 On reading the
letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he learned that he was
from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers
arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod's praetorium.” (Acts
23:23-35 (ESV)
That is a lot of protection that Claudius provides for Paul
on his journey to Felix. The Roman government was serious about protecting her
citizens, especially why they were on trial. Vigilante justice was not
permitted. This also is the first time you hear of Paul riding a horse. It’s a
bit of trivia, but a person assumes most of his trips were taken on foot. He
may never have ridden a horse before in his life. But if he is going to keep up
with cavalry he’d need to be on a horse of his own, putting him on a donkey in
such a situation wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense. In any case, even a
government such as Rome’s understood the necessity of protecting prisoners. And
this saved Paul.
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