The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.

the chief captain commanded him be brought into the castle, bidding that he should be examined by scourging, that he might know for what cause they so shouted against him.

The tribune commanded him to be brought into the castle, and that he should be scourged and tortured: to know for what cause they did so cry out against him.

the chiliarch commanded him to be brought into the fortress, saying that he should be examined by scourging, that he might ascertain for what cause they cried thus against him.

The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know for what cause they cried so against him.

the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, saying, 'By scourges let him be examined;' that he might know for what cause they were crying so against him.

The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know why they cried so against him.

the Tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and be examined by flogging, in order to ascertain the reason why they thus cried out against him.

The chief captain gave orders for him to be taken into the army building, saying that he would put him to the test by whipping, so that he might have knowledge of the reason why they were crying out so violently against him.

the commanding officer commanded him to be brought into the barracks, ordering him to be examined by scourging, that he might know for what crime they yelled at him like that.

the tribune ordered him to be brought into the fortress, and to be scourged and tortured, in order to discover the reason that they were crying out in this way against him.

the commanding officer ordered Paul to be taken into the Fort, and directed that he should be examined under the lash so that he might find out the reason for their outcry against him.

The chief captain. It was well and wisely done of the chief captain thus to withdraw Paul from the sight of the people, forasmuch as his presence did move and more provoke them who were already too much moved. For by this means he provideth for the life of the holy man, and partly appeaseth the madness of the people. But when he commandeth him to be scourged, to whose charge he heard no certain crime laid, he seemeth to deal unjustly. And yet this injury [injustice] was not without color, because it was likely that it was, not without cause, that all the people had conspired to put one man to death. Therefore, a vehement presumption was the cause of so strait examination. But we must note that this is a common custom among politic men, that they be just judges, so far as is expedient for them; but if they be called away by profit, then they go out of the way. Nevertheless, it is sufficient for them to color this their wickedness with the title of wisdom, because they hold that general principle, that the world cannot be governed without some show or color of justice; but in all actions that subtilty whereof I spake doth prevail, that they consider rather what is profitable than what is equal and right.

The castle - The castle of Antonia. He would be there removed entirely from the wrath of the Jews.
Should be examined - ἀνετάζεσθαι anetazesthai." The word "examine" with us commonly means "to inquire, to question, to search for, to look carefully into a subject." The word used here is commonly applied to metals whose nature is tested, or examined by fire; and then it mean to subject to torture or torments, in order to extort a confession where persons were accused of crime. It was often resorted to among the ancients. A common mode has been by the rack, but various kinds of torments have been invented in order to extort confessions of guilt from those who were accused. The whole practice has been one of the most flagrant violations of justice, and one of the foulest blots on human nature. In this case, the tribune saw that Paul was accused violently by the Jews; he was probably ignorant of the Hebrew language, and had not understood the address of Paul; he supposed from the extraordinary excitement that Paul must have been guilty of some flagrant offence, and he therefore resolved to subject him to torture to extort from him a confession.
By scourging - By the scourge or whip. Compare Hebrews 11:36. This was one mode of torture, in order to extort a secret from those who were accused.

Examined by scourging - As the chief captain did not understand the Hebrew language, he was ignorant of the charge brought against Paul, and ignorant also of the defense which the apostle had made; and, as he saw that they grew more and more outrageous, he supposed that Paul must have given them the highest provocation; and therefore he determined to put him to the torture, in order to find out the nature of his crime. The practice of putting people to the rack, in order to make them confess, has, to the disgrace of human nature, existed in all countries.

(3) The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.
(3) The wisdom of the flesh does not consider what is just, but what is profitable, and in addition takes into account the profit that can be gained, according as it presently appears.

The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle,.... Into the inside of it; for till now he was upon the top of the stairs, or steps, which led up to it; which might be done in order to save him from the rage of the people, and that he might privately examine him, and get the true state of his case, though he took a very wrong and unjustifiable method to do it in, as follows:
and bade that he should be examined by scourging; he gave a centurion, with some soldiers, orders to scourge and whip him, and to lay on stripes more and harder, until he should tell the whole truth of the matter, and confess the crime or crimes he was guilty of, which had so enraged the populace:
that he might know wherefore they cried so against him; for though he had rescued him out of their hands, when they would in all likelihood have beat him to death; and though he took him within the castle to secure him from their violence; yet he concluded he must be a bad man, and must have done something criminal; and therefore he takes this method to extort from him a confession of his crime, for which the people exclaimed against him with so much virulence.

examined by scourging--according to the Roman practice.
that he might know wherefore they cried so--Paul's speech being to him in an unknown tongue, he concluded from the horror which it kindled in the vast audience that he must have been guilty of some crime.

Bade that he be examined by scourging. Probably ignorant of the Hebrew tongue, unable to understand what had caused the fury of the people, thinking that it might be due to the commission of some horrible crime by the speaker, the chief captain, drawing him into the castle, ordered that he be put to the torture to compel him to make a confession. Until recent times, it was common to torture prisoners under the belief that thus they could be compelled to speak the truth. Scourging was the usual method of torture among the Romans. The prisoner's back was bared, he was bound, and the rods borne by the lictors were usually employed.
Paul said to the centurion. Who was seeing that the chief captain's orders were carried out.
Is it lawful to scourge a Roman? Once before at Philippi (Acts 16:37) he had appealed to his rights as a Roman, but this was after the scourging. The name Roman acted like magic in each case. The centurion at once pauses, tell his commander to beware; no officer dared to lay a hand in violence on a Roman citizen without trial. The claim was at once allowed, for it was a capital offense to make a false claim of citizenship, and none dared attempt it. "He who falsely pretended to Roman citizenship was beheaded on the Esquiline hill."--Suetonius. A constant traveler like Paul would be likely to carry papers that would prove his claims.
Art thou a Roman? The commander comes at once to inquire for himself. The officer states that he had bought citizenship himself. He was not of Roman birth, an alien, but by a heavy bribe had obtained Roman rights. This was not uncommon in the corrupt period of Roman government that had come.
But I was free born. His father before had been a Roman citizen. Whether he inherited it also, or had in some way secured the right, is unknown. If any wonder how a Jew could be a Roman, let them look around and see Jews, Germans, Irish, etc., who are American citizens.
The chief captain was afraid. Because he had bound Paul for the torture, and had thus violated the privileges of Roman citizenship.
On the morrow. Perplexed concerning the animosity of his countrymen to Paul, anxious to know whether he was a malefactor, he ordered a meeting of the Sanhedrim that it might investigate the charges against him.