As the Roman Commander dragged Paul away from the angry mob, Paul asked permission to address them. He asked in Greek. Stunned, the commander's chief suspicion of who Paul was (his prime suspect) came to a sharp and disappointing end. Paul was not that renegade Egyptian on the most wanted list.
Frustrated, he allowed Paul to address the mob. Maybe something Paul said could be used against him. I wonder, did the commander understand Hebrew? Paul addressed his brothers in their sacred tongue.
Frustration might be increasing. If the commander didn't understand Hebrew, all he saw was rapt attention up to a point; then, a massive outburst of upheaval and riot. If he did understand--as we do while reading the translation--he heard nothing in Paul's address that would explain their anger...until Paul said one word: "Gentile." Imagine the crime in that, from the commander's vantage: "They're angry because God sent a messenger to the Gentiles."
Either way, the commander had no grounds for holding Paul. But he couldn't just release him. The Jews would finish their murderous intent. So...we'll just beat it out of him.
BTW We had trouble with last week's episode. It won't play on site. However I have it and all the others on my OneDrive at this address:
https://onedrive.live.com/?id=3BDE85D10E38C833%212421&cid=3BDE85D10E38C833.
Feel free to access any of the former or future podcasts there.
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