8. PauVs imprisonment at Rome is represented as a lax one (Acts x xviii, 16, 23, 30), but still imprison- ment; for by the words "in his own hired house" (ver. 30), Luke cannot mean a life at freedom, or he must have mentioned Paul's liberation before. Bott- ger {Beitrdge, etc., pt. ii) would prove, by reference to the judicial customs of the Romans, and on the suppo- sition that the letters to the Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Pliilemon were written in Cajsarea, that Paul was confined but a few daj's in Pome. But the artificial argument which he uses will not satisfj' any one who desires a firm historical ground for his belief. (See remarks in reply by Olshausen and Nean- der, Gesch. d. Pjlanz. i, 428.) But it is puzzling that Luke, giving so particularly the period of two years, says nothing of what Paul did after the two j^ears. Did he end this work at their close ? This seems probable, although the Acts was certainly written after the Gospel, according to Acts i, 1 (see Hug, Einleit. ii, 262 sq.). The apostolic history is completed by the tradition in Abdias {Hist. Apost. ii, 6 sq.), which
makes Paul's imprisonment end with his execution. But since the 4th century the prevailing tradition has been that Paul was at that time released, and made several apostolic journeys afterwards (Niceph. ii, 34), especially one to Spain (Cyril, of Jerus. Caiech. c. xvii ; Jerome, in J<s. xi, 14 ; sec Weller, De verosim. P. in Ilisp. martyrio [Argent. 1787] ; comp. against this view Spier, Diss, qua testimnnia patruni de Pauli itinere Ilisp. labi'factantur [Viteb. 1740] ; Hist. Crit. de Hisp. P. ilincre [1742] ; flarenl)urg, Otia Gandcrshem. p. 161 sq.), or even farther (Theodoret, in Psa. cxvi), as into Britain (Bliinter, Stud. n. Krit. 1833, i, 55) ; and at last was again imprisoned in Rome, and put to death at the same time with Peter (Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. ii, 22, 25; comp. Acta Petri et Pauli, Gr. ed. Thilo [Hal. 1838]). The oldest tradition of Paul's release, and the only one worthy of Any attention, is that in Euseliius {Hist. Eccles. ii, 22 ; comp. Danz, Pr. de loco Euseb. H. E. ii, 21 [Jena, 1816]). But he simph' mentions it as a report (Aiiyof t\f(), and the confirmation which he draws from the Second Epistle to Timothy would lead us to suppose that those who originated this report had derived, as the moderns have, the idea of a second im- prisonment of Paul from that epistle. But no such stress should be laid upon the First Epistle of Clemens Romanus to the Corinthians, as has been given it, for examjile, by Neander (i, 653 sq.) and Bcihl (p. 95 sq. ; comp. Baur, ut stip. p. 150; Schenkel, in the Stud. u. Kiit. 1841, p. 56 sq. ; yet see Neander, i, 454). It is mainl}' the peculiar difficulty of referring this Second Epistle to Tiinothj' to any point in the known life of the apostle which has led to the supposition of a second imprisonment. This argument has been urged with great acuteness hy Neander (i, 453 sq.). The follow- ing authors have opposed the idea of a second impris- onment of Paul : Oldendorp, in D. Brem. u. Verdensch. Biblioth. iii, 1027 sq. ; Schmidt, Einleit. ins N. T. p. 198 sq. ; Eichhorn, Einleit. iii, 364 sq. ; Wolf, De altera P. ap. ccqjtivitate (Leips. 1819), ii, 8 ; Schrader, Paulus, i, 227 sq. ; Goschen, in Hemsen, p. 736 sq. ; Schenkel, in the Stud. u. Krit. 1841, i, 53 sq. ; Baur, Paid. p. 229 sq. ; Niedner, Kirchengesch. p. 104 sq. ; De Wette. Ein- leit. ii, 220 sq. On the other hand, in favor of tlie jour- ney, see Heydenreich, Bearbeit. d. Pastoralbr. ii, C s q. ; Mj'nster, Kleine theol. Schrift. p. 291 sq. ; Neander, id sup. ; Bohl, Abfass. der Briofe an Tim. u. Tit. p. 81 scj. ; Schott, Erorterimg, p. 116 sq. ; Wurm, in the Tiibifig. Zeitschr. 1853, i, 82 sq. ; Guericke, Einleit. ins N. T. p. 338 sq. ; Walch, Biblioth. Theol. iii, 455. Others are cited above.
9. Personal Appearance and Character. — All testi- monj', his own included (2 Cor. x, 10), leads to the conclusion that in outward appearance the apostlo had
Portrait of Paul. (From a Roninu Diptych not later than the 4th century.)
PAUL
822
PAUL
nothing to cominarKl admiration or respect. His fig- ure was diminutive, bis eyesight defective (conip. Acts xxiii, o; Gal. iv, 15), and bis speech sucli as produced little effect. An ancient writer adds that he was bald, and had a hooked nose like an eagle's beak. The com- bination of these features presents such a figure as one may often see among the Jews of our own day, espe- cially in the humbler class of them. Such pictorial representations of the apostle as have come down to us in paintings and mosaics agree in the main with this, though they give more of power and dignity to the apostle's countenance than this would lead us to expect. Thej' are the early pictures and mosaics de- scribed bj' Mrs. Jameson, and passages from Walalas, Nicephorus, and the apocryphal Acta Puiili et Theclce (concerning which see also Conybeare and Howson, i, 197). They all agree in ascribing to the apostle a short stature, a long face with high forehead, an aqui- line nose, close and prominent eyebrows. Other cliar- acteristics mentioned are baldness, gray ej'es, a clear complexion, and a winning expression. According to Hug, the apostle's temperament was sanguine; but as Tholuck, with better reason, says (^Stud. u. Krit. loc. cit.), sanrjuine-hUlous. On his person, we have o\\\y an untrustworth}' tradition (in the Dialog. Philophatris, c. 12, and Malalas, Chron. x, p. 257, Bonn). Too much stress must not be laid upon the allusions in the Epistles (1 Cor. xv, 9 ; 2 Cor. x, 10 ; see Bengel, on Acts xiii, 9; Tholuck, op. cit. p. 381). It is probable, however, that the general appearance of Paul did not correspond well with his greatness of mind and heart. But a strong, health}- body he must have had, to endure such journeys and hardships (2 Cor. xi, 23 sq.), and he seems to have had great mental enei'gy and endurance (comp. Acts XX, 7 ; 2 Cor. xi, 28), but could not undergo much bodily toil (IThes. ii, 9 ; 2 Thes. iii, 8).