Yet Paul, as a Roman citizen, must have known his rights ; and it seems clear that he could not have used the exact words which Luke reports. Now, when we consider the facts, we see that it must be so. No civis Romanus would claim his rights in Greek ; the very idea is ludicrous. Paul claimed them in the Roman tongue ; and we may fairly understand that the officials of a Roman colony were expected to understand Latin ; for the official language even of far less important colonies in Asia Minor was Latin. The phrase which Paul used was most probably re incognita, "without investigating our case ". Luke, however, had the true Greek inability to sympathise with the delicacies of Roman usage, and translates the Latin by a term, which would in some circumstances be a fair representative, but not here, nor in XXII 25.
The whole residence of Paul at Philippi seems to have been short : it is defined by Luke as being " for certain days," and apparently not much seems to have been accomplished before the incident of the ventriloquist and the resulting imprisonment If the party was at Troas
x5
226 The Churches of Macedonia. Chap. X.
in October A.D. 50, they probably left Philippi before the end of the year. It seems probable from v. 40 that there were some other Christians besides those in Lydia's house. It is, however, remarkable that Luke makes no explicit reference to any other converts.
Doubtless, before Paul left, the question was discussed what should be his next centre ; and Thessalonica was suggested, probably on account of its Jewish settlers, whose synagogue offered a good opening for work. The directions which were given the travellers at starting were to make their way along the Roman road through Amphipolis and Apollonia to Thessalonica (XVII 1, where BioSeva-avref is the verb, 6S6? denoting the Roman road).
6. THESSALONICA. (XVII I) AND THEY WENT ALONG THE Roman ROAD THROUGH AMPHIPOLIS AND APOLLONIA, AND CAME TO THESSALONICA, WHERE WAS A SYNAGOGUE OF THE JEWS. (2) AND, AS WAS CUSTOMARY WITH PAUL, HE WENT IN TO ADDRESS THEM, AND FOR THREE SABBATHS HE REASONED WITH THEM FROM THE SCRIPTURES, (3) OPENING THEIR MEANING, AND QUOTING TO PROVE THAT IT WAS PROPER THAT THE ANOINTED ONE SHOULD SUFFER AND RISE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD, AND THAT "THE ANOINTED ONE IS THIS man, THE very JESUS WHOM I AM PROCLAIMING TO YOU ". (4) AND SOME OF THEM WERE PERSUADED ; AND THERE WERE IN ADDITION GATHERED TO PAUL AND SILAS MANY OF THE GOD- FEARING proselytes, AND A GREAT MULTITUDE OF THE GREEKS, AND OF THE LEADING WOMEN NOT A FEW.1
1 In V . 4 kcu rivfs e£ avrcov iirei<rdrj(ra». koi irpo(rtK\t)p<b(h](rav ru QavXco teal 2iXa 7roXXol tS>v atQamvov. koi 'EWrjvav irXfjdos woXv,
Sec. 6. Thessalonica.
227
The curious and rare title " politarchs " was given to the supreme board of magistrates at Thessalonica, as is proved by inscriptions.
This passage is full of difficulty both in text and in interpretation. Our text, agreeing with many MSS. and Versions, recognises three classes of hearers besides the Jews ; whereas the Approved Text, resting on the great MSS., unites the "God-fearing" and "the Greeks" into the single class "God-fearing Greeks". In this case many reasons combine to show the error of the latter reading, and the falseness of the principle that has led Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort, and others to set almost boundless confidence in those MSS. (see note 2, p. 235).
In v. 4 Paul goes on to a wider sphere of influence than the circle of the synagogue ; and a lapse of time is implied in the extension of his work over the general population of the city (called here by the strictly correct term, Hellenes). Between the two opposite groups, the Jews and the Hellenes, there is interposed the inter- mediate class of God-fearing proselytes ; and there is added as a climax a group of noble ladies of the city. In Macedonia, as in Asia Minor, women occupied a much freer and more influential position than in Athens ; and it is in conformity with the known facts that such pro- minence is assigned to them in the three Macedonian cities.