This part contains the first in a series of Paul's apologetic speeches. Paul's opening words use the language and address designed to stress a commonalty with his audience, and to emphasize that he, like them, is a 'zealot for God' with a 'strict seminary education rooted in Jerusalem'; both are consistent with Paul's own claims about his education in.
Verse 3
"This city": refers to Jerusalem. An argument, that 'this city' refers to Tarsus, does not match Paul's argument here.
Verse 8
The detailed record of Paul's conversion story here indicates that this account is important for Luke, even with some differences from the record in chapter 9, thus shedding 'an interesting light on Luke's practice as a narrator', who 'sees no difficulty in the fact that the retold story is slightly different each time'.
Verse 12
"Ananias": is given a little more background detail by Paul compared to the previous account in chapter 9, which is 'relevant to his claim to be working within a framework of observant Judaism'.
Verse 16
"Be baptized": In chapter 9, the significance of baptism was only alluded briefly without explanation, but here it is made explicit: 'it is to do with cleansing from sin, and calling on the name of Christ'.
Paul the Roman (22:22–29)
When Paul mentioned about Gentiles, the audience was again stirred up and behaving riotous, so the tribune decides to remove Paul for further interrogation in the barracks, that is 'the examination of witnesses by torture', which was a routine practice in both Greek and Roman judicial systems. At the last moment, Paul reveals a little more of his citizenship status that 'produces consternation and dismay among the soldiers and minor officials into whose hands he has fallen'.
Verse 28
The claim of Paul to be 'free-born' here means that his citizenship status 'goes back at least to his father's generation, possibly earlier, to the period of the civil wars, when Roman generals granted citizenship to a number of individuals and associations in the Greek East who had supported their cause'. The citizenship status of the tribune corresponds to the record of 'the growing laxity of citizenship grants, which were widely reported to be freely available for money' during the reign of Claudius Caesar.
Paul to be brought before the Sanhedrin (22:30)
The tribune 'ordered' the Sanhedrin to meet, although only in an advisory capacity, to 'help him determine whether or not Paul had a case to answer in Jewish law'.
