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Translation
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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
John Chrysostom
"And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned?" Paul lied not, God forbid: for he was a Roman. If there was nothing else, he would have been afraid to pretend this, lest he should be found out, and suffer a worse punishment. And observe he does not say it peremptorily, but, "Is it lawful for you?" The charges brought are two, both its being without examination, and his being a Roman. …
Theophylact of Ohrid
"Is it lawful for you to scourge a Roman citizen, and uncondemned?" Paul did not lie in saying that he was a Roman, because his father, for the sake of status, had purchased this title with money, since those deemed worthy of being called by this name enjoyed great honor. Paul says this so that, in the event of his punishment, they would not begin to treat him with contempt. …
Oecumenius
How does Paul say, "I am a man, a Jew, a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia, not of an insignificant city," and shortly after, "If a man is a Roman and uncondemned," and the following? How, then, having said these things, and not at another time but at that very moment when he spoke those words, and to the very same hearers, does he say: "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned"? …
Western Saints
Augustine of Hippo
However, the face cannot be designated as the right face and the left, but high rank can be either according to God or according to this world. Hence, it is as though the face were divided into the right cheek and the left, in order to signify that, whenever his becoming a Christian becomes an occasion of contempt in the case of any follower of Christ, he should be much more ready to be despised in his own person if he holds any of the honors of this world. …
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