Paul makes his case in Jerusalem in the beginning of Chapter 22. He starts out by getting their attention. He is not getting attention just to glorify himself; his whole drive is to spread the good news about Jesus. He knows he needs to gain credibility for them to come to know Jesus, so he speaks in Hebrew (v2). My guess would be that he does not have a bad accent. Even when Peter speaks, the others comment on his accent right before he denies Jesus (Mt 26:73). My bet is that since Paul grew up in Jerusalem (v3), he was able speak well. He also drops the name Gamaliel. Gamaliel was a renowned teacher and was highly respected by most Jews at the time.   Continue reading →