"As they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar." Claudius Lysias well knew the turbulent elements with which he had to deal, and he "immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul." Ignorant of the cause of the tumult, but seeing that the rage of the multitude was directed against Paul, the Roman captain concluded that he must be a certain Egyptian 408 rebel of whom he had heard, who had thus far escaped capture. He therefore "took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done." At once many voices were raised in loud and angry accusation; "some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude: and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle. And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people. For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him."

"Men just som de skulle til at slå ham ihjel, gik der melding op til kommandanten for hærafdelingen om, at hele Jerusalem var i oprør." Klaudius Lysias vidste god besked om, hvad det var for ustyrlige elementer, han havde med at gøre og han "tog straks soldater og høvedsmænd med sig og kom løbende ned imod dem. Ved synet af kommandanten og soldaterne holdt de op med at slå Paulus." Den romerske officer, som ikke kendte årsagen til oprøret, men så, at skarernes raseri gjaldt Paulus, sluttede her af, at han måtte være en ægyptisk oprører, som han havde hørt om og som hidtil havde undgået at blive fanget. Derfor "lod han ham gribe og befalede, at han skulle bindes med to lænker; og han spurgte, hvem han var og hvad han havde gjort." Straks hævede mange stemmer sig med højrøstede og vrede anklager; nogle i skaren råbte ét, andre noget andet til ham; og da han ikke kunne få noget pålideligt at vide på grund af larmen, befalede han, at Paulus skulle føres ind i borgen. Og da han kom hen til trappen, måtte han bæres af soldaterne, så voldsomt trængte skaren på; thi folkemængden fulgte efter og råbte: "Bort med ham!"