News had been carried to Claudius Lysias, the commander of the Roman garrison, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. Lysias well knew the turbulent elements with which he had to deal, and with his officers and a strong force of armed men he rushed down to the temple court. 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 the Egyptian rebel who had so successfully eluded their vigilance. He commanded that Paul be seized, and bound between two soldiers, a hand being chained to each. He then questioned those who seemed to be leaders in the tumult as to who their prisoner was, and of what crime he had been guilty. Many voices were at once raised in loud and angry accusation; but on account of the uproar the chief captain could obtain no satisfactory information, and he ordered that the prisoner be removed to the castle, where were the Roman barracks.{LP 217.1}

Nyhederne kom til Klaudius Lysias, befalingsmanden for den romerske garnison, at hele Jerusalem var i oprør. Lysias kendte godt til de urolige elementer som han hørte der skulle gøres noget ved, og fór med sine embedsmænd og en hær stærkt bevæbnede mænd ind i tempel forgården. Uvidende om årsagen til tumulten, men ser skarens raseri var rettet imod Paulus, konkluderede den romerske hærfører at han måtte være den ægyptiske rebel, som havde held med at undgå deres opmærksomhed. Han befalede at Paulus skulle arresteres, og blev bundet mellem to soldater, en hånd lænket til hver. Han spurgte dem som lod til at være ledere i tumulten, hvem deres fange var, og hvilken forbrydelse der havde gjort ham skyldig. Mange stemmer hævede sig straks i høj anklagende vrede; men på grund af det larmen kunne hærføreren ikke få den tilstrækkelige information; og han beordrede fangen fjernet til slottet, hvor romerne havde til huse.