Claudius Lysias

Claudius Lysias was the military commander of the Roman soldiers stationed in Jerusalem. He wrote a letter about the apostle Paul to Felix, the Roman governor (Acts 23:26).

His Greek title was chiliarch, which means a commander of 1,000 soldiers. Claudius Lysias is not mentioned in any known source outside the New Testament. However, the book of Acts gives some information about him.

Lysias was a Greek name. He probably took the Roman name Claudius when he bought his Roman citizenship (22:28).

Claudius Lysias was stationed in the Antonia Fortress, which overlooked the northern part of the temple area in Jerusalem. He rescued Paul from a Jewish crowd that was about to kill him.

Lysias then allowed Paul to speak to the crowd from one of the stairways that led from the Court of the Gentiles up to the fortress (Acts 21:40). Later, he stopped the soldiers from whipping Paul when he learned that Paul was a Roman citizen (22:22–29). Paul’s nephew later told Lysias about a Jewish plan to kill Paul in Jerusalem. Lysias then sent Paul secretly to Caesarea under strong military protection (23:16–35).

We do not know how Luke, the writer of Acts, received a copy of Claudius Lysias’s official letter to Governor Felix. However, the letter strongly supports Paul’s character and conduct against the accusations of his opponents.