Just as they were tying him up [in preparation] for the flogging, Paul said to the officer nearby, “Is it lawful for you to whip a Roman [citizen] before he has been [legally] condemned?”
Then those who were ready to interrogate Paul [with whips] immediately left him, and the commander also became fearful when he realized that he had chained a Roman citizen [illegally].
This man [i.e., Paul] was grabbed by the Jews and almost killed by them when I discovered what they were doing and rescued him, after learning that he was a Roman citizen.