What did Paul do when he stood on the stairway under Roman guard?
Under Roman protective custody, Paul stood on the stairway and addressed the great Jewish crowd in Jerusalem, rehearsing his salvation experience on the Damascus road and his later temple vision where the Lord told him to leave quickly because the Jews would not receive his testimony.
Les explains that Paul was under protective custody of the Roman troops, or the crowd would have pulled him limb from limb. Standing on the stairway, Paul addressed the great crowd of Jews and rehearsed his salvation experience. Les emphasizes that Paul's conversion is detailed three times in Acts—chapters 9, 22, and 26. Here in Acts 22, Paul recounts his Damascus road experience and then in verse 17 describes praying in the temple, being in a trance, and seeing the ascended Lord Jesus, who told him, "Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me." Paul responded by reminding the Lord that the Jews knew he had imprisoned and beaten believers and had consented to Stephen's death.