Saul's Mandate In Damascus

How did Saul get authority to arrest Christians in a foreign city?
The Sanhedrin and the high priest exercised moral authority over Jews everywhere, and the high priest’s powers apparently included authority to extradite criminals. Thus, letters from the high priest would elicit the cooperation of the elders of the Damascus synagogues.​—Acts 9:1, 2.
The Romans, moreover, had granted the Jews the right to manage their own judicial affairs. This explains how five times the Jews could inflict “40 strokes less one” on the apostle Paul. (2 Cor. 11:24) The book of 1 Maccabees also mentions a letter written by a Roman consul to Ptolemy VIII of Egypt in 138 B.C.E. that demanded: “If any pestilent men have fled to you from their country [Judaea], hand them over to Simon the high priest, that he may punish them according to their law.” (1 Macc. 15:21) In 47 B.C.E., Julius Caesar confirmed the privileges previously granted to the high priest along with his right to settle any questions that arose over Jewish customs.
Category:Damascus
Category:Paul's Mandate In Damascus