This part contains the first in a series of Paul's apologetic speeches ('defence', 22:1; Gk. apologia). Paul's opening words use the language and address designed to stress a commonalty with his audience (verses 1–2), and to emphasize that he, like them, is a 'zealot for God' (verse 3) with a 'strict seminary education rooted in Jerusalem'; both are consistent with Paul's own claims about his education in .
