in order to be on the safe side. The lashes would be inflicted by the synagogue authorities. They had the legal right thus to punish offending members of the Jewish religion, and evidently on these five occasions looked upon Paul as still a Jew who was bringing the Jewish religion into disrepute. Moreover, the converts he made would tend to raise awkward questions with the Roman authorities. Judaism was given a privileged position, and proselytising was not encouraged among those who by birth belonged