wherein I suffer hardship unto bonds, as a malefactor; but the word of God is not bound.
Verse 9. Wherein I suffer trouble as an evil-doer. As if I were a violator of the laws. That is, I am treated as if I were a criminal. Even unto bonds. As if I were one of the worst kind of malefactors, .
Wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer,.... As a malefactor, as if guilty of some capital crime; an enemy to the law of Moses, a pestilent fellow, a mover of sedition everywhere, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, Act 24:5. The Ethiopic version renders it, "as a thief".
Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, [even] unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. (7) The taking away of an objection: it is true that he is kept in prison as an evildoer, yet there is no reason why some should therefore go about to take away credit from his Gospel.