Cassiodorus : "Men, brethren, hear ye the account which I now give unto you," etc. Paul, being inclined to simplicity of heart, told the people, in order, how he had been chosen by the Lord when he was a persecutor of the church; he did not even fail to mention, with a broken heart, his crime relating to Stephen's blood; but he said that he had heard from the Lord, whom he could not oppose, that he would be sent to preach to the Gentiles. The Jews, who had been listening thus far, began to shout loudly to the tribune that a man trying to convince them of such things should be removed from the living. — Complexiones on the Acts of the Apostles John Chrysostom : "He spake unto them," it says, "in the Hebrew tongue, saying, Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you." Mark his address, at once so free from all flattery, and so expressive of meekness. For he says not, "Masters," nor "Lords," but, "Brethren," just the word they most liked: "I am no alien from you," he says, nor "against you." "Men," he says, "brethren, and fathers:" this, a term of honor, that of kindred. "Hear ye," says he, "my" - he says not, "teaching," nor "harangue," but, "my defence which I now make unto you." He puts himself in the posture of a suppliant. — Homily on Acts 47