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Acts 23

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Paul Before the Sanhedrin 1–5

1
And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. ​
2
And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth. ​
3
Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? ​
4
And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God's high priest?
5
Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people. ​

Paul Divides the Council; the Lord Encourages Him 6–11

6
But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. ​
7
And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided.
8
For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. ​
9
And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God. ​
10
And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.
11
And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. ​

A Conspiracy Against Paul 12–22

12
And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. ​
13
And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy.
14
And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul. ​
15
Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would enquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him.
16
And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul. ​
17
Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him, and said, Bring this young man unto the chief captain: for he hath a certain thing to tell him.
18
So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee.
19
Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and went with him aside privately, and asked him, What is that thou hast to tell me?
20
And he said, The Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul to morrow into the council, as though they would enquire somewhat of him more perfectly.
21
But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee.
22
So the chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, See thou tell no man that thou hast shewed these things to me.

Paul Sent to Governor Felix 23–30

23
And he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night; ​
24
And provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor.
25
And he wrote a letter after this manner:
26
Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting. ​
27
This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman. ​
28
And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into their council:
29
Whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds. ​
30
And when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell.

Arrival in Caesarea 31–35

31
Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris. ​
32
On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the castle:
33
Who, when they came to Caesarea, and delivered the epistle to the governor, presented Paul also before him.
34
And when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province he was. And when he understood that he was of Cilicia; ​
35
I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Acts 23

Verse 1

I have lived in all good conscience — ‘Lived’ is politeuomai, to conduct oneself as a citizen of a commonwealth, found elsewhere only in Phil 1:27, ‘let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel’. Paul says the same before Felix: ‘a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men’ (Acts 24:16).

Verse 2

to smite him on the mouth — Ananias is the high priest who later came down with the elders and the orator Tertullus (Acts 24:1). The blow on the mouth recalls the officer who ‘struck Jesus with the palm of his hand’ before the high priest (John 18:22), and Zedekiah’s blow to Micaiah’s cheek (1 Kings 22:24).

Verse 3

thou whited wall — Koniao, to whiten with lime, occurs only here and in Matt 23:27, where Christ calls the scribes and Pharisees ‘whited sepulchres’. Paul’s charge rests on the law itself: Deut 25:1–2 has a man beaten only after the judges have condemned him, and ‘our law’ does not judge ‘any man, before it hear him’ (John 7:51).

Verse 5

Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people — Paul quotes Ex 22:28, ‘Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people’, and applies it to himself at once: ‘I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest’. The law he had appealed to in v.3 binds him as well.

Verse 6

I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee — Paul said the same of himself in Phil 3:5, ‘as touching the law, a Pharisee’. ‘Hope and resurrection of the dead’ is the matter he later says he was tried for (Acts 24:15, 21). The council was split between the two parties, as Luke notes in this verse.

Verse 8

no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit — The Sadducees’ denial is also recorded in Matt 22:23 and Luke 20:27, where they brought Christ their question about the woman and the seven brothers. They were ‘grieved’ when the apostles ‘preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead’ (Acts 4:1–2). The Pharisees ‘confess both’.

Verse 9

let us not fight against God — Theomacheo, to fight against God, is found only here. Gamaliel used the related adjective, ‘lest haply ye be found even to fight against God’ (Acts 5:39). The scribes’ ‘spirit or an angel’ refers to what Paul had just told of his conversion (Acts 22:7–10, 17–18).

Verse 11

Be of good cheer, Paul — Tharseo is Christ’s own word to the disciples, ‘Be of good cheer; it is I’ (Matt 14:27), and it is found in Acts only here. ‘Testified’ is diamartyromai, the verb of Acts 20:24. The promise answers Paul’s own purpose, ‘I must also see Rome’ (Acts 19:21), and is fulfilled in Acts 28:14–16.

Verse 12

bound themselves under a curse — Anathematizo, to put under a curse, whose noun is the ‘accursed’ of Rom 9:3 and Gal 1:8. ‘Banded together’ is systrophe, a gathering, found otherwise only in Acts 19:40, ‘concourse’. The oath is repeated in v.14 and v.21, where ‘more than forty men’ are named.

Verse 14

a great curse — The wording joins verb and noun: they ‘bound themselves’ with an anathema, the word of Gal 1:8. They went to ‘the chief priests and elders’, and these same men are asked in v.15, ‘ye with the council signify to the chief captain’, to bring Paul down. The plot depended on the council’s request.

Verse 16

Paul’s sister’s son — This is the only place where Paul’s sister or her son is mentioned. ‘Lying in wait’ is enedron, an ambush, found only here. The young man could enter the castle and speak to Paul, which fits the liberty Paul had in custody: his acquaintance were not forbidden to ‘minister or come unto him’ (Acts 24:23).

Verse 23

two hundred soldiers… horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred — The escort totals 470 men. Dexiolabos, ‘spearman’, occurs only here. Lysias also sees to ‘beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix’ (v.24). The size of the guard answers the ‘more than forty men’ of v.21.

Verse 26

the most excellent governor Felix — Kratistos is the title of Luke 1:3, ‘most excellent Theophilus’, and of Acts 24:3 and 26:25. The letter opens with Lysias’s name and ‘sendeth greeting’ (chairo), the formula of Acts 15:23 and James 1:1. Luke gives the letter in full, as he gives the Jerusalem letter of Acts 15:23–29.

Verse 27

having understood that he was a Roman — The letter compresses the sequence. In Acts 21:31–33 the captain took soldiers and centurions, ran down because of the uproar, and had Paul bound with two chains, and he learned of Paul’s citizenship only in Acts 22:25–29. The letter states the rescue and the citizenship together.

Verse 29

questions of their law — Zetema, a matter of dispute, is the word of Acts 18:15 (Gallio) and Acts 25:19. ‘Nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds’ is echoed in Acts 25:25 and Acts 26:31, so Lysias, Festus and Agrippa all find Paul blameless, as Pilate said of Christ with Herod (Luke 23:15).

Verse 31

brought him by night to Antipatris — Antipatris is named only here in the New Testament. The foot soldiers turned back from it, and the horsemen went on with Paul to Caesarea (v.32). The night march follows Lysias’s order to be ready ‘at the third hour of the night’ (v.23).

Verse 34

of what province he was — Eparchia, a province, is found only here and in Acts 25:1, ‘when Festus was come into the province’. Felix learned that Paul was of Cilicia, as Paul had told Lysias, ‘a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia’ (Acts 21:39). He then undertakes to hear the case himself (v.35).

Verse 35

Herod’s judgment hall — Praitorion is the ‘common hall’ of Matt 27:27 and the ‘hall of judgment’ of John 18:28, and in Phil 1:13 it is ‘the palace’. Diakouo, ‘I will hear thee’, occurs only here. Paul stays under guard until, ‘after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix’ room’ (Acts 24:27).