Acts 23

Ac 23:1-10.

PAUL'S

DEFENSE BEFORE THE

SAMHEDRIM

DIVIDES THE

RIVAL

FACTIONS, FROM

WHOSE

VIOLENCE THE

COMMANDANT

HAS THE

APOSTLE

REMOVED INTO THE

FORTRESS.

1. Paul, earnestly beholding the council--with a look of conscious

integrity and unfaltering courage, perhaps also recognizing some of his

early fellow pupils.

I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day--The

word has an indirect reference to the "polity" or "commonwealth of

Israel," of which he would signify that he had been, and was to that

hour, an honest and God-fearing member.

2. the high priest . . . commanded . . . to smite him on the mouth--a

method of silencing a speaker common in the East to this day

[HACKET].

But for a judge thus to treat a prisoner on his "trial," for merely

prefacing his defense by a protestation of his integrity, was infamous.

3, 4. God shall smite thee--as indeed He did; for he was killed by an

assassin during the Jewish war [JOSEPHUS,

Wars of the Jews, 2.17.9].

thou whited wall--that is, hypocrite

(Mt 23:27).

This epithet, however correctly describing the man, must not be

defended as addressed to a judge, though the remonstrance which

follows--"for sittest thou," &c.--ought to have put him to shame.

5. I wist not . . . that he was the high priest--All sorts of

explanations of this have been given. The high priesthood was in a state

of great confusion and constant change at this time (as appears from

JOSEPHUS), and the apostle's long absence from Jerusalem, and perhaps

the manner in which he was habited or the seat he occupied, with other

circumstances to us unknown, may account for such a speech. But if he

was thrown off his guard by an insult which touched him to the quick,

"what can surpass the grace with which he recovered his self-possession,

and the frankness with which he acknowledged his error? If his conduct

in yielding to the momentary impulse was not that of Christ Himself

under a similar provocation

(Joh 18:22, 23),

certainly the manner in which he atoned for his fault was

Christ-like"

[HACKET].

6-9. when Paul perceived--from the discussion which plainly had by

this time arisen between the parties.

that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried

out--raising his voice above both parties.

I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee--The true reading seems to be,

"the son of Pharisees," that is, belonging to a family who from father

to son had long been such.

of the hope and resurrection of the dead--that is, not the vague hope

of immortality, but the definite expectation of the resurrection.

I am called in question--By this adroit stroke, Paul engages the whole

Pharisaic section of the council in his favor; the doctrine of a

resurrection being common to both, though they would totally differ in

their application of it. This was, of course, quite warrantable, and

the more so as it was already evident that no impartiality in trying his

cause was to be looked for from such an assembly.

8. the Sadducees say . . . there is no resurrection,

neither angel, nor spirit--(See on

Lu 20:37).

the scribes . . . of the Pharisees' part . . . strove, saying, We find

no evil in this man, but--as to those startling things which he brings

to our ears.

if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him--referring, perhaps,

to his trance in the temple, of which he had told them

(Ac 22:17).

They put this favorable construction upon his proceedings for no other

reason than that they had found him one of their own party. They care

not to inquire into the truth of what he alleged, over and above

their opinions, but only to explain it away as something not worth

raising a noise about. (The following words, "Let us not fight against

God," seem not to belong to the original text, and perhaps are from

Ac 5:39.

In this case, either the meaning is, "If he has had some divine

communication, what of that?" or, the conclusion of the sentence

may have been drowned in the hubbub, which

Ac 23:10

shows to have been intense).

10. the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled to

pieces . . . commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force,

&c.--This shows that the commandant was not himself present, and

further, that instead of the Sanhedrim trying the cause, the proceedings

quickly consisted in the one party attempting to seize the prisoner, and

the other to protect him.

Ac 23:11-35.

IN THE

FORTRESS

PAUL

IS

CHEERED BY A

NIGHT

VISION--AN

INFAMOUS

CONSPIRACY TO

ASSASSINATE

HIM

IS

PROVIDENTIALLY

DEFEATED, AND

HE

IS

DESPATCHED BY

NIGHT WITH A

LETTER FROM THE

COMMANDANT TO

FELIX AT

CÆSAREA, BY

WHOM

ARRANGEMENTS

ARE

MADE FOR A

HEARING OF

HIS

CAUSE.

11. the night following--his heart perhaps sinking, in the solitude

of his barrack ward, and thinking perhaps that all the predictions of

danger at Jerusalem were now to be fulfilled in his death there.

the Lord--that is, Jesus.

stood by him . . . Be of good cheer, Paul; for as thou

hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou . . . also at

Rome--that is, "Thy work in Jerusalem is done, faithfully and well

done; but thou art not to die here; thy purpose next to 'see Rome'

(Ac 19:21)

shall not be disappointed, and there also must thou bear witness of

Me." As this vision was not unneeded now, so we shall find it cheering

and upholding him throughout all that befell him up to his arrival

there.

12-14. bound themselves under a curse . . . that they would neither eat

. . . fill they had killed Paul--Compare

2Sa 3:35;

1Sa 14:24.

15. Now . . . ye with the council signify to the chief captain . . .

as though, &c.--That these high ecclesiastics fell in readily with

this infamous plot is clear. What will not unscrupulous and hypocritical

religionists do under the mask of religion? The narrative bears

unmistakable internal marks of truth.

or ever he come near--Their plan was to assassinate him on his way

down from the barracks to the council. The case was critical, but He

who had pledged His word to him that he should testify for Him at Rome

provided unexpected means of defeating this well-laid scheme.

16-22. Paul's sister's son--(See on

Ac 9:30).

If he was at this time residing at Jerusalem for his education, like

Paul himself, he may have got at the schools those hints of the

conspiracy on which he so promptly acted.

17. Then Paul called one of the centurions--Though divinely

assured of safety, he never allows this to interfere with the duty he

owed to his own life and the work he had yet to do. (See on

Ac 27:22-25;

Ac 27:31).

19. took him by the hand--This shows that he must have been quite in

his boyhood, and throws a pleasing light on the kind-hearted

impartiality of this officer.

21. and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee--Thus, as

is so often the case with God's people, not till the last moment, when

the plot was all prepared, did deliverance come.

23, 24. two hundred soldiers--a formidable guard for such an occasion;

but Roman officials felt their honor concerned in the preservation of

the public peace, and the danger of an attempted rescue would seem to

require it. The force at Jerusalem was large enough to spare this

convoy.

the third hour of the night--nine o'clock.

24. beasts . . . set Paul on--as relays, and to carry baggage.

unto Felix, the governor--the procurator. See on

Ac 24:24, 25.

26-30. Claudius--the Roman name he would take on purchasing his

citizenship.

Lysias--his Greek family name.

the most excellent governor--an honorary title of office.

27. came I with an army--rather, "with the military."

29. perceived to be accused of questions of their law, &c.--Amidst

all his difficulty in getting at the charges laid against Paul, enough,

no doubt, come out to satisfy him that the whole was a question of

religion, and that there was no case for a civil tribunal.

30. gave commandment to his accusers . . . to say before thee--This

was not done when he wrote, but would be before the letter reached its

destination.

31, 32. brought him . . . to Antipatris--nearly forty miles from

Jerusalem, on the way to Cæsarea; so named by Herod in honor of his

father, Antipater.

32. On the morrow they--the infantry.

left the horsemen--themselves no longer needed as a guard. The

remaining distance was about twenty-five or twenty-six miles.

34, 35. asked of what province he was--the letter describing him as

a Roman citizen.

35. I will hear thee--The word means, "give thee a full hearing."

to be kept in Herod's judgment hall--"prætorium," the palace built

at Cæsarea by Herod, and now occupied by the Roman procurators; in one

of the buildings attached to which Paul was ordered to be kept.