---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Acts 23"
description: "CHAPTER 23   :-. PAUL"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/acts/23"
---

CHAPTER 23

. 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 (). 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 ([John 18:22](../../../kjv/john/18/22);
[John 18:23](../../../kjv/john/18/23)), 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 ).
**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 (). 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 . 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
[Acts 23:10](../../../kjv/acts/23/10) shows to have been
intense).

**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.

**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.
. 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' () 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 [2 Samuel 3:35](../../../kjv/2-samuel/3/35);
[1 Samuel 14:24](../../../kjv/1-samuel/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 [Acts 9:30](../../../kjv/acts/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 ; [Acts 23:2](../../../kjv/acts/23/2)).

**16-22. Paul's sister's son**—(See
on [Acts 9:30](../../../kjv/acts/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.

**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.

**16-22. Paul's sister's son**—(See
on [Acts 9:30](../../../kjv/acts/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.

**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.

**16-22. Paul's sister's son**—(See
on [Acts 9:30](../../../kjv/acts/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.

**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 [Acts 23:2](../../../kjv/acts/23/2).

**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."

**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.

**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.

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