Acts 23
1 Paul looked directly at the council and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life with a clear conscience before God to this day.”
God has a sense of humor! The Roman commander ordered that the Sanhedrin come into the Antonio fortress and listen to Paul teach. Paul addressed the Sanhedrin as "brothers", meaning that they were all fellow Jews. He began his defense with his clear conscience towards God and government. He had served God well and he has been a good Roman citizen.
2 At that the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.
Ananias means "Jehovah is gracious". He served as the high priest from 37-59 A.D. underneath Claudius and Nero. Josephus wrote that he was insolent, hot-tempered, profane, and very greedy. He also seized the tithes from the common priests for himself.
Paul was struck in the mouth, just as Jesus was struck in the mouth. The Sanhedrin was not interested in their own Jewish Messiah. They were interested in silencing his name. Modern atheists and evolutionists do not want to debate biblical Christians. They want to censor them.
3 Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit there judging me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law you order me to be struck?”
The Greek word for "whitewashed wall" is κονιάω (koniao), meaning a wall that is old and crumbling down and about to fall down, but it has been re-painted to make it look like a beautiful, strong wall. Paul predicted that Ananias was an old and crumbling wall who was repainted in white paint to make him look good. However, God was going to strike this white wall and it would fall down. This was fulfilled by the method of his death. He was assassinated by Jewish zealots in 66 A.D. because of his strong Roman policy.
Paul called Ananias a hypocrite. Ananias was there to judge Paul by Jewish and Roman Law and he had violated both of them.
4 Those standing near him said, “Do you dare insult God’s high priest?”
The office of high priest always demanded respect, even if the person did not.
5 Paul replied, “I did not realize, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You must not speak evil about a ruler of your people.’”
Why did Paul not recognize the high priest? There were four possibilities. Paul's eyes were too weak and he could not see well enough. Paul had not been to Jerusalem in many years and did not recognize the current high priest. Since they were not meeting in the Sanhedrin Court, but in the Antonio Fortress, Ananias may not have been wearing his High Priest clothing. Paul may have been using sarcasm or irony.
Paul admitted that he was wrong in disrespecting the High Priest.
6 Then when Paul noticed that part of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, he shouted out in the Council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead!”
Paul called the assembly "brothers" because they were all Jews. The assembly consisted of the liberal Sadducees, who took away from the word of God, and the conservative Pharisees, who added to the word of God. Since Paul knew that he was in a kangaroo court, he decided to divide and conquer.
7 When he said this, an argument began between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.
The Pharisees believed in the resurrection, but the Sadducees did not. This had always been a serious dividing point among them. They loved to argue their viewpoint, mostly from pride. So Paul took advantage of their pride and their weakness in their theology.
8 (For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, or angel, or spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.)
Luke gave an explanation of the differences of the two sects so that Theophilus would understand the issues.
9 There was a great commotion, and some experts in the law from the party of the Pharisees stood up and protested strongly, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”
The Pharisees only said this to irritate the Sadducees, not that they believed Paul.
10 When the argument became so great the commanding officer feared that they would tear Paul to pieces, he ordered the detachment to go down, take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.
Paul was a Roman citizen and he was to be protected. Therefore, the commander broke up the group by force and removed Paul to safety.
11 The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Have courage, for just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”
God appeared to Paul, encouraged him, and let him know that Paul was immortal until he reached Rome.
The Plot to Kill Paul
12 When morning came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink anything until they had killed Paul.
The Greek word for oath is ἀναθεματίζω (anathematztizo), meaning devoted to destruction. The same word in Hebrew is הֶחֱרִים (cherem), which was the divine curse that God placed upon the Canannites when Joshua entered the land. Every man, woman, child, animal, and object was to be completely destroyed as a divine offering to God. The Jews who made this oath must carry it out, or they have cursed themselves to be devoted to destruction. This was the most serious oath that a Jew could make. These Jews were making an oath that they would not be able to keep.
13 There were more than forty of them who formed this conspiracy.
The Greek word for "conspiracy" is συνωμοσία (sunomosia), meaning to swear together. Forty men swore the divine הֶחֱרִים (cherem) curse against themselves.
14 They went to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath not to partake of anything until we have killed Paul.
The men who made the הֶחֱרִים (cherem) oath reported their mission to the Sanhedrin. The Pharisees and Sadducees were at each other’s throats, but now they joined together to eliminate Paul and his teaching from this earth.
What happened to the forty men who made this oath? They would not see Paul until nine year later. The answer is found in the Jerusalem Talmud, “He that has made a vow not to eat anything, woe to him if he eats; woe to him if he does not eat. If he eats, he sins against his vow; if he does not eat, he sins against his life. What should such a man do in such a case? Let him go to the sages [the rabbis] and they will loose his vow.” This was an example of how the oral law superseded the written law.
15 So now you and the council request the commanding officer to bring him down to you, as if you were going to determine his case by conducting a more thorough inquiry. We are ready to kill him before he comes near this place.”
The "you" was placed in the emphatic position at the beginning of the sentence. The forty men have asked the Sanhedrin to use their political power to get the trial moved from the Antonio Fortress to the Sanhedrin. The Antonio Fortress was guided by Roman soldiers. The Sanhedrin was guard by Jewish policeman who were controlled by the Sanhedrin. There will be less resistant forces at the Sanhedrin, making the assassination easier. This makes the Sanhedrin co-conspirators.
The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Zealots were all great enemies of each other, but they combined their efforts to stop the message of Paul. Atheists, evolutionists, agnostics, cults, isms, liberals, feminists, homosexuals, and lesbians are joining together to stop the gospel by censorship.
16 But when the son of Paul’s sister heard about the ambush, he came and entered the barracks and told Paul.
Paul's nephew may have been a zealot who disagreed with the assassination of Paul.
17 Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commanding officer, for he has something to report to him.”
God was moving to protect Paul. It was predicted that Paul would proclaim the gospel to kings. Paul was immortal until he accomplished this task.
18 So the centurion took him and brought him to the commanding officer and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”
The centurion delivered Paul's nephew to the commander.
19 The commanding officer took him by the hand, withdrew privately, and asked, “What is it that you want to report to me?”
Notice that the commander took Paul's nephew by the hand. He knew this information was of extreme importance.
20 He replied, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as if they were going to inquire more thoroughly about him.”
The Jews were the Jewish leaders, the Sanhedrin. They were supposed to be leaders who protected and taught the word of God. By the time of Jesus and Paul, their father was the devil and they were carrying out satanic plans to stop the spread of the good news of the Messiah.
21 “So do not let them persuade you to do this, because more than forty of them are lying in ambush for him. They have bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him, and now they are ready, waiting for you to agree to their request.”
Paul's nephew revealed the details of their plot and advised the commander not to agree to their request.
22 Then the commanding officer sent the young man away, directing him, “Tell no one that you have reported these things to me.”
Paul will be rescued from his own nation's assassination by a Greek soldier in the Roman army.
23 Then he summoned two of the centurions and said, “Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea along with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen by nine o’clock tonight,”
Paul will be escorted to Caesarea by 470 soldiers of the Roman Legion. There will be 200 soldiers carrying swords. 200 soldiers carrying spears, and 70 Calvary men on horseback. They will leave quietly and secretly at 9 PM under the cover of darkness.
24 “and provide mounts for Paul to ride so that he may be brought safely to Felix the governor.”
Pontius Pilate was the Procurator during the trial of Jesus. Felix was the first Procurator during the trial of Paul. Felix was a former slave and childhood friend of Emperor Claudius. According to the Roman historian Tacitus, “He exercised the power of a king with the mind of a slave.” He was married to three wives, extremely cruel, and known for his lust. He was guilty of murdering Jonathan the High Priest for criticizing his misrule. Paul would be judged by this kind of man.
25 He wrote a letter that went like this:
Luke did not have the exact letter, so he paraphrased its contents.
26 Claudius Lysias to His Excellency Governor Felix, greetings.
The commander's name was Claudius Lysias. The salutation was to his Excellency Governor Felix. The Greek for "his excellency" is τῷ κρατίστῳ (to kratisto), meaning a high official of Roman rank. Most Excellency in English, or τῷ κρατίστῳ (to kratisto) in Greek, is the same salutation that Luke used in his gospel and in Acts, meaning that Theophilus was a Roman official of high rank. These entire books of Luke and Acts may have been written as a defense of Paul when he was under arrest.
27 This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, when I came up with the detachment and rescued him, because I had learned that he was a Roman citizen.
This letter contained truth mixed with error. It was true that Paul was seized by the Jews, they were about to kill him, the commander arrived on the scene, and he was rescued. It was false that the commander learned that he was a Roman citizen. The commander did not find this out about Paul's Roman citizenship until after he was taken to the Antonia Fortress and questioned. The commander did not want to reveal the fact that he laid Paul out to be unlawfully scourged.
28 Since I wanted to know what charge they were accusing him of, I brought him down to their council.
The commander was a Greek serving in the Roman army, so he did not understand the charges.
29 I found he was accused with reference to controversial questions about their law, but no charge against him deserved death or imprisonment.
No Roman law had been violated, so Paul should not have been imprisoned.
30 When I was informed there would be a plot against this man, I sent him to you at once, also ordering his accusers to state their charges against him before you.
The commander wants the Sanhedrin to travel to Caesarea and state their charges to Felix.
31 So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him to Antipatris during the night.
The normal day of travel was about twenty miles with Roman garrisons at each twenty mile mark. This was a forced march of about 35 miles.
32 The next day they let the horsemen go on with him, and they returned to the barracks.
The rest of the travel was clear highway with lithe geography to ambush, so the 400 soldiers guarded the highway. The 70 Calvary men continued the 27 mile journey.
33 When the horsemen came to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him.
Felix received the letter and the prisoner. Rome possessed a very fast pony express communication system.
34 When the governor had read the letter, he asked what province he was from. When he learned that he was from Cilicia,
There were two types of Roman provinces. The Imperial Provinces were under the authority of the emperor. The Senatorial Provinces were under the authority of the Senate. Felix could function under one, but not the other. He asked the question to find out if he had jurisdiction.
35 he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive too.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.
The commander had informed Felix that Paul was innocent, but Felix locked him in prison anyway, perhaps to receive a bribe. Roman Justice was not blind.
