Paul Before the Council
Acts 23Paul, looking straight at the council and said, “Brothers, I have lived all my life before God with good conscience to this day.”
At that, the high priest Ananias ordered those who stood near Paul to strike him on the mouth.
Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there judging me according to the law, but then you violate the law by ordering that I be struck?”
Those standing nearby said, “How dare you insult God’s high priest?”
Paul said, “Brothers, I didn’t realize that he was high priest. For it is written, ‘You must not speak evil about a ruler of your people.’”+Exo 22:28
But when Paul noticed that some of them were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he called out in the Council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am being judged because of the hope and resurrection of the dead!”
When he said this, an argument broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angels or spirits, but the Pharisees affirm all of these things.) There was a great uproar, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees rose up and began to argue, “We find no evil in this man. What if a spirit or angel has spoken to him?”
When a dispute became so great that the commander was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, he ordered the troops to go down and seize him from them and bring him into the barracks.
The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so it is necessary for you to testify in Rome.”
The Plot to Kill Paul
When morning came, some of the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath, saying that they would not eat or drink until they had killed Paul. There were more than forty people who had formed this conspiracy. They went to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have bound ourselves under a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul. So now, y’all and the Council make a request to the commander to bring Paul down to y’all tomorrow, as though y’all intended to conduct a more thorough investigation. But before he arrives, we are ready to kill him.”
But when the son of Paul’s sister heard about their ambush, he went into the barracks and told Paul. Paul summoned one of the centurions and said, “Bring this young man to the commander, for he has something to tell him.”
So he took him and brought him to the commander and said, “Paul, the prisoner, called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to tell you.”
The commanding officer took him by the hand, drew him aside, and asked him privately, “What do you have to report to me?”
He said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Council tomorrow, as though they intended to ask for more accurate information about him. Don’t be persuaded by them, because more than forty men are waiting to ambush him. They have bound themselves by an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Now they are ready, waiting for your consent.”
So the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Don’t tell anyone that you have reported this to me.”
He summoned two of the centurions and said, “Y’all prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred men armed with spears, to go as far as Caesarea tonight. Also provide horses to ride so that Paul may be brought safely to Governor Felix.” He wrote a letter as follows:
“Claudius Lysias,
To the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings.
“This man was seized by the Jews, and they were about to kill him when I arrived with the soldiers and rescued him, because I learned that he was a Roman citizen. Wanting to know the reason why they were accusing him, I brought him down to their Council. I found that the accusation had to do with questions concerning their law, but there was no charge that deserved death or imprisonment. When I was informed that there was a plot against the man, I sent him to you immediately, ordering that his accusers state their case against him before you. Farewell.”
So the soldiers followed their orders, taking Paul during the night, and brought him to Antipatris. The next day they permitted the horsemen to go with him, while they returned to the barracks. When they arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and presented Paul to him. After he read the letter, the governor asked what province he was from. When he learned that Paul was from Cilicia, he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers arrive.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept in Herod’s palace.