Acts 23:3 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Acts 23:1-5

Perhaps when Paul was brought, as he often was (corpus cum causa?the person and the cause together), before heathen magistrates and councils, where he and his cause were slighted, because not at all understood, he thought, if he were brought before the sanhedrim at Jerusalem, he should be able to deal with them to some good purpose, and yet we do not find that he works at all upon them. Here we have, I. Paul's protestation of his own integrity. Whether the chief priest put any question to him,... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Acts 23:1-10

23:1-10 Paul fixed his gaze on the Sanhedrin and said, "Brethren, I have lived before God with a completely pure conscience up to this day." The high priest Ananias ordered those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. Paul said to him, "God is going to strike you, you white-washed wall! Do you sit judging me according to the Law and do you order me to be struck and so break the Law?" Those who were standing beside him said, "Are you insulting God's high priest?" Paul said, "I did not... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 23:3

Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee ,.... Which may be considered either as a prophecy of what would be, that God would smite him with some judgment here, or with death quickly, or with eternal damnation hereafter; taking up his own words, and suggesting that a retaliation would be made, and that the measure he meted, would be measured to him again; or else as an imprecation upon him; for the words may be rendered, "may God smite thee"; the future tense being often used by the Jews... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 23:3

God shall smite thee, thou whited wall - Thou hypocrite! who sittest on the seat of judgment, pretending to hear and seriously weigh the defense of an accused person, who must in justice and equity be presumed to be innocent till he is proved to be guilty; and, instead of acting according to the law, commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law, which always has the person of the prisoner under its protection; nor ever suffers any penalty to be inflicted but what is prescribed as the just... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 23:3

Verse 3− 3.God shall smite thee. Paul cannot put up that injury, but he must, at least, with sharp words reprehend the high priest, − (524) and denounce God’s vengeance unto him. For it is no curse, as appeareth sufficiently by the Greek text, but rather a reprehension, joined with the denouncing of a punishment. If any man object, that Paul did not use that modesty which Christ commandeth his to use, when he commandeth them after they have received a blow on the left cheek to turn the right... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 23:1-5

A threefold example of true greatness. Every careful reader of the Testament is aware that there is obscurity present to a certain degree in this passage. The obscurity is of a nature not very likely to yield to timid treatment. It does not seem likely that there remain facts of history which would clear it up, for instance. Rather would it seem the preferable course to face at once the difficulty, to narrow its dimensions to the smallest compass, and to admit that it is not evident how it... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 23:1-10

Paul before the Sanhedrim. I. A SUGGESTIVE CONTRAST between corrupt ecclesiasticism and secular power. The bigotry, intolerance, personal animosity, unfairness, fanatical cruelty, all finding abundant confirmation in the history of the persecutions emanating from the papacy. Lysias was cruel because he was reckless and followed bad customs, but Ananias was cruel because he was spiteful and tyrannical. II. THE MASTER 'S PREDICTION FULFILLLED . Such a scene was what the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 23:1-11

Policy. The characteristic quality of an Israelite indeed, as our Lord has taught us, is to be without guile. All kinds of trickery, deceit, false pretences, disguises, dissimulation, as well as downright falsehood, are entirely alien from the true Christian spirit. The man of God walks habitually in an atmosphere of transparent truth. He has nothing to conceal, nothing to simulate. He has to do with the God of truth, who searches all hearts, and from whom no secrets are hid. His one great... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 23:3

And for for, A.V. ; according to for after, A.V. God shall smite thee ( τύπτειν σε μέλλει ). A distinct announcement of something that would happen. (For the incident itself, comp. I Kings Acts 22:24 , Acts 22:25 ; Jeremiah 28:15 , Jeremiah 28:17 ; and Acts 12:1 , Acts 12:2 , Acts 12:23 ) Ananias perished by the daggers of the Sicarii (Josephus, 'Bell. Jud,' 2. 17.9), at the beginning of the Jewish war under the procuratorship of Florus, in the year A.D. 66. He... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 23:3

The human judge in the presence of the Divine. "Sittest thou to judge me," etc.?. I. The law of man rests on the Law of God. 1. In its aims. 2. In its execution. II. The blessing of a faithfully kept and righteously administered system of justice, which, notwithstanding all human infirmities, can be maintained. III. The bar of human law both a prediction and an evidence of the future judgment. Yet the imperfections of earthly justice remind us that God shall make up all... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Acts 23:1-5

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Acts 23:1-10

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 23:3

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 23:3

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 23:3

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 23:1-5

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 23:1-10

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 23:1-11

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 23:3

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 23:3

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