Acts 26:10

And this I also did in Jerusalem: and I both shut up many of the saints in prison, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them.

Many of the saints ... Although Paul had avoided calling the Christians "saints" when he spoke in Jerusalem, here before an unbiased audience he did so, "in order to bear witness for Christ and his church."[17]

They were put to death ... indicates that many more Christians lost their lives through Saul's activities than would be supposed from the mention of Stephen only in the New Testament.

I gave my vote against them ... There is no way that this can mean merely that "I approved." "The Greek here means, `I cast down my pebble,' ... They literally cast their pebbles into the urn, white for acquittal, black for condemnation."[18] Despite the fact of Barnes and others denying that Paul was a member of the Sanhedrin,[19] strong agreement is felt here with Boles, Hervey and Dummelow who declared that this clause is equivalent to: "I was one of those who in the Sanhedrin voted for their death."[20] From the fact of Paul's being in all probability a member of the Sanhedrin (Howson concluded that he was also a married man.[21] The silence of the New Testament on that proves nothing, for Paul's "suffering the loss of all things for Christ" (Philippians 3:8) might well have included his being forsaken by his wife.

[17] Lange, as quoted by John Wesley, op. cit., in loco.

[18] H. Leo Boles, Commentary on the Acts (Nashville: The Gospel Advocate Company, 1953), p. 402.

[19] Albert Barnes, op. cit., p. 350.

[20] A. C. Hervey, op. cit., p. 265.

[21] J. S. Howson, op. cit., p. 64.