And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy. Who met together, formed this resolution, entered into this scheme, and bound themselves with this oath; the word rendered "conspiracy", signifies an agreement by oath; such a number of them banded together, that they might have strength sufficient to take Paul out of the hands of the soldiers, as he was conducted by them from the castle to the temple. read more
And they came to the chief priests, and elders ,.... Who were members of the sanhedrim, to acquaint them with their designs: and said, we have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul : these chief priests and elders, had they acted according to the character they bore, on such an information, would have taken up those men, and punished them, at least would have dissuaded them from so vile an action; but they knew the men to whom they... read more
Now therefore ye with the council ,.... The whole sanhedrim; their sense is, that they would have the sanhedrim convened by the chief priests and elders, and being met together, then to signify to the chief captain ; or let him know that they were assembled together, upon the affair of Paul, and that they here desirous he might be brought before them: that he bring him down unto you tomorrow ; from the castle of Antonia to the place where the sanhedrim met; the word "tomorrow" is not... read more
And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait ,.... Paul might have a sister living in Jerusalem; or this her son might be there on account of his studies; he might be a pupil to one of the doctors, by which means he might come at this secret, that such a number of men were in ambush, in order to take away his uncle's life: wherefore having got intelligence of it, he went and entered into the castle ; the Alexandrian copy reads, "the synagogue"; but Paul was not there, but in... read more
Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him ,.... For under this chief captain there must have been ten of them, if the company of which he was captain consisted of a thousand men, as his title chief captain or chiliarch imports; for a centurion was over an hundred men, as his title signifies; perhaps this might be the same, as in Acts 22:25 and said, bring this young man to the chief captain : which was a very prudential step, not to let the centurion into the secret, but to... read more
So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain ,.... Immediately, without any more to do, without curiously inquiring into the thing, or examining the young man about it; which showed him to be a man of a good disposition, and ready to do a kind office, even to a prisoner: and said, Paul the prisoner called me to him ; either vocally or by some gesture, beckoned him to him: and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee ; in which may be... read more
Then the chief captain took him by the hand ,.... Some have thought that the reason of this was, that he expected that the young man had brought him a present in his hand, from Paul; but this is to represent him as a sordid mercenary man, which ought not to be said, without sufficient proof; rather this should be considered as an instance of civility and humanity, and what showed him to be a man of breeding and good manners; and might be done partly out of respect to Paul, and partly to... read more
And he said, the Jews have agreed to desire thee ,.... By the Jews are meant, the Jewish sanhedrim, for the young man had not only intelligence of the conspiracy, and lying in wait of the forty men or more; but also of the agreement which the sanhedrim at the motion of these men were come into, to make the following request to the chief captain; which seems to confirm the above conjecture, that this young man might be a student under the president of the council, or one of the doctors,... read more
But do not thou yield unto them ,.... Or be persuaded by them, to bring Paul down from the castle to the sanhedrim; this must not be imputed to the young man's pride and vanity, in taking upon him to give advice to the chief captain; but to his great affection for his uncle, which moved him to entreat, rather than to direct him, for which he gives a good reason: for there lie in wait for him more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor... read more
Obtenha o versículo bíblico diário todos os dias na sua caixa de entrada!
Leia no celular
John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 23:12
And when it was day ,.... As soon as it was light, very early in the morning: certain of the Jews banded together ; these very likely were of the sect of the Sadducees, who had been exceedingly irritated and provoked by what Paul had said the day before in the council; these therefore gathered together, entered into a conspiracy to take away Paul's life, and trailed in it, as one man: and bound themselves under a curse ; or "anathematized themselves"; the Hebrew word חרם , which... read more