As he made his way to Jerusalem, carrying gifts from the Gentile churches, Paul was warned of the danger up ahead. After having been in Jerusalem for a week, Paul was seized in the temple and falsely accused of defiling it by bringing a Gentile into the holy place. He was rescued by the Roman soldiers, who eventually allowed him to address the crowd. They listened as he shared how he came to meet Jesus on the road to Damascus. But when he got to the point where Jesus sent him to preach to the Gentiles, the crowd went berserk and the soldiers had to pull Paul into the Castle of Antonia for safety. It’s now the next day, and the Roman captain wants to know from the Jewish leaders what charges they have against Paul. Paul is now given an opportunity to address the Sanhedrin.

earnestly beholding – atenizo – to fix the eyes on, gaze upon

council – Sanhedrin

conscience – suneidesis – the consciousness of anything; the conscience

This is not the same as the "Annas" who was one of the high priests during the trial of Jesus. This man is the son of Nebedaeus, and was high priests from AD 48 to AD 59. In AD 52 (about five years earlier to Acts 23) he was called to Rome to answer charges of cruelty by the Samaritans, though he was later acquitted. He was known as a brutal man who cared more for Rome’s favor than for Israel’s welfare.

In AD 66, when the war will begin to break out between the Jews and Rome, Ananias gets worried because of how close he had been to Rome. He hides, but Jewish guerillas find him hiding in an aqueduct in Herod’s palace and put him to death.

whited – koniao – to cover with lime, plaster over, whitewash. The term came to be applied to a hypocrite, one who covers up their character with an outward appearance of goodness, but inside they’re rotten.

Some might say that Paul isn’t doing anything wrong here. But Paul thought he did, he’s going to apologize.

revilest – loidoreo – to reproach, rail at, revile, heap abuse upon

wist not – knew not

Some have suggested that Paul was being sarcastic here, but the Greek seems to indicate that Paul simply didn’t know that it was the high priest. Either the man wasn’t wearing any distinguishing robes, or Paul’s bad eyesight was to blame.

Either way, Paul admits that he made a mistake according to the Law:

As Paul is looking at the council, he remembers that it was made up of two major groups of Jews at that time.

Sadducees – A sect of the Jews that were more liberal in what they believed. They believed that only the first five books of the Bible were inspired. They did not believe in the supernatural. They did not believe in a resurrection from the dead. They did not believe in angels.

Pharisees – This was the strict, orthodox sect of Judaism. They worked hard at making sure they obeyed all the Law of God. They did believe in the supernatural, in angels, and in a resurrection from the dead. Though most Pharisees did not believe in Jesus, some Pharisees had come to believe in Jesus (Acts 15:5). We do not know if any believers were in the Sanhedrin at this time.

Paul exercises wisdom by taking what he knows about the Sanhedrin and exploiting its weakness through the divisions between the Sadducees and the Pharisees.

This is what Gamaliel had said twenty years earlier:

chief captain – Claudius Lysias

fearing – eulabeomai – to act cautiously; to beware, fear. Claudius has already seen what these people can do when they get mad …

We could translate this phrase, "they cursed themselves into a conspiracy"

great curse – anathema – a thing devoted to God without hope of being redeemed

bound ourselves – anathematizo – "we have cursed ourselves with a curse"

Keep in mind, these aren’t simple murderers. These guys think they’re doing God a great service.

Paul could have replied to his nephew, "Now I wouldn’t worry about that! Jesus promised me just last night that I would be going to Rome."

I get the idea that Paul’s nephew was a young kid, and Claudius Lysias was a nice guy.

Paul is escorted from Jerusalem at 9:00 at night to make a journey through the treacherous hills of Judea with 470 Roman soldiers to protect him.

Felix – no, he wasn’t a cat. He’s the Roman governor over the land of Judea. As we’ll find out next week, he’s a cruel, slimy snake of a man.

Claudius Lysias is bending the truth a little. He didn’t learn Paul was a Roman until after he had rescued him. He also conveniently forgets to mention that he had bound Paul and had ordered him scourged.

Antipatris - It was a Roman military outpost, about 30 miles from Jerusalem, halfway from Jerusalem to Caesarea.

We never hear what happened to the forty men who had taken the oath to kill Paul. Did they starve themselves to death?

of what province he was – Roman law required that this question be asked at the opening of a hearing, to make sure that the governor has jurisdiction over the matter. He does.

I will hear thee – diakouomai – to hear one through, hear to the end. Felix will hear the case when the prosecution shows up five days later with their high powered lawyers.

judgment hall – praitorion – One of Herod’s palaces.