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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>A C T S.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The close of the foregoing chapter left Paul in the high priest's
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court, into which the chief captain (whether to his advantage or no I
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know not) had removed his cause from the mob; and, if his enemies act
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there against him with less noise, yet it is with more subtlety. Now
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here we have,
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I. Paul's protestation of his own integrity, and of a civil respect to
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the high priest, however he had upon a sudden spoken warmly to him, and
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justly,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. Paul's prudent contrivance to get himself clear of them, by setting
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the Pharisees and Sadducees at variance one with another,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:6-9">ver. 6-9</A>.
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III. The governor's seasonable interposal to rescue him out of their
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hands likewise,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:10">ver. 10</A>.
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IV. Christ's more comfortable appearing to him, to animate him against
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those difficulties that lay before him, and to tell him what he must
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expect,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:11">ver. 11</A>.
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V. A bloody conspiracy of some desperate Jews to kill Paul, and their
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drawing in the chief priests and the elders to be aiders and abettors
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with them in it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:12-15">ver. 12-15</A>.
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VI. The discovery of this conspiracy to Paul, and by him to the chief
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captain, who perceived so much of their inveterate malice against Paul
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that he had reason enough to believe the truth of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:16-22">ver. 16-22</A>.
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VII. The chief captain's care of Paul's safety, by which he prevented
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the execution of the design; he sent him away immediately under a
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strong guard from Jerusalem to Cæsarea, which was now the
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residence of Felix, the Roman governor, and there he safely arrived,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:23-35">ver. 23-35</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ac23_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac23_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac23_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac23_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac23_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Paul's Second Defence.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men <I>and</I>
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brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until
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this day.
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2 And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him
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to smite him on the mouth.
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3 Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, <I>thou</I> whited
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wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest
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me to be smitten contrary to the law?
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4 And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God's high priest?
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5 Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high
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priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler
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of thy people.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Perhaps when Paul was brought, as he often was (<I>corpus cum
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causa--the person and the cause together</I>), before heathen
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magistrates and councils, where he and his cause were slighted, because
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not at all understood, he thought, if he were brought before the
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sanhedrim at Jerusalem, he should be able to deal with them to some
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good purpose, and yet we do not find that he works at all upon them.
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Here we have,</P>
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<P>
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I. Paul's protestation of his own integrity. Whether the chief priest
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put any question to him, or the chief captain made any representation
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of his case to the court, we are not told; but Paul appeared here,</P>
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<P>
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1. With a good courage. He was not at all put out of countenance upon
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his being brought before such an august assembly, for which in his
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youth he had conceived such a veneration; nor did he fear their calling
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him to an account about the letters they gave him to Damascus, to
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persecute the Christians there, though (for aught we know) this was the
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first time he had ever seem them since; but <I>he earnestly beheld the
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council.</I> When Stephen was brought before them, they thought to have
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faced him down, but could not, such was his holy confidence; they
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<I>looked stedfastly on him, and his face was as that of an angel,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:15"><I>ch.</I> vi. 15</A>.
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Now that Paul was brought before them he thought to have faced them
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down, but could not, such was their wicked impudence. However, now was
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fulfilled in him what God promised to Ezekiel
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+3:8,9"><I>ch.</I> iii. 8, 9</A>):
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<I>I have made thy face strong against their faces; fear them not,
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neither be dismayed at their looks.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. With a good conscience, and that gave him a good courage.</P>
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<CENTER>
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<TABLE BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD>----Hic murus aheneus esto,
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<BR>Nil conscire sibi----
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<BR>
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<BR>Be this thy brazen bulwark of defence,
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<BR>Still to preserve thy conscious innocence.</TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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He said, "<I>Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience
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before God unto this day.</I> However I may be reproached, my heart
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does not reproach me, but witnesses for me."
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(1.) He had always been a man inclined to religion; he never was a man
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that lived at large, but always put a difference between moral good and
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evil; even in his unregenerate state, he was, <I>as touching the
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righteousness that was in the law, blameless.</I> He was no unthinking
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man, who never considered what he did, no designing man, who cared not
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what he did, so he could but compass his own ends.
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(2.) Even when he persecuted the church of God, he thought he ought to
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do it, and that he did God service in it. Though his conscience was
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misinformed, yet he acted according to the dictates of it. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+26:9"><I>ch.</I> xxvi. 9</A>.
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(3.) He seems rather to speak of the time since his conversion, since
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he left the service of the high priest, and fell under their
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displeasure for so doing; he does not say, From my beginning until this
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day; but, "All the time in which you have looked upon me as a deserter,
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an apostate, and an enemy to your church, even <I>to this day,</I> I
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have <I>lived in all good conscience before God;</I> whatever you may
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think of me, I have in every thing approved myself to God, and lived
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honestly,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:18">Heb. xiii. 18</A>.
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He had aimed at nothing but to please God and do his duty, in those
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things for which they were so incensed against him; in all he had done
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towards the setting up of the kingdom of Christ, and the setting of it
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up among the Gentiles, he had acted conscientiously. See here the
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character of an honest man.
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[1.] He sets God before him, and lives as in his sight, and under his
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eyes, and with an eye to him. <I>Walk before me, and be thou
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upright.</I>
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[2.] He makes conscience of what he says and does, and, though he may
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be under some mistakes, yet, according to the best of his knowledge, he
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abstains from that which is evil and cleaves to that which is good.
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[3.] He is universally conscientious; and those that are not so are not
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at all truly conscientious; is so in <I>all manner of conversation:</I>
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"I have lived in all good conscience; have had my whole conversation
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under the direction and dominion of conscience."
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[4.] He continues so, and perseveres in it: "I have lived so <I>until
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this day.</I>" Whatever changes pass over him, he is still the same,
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strictly conscientious. And those who thus live in all good conscience
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before God may, like Paul here, <I>lift up their face without spot;</I>
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and, if their hearts condemn them not, may have confidence both towards
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God and man, as Job had when he <I>still held fast his integrity,</I>
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and Paul himself, whose rejoicing was this, the testimony of his
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conscience.</P>
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<P>
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II. The outrage of which Ananias the high priest was guilty: he
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<I>commanded those that stood by,</I> the beadles that attended the
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court, <I>to smite him on the mouth</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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to give him a dash on the teeth, either with a hand or with a rod. Our
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Lord Jesus was thus despitefully used in this court, by one of the
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servants
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+18:22">John xviii. 22</A>),
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as was foretold,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+5:1">Mic. v. 1</A>,
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<I>They shall smite the Judge of Israel upon the cheek.</I> But here
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was an order of court for the doing of it, and, it is likely, it was
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done.
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1. The high priest was highly offended at Paul; some think, because he
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looked so boldly and earnestly at the council, as if he would face them
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down; others because he did not address himself particularly to him as
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president, with some title of honour and respect, but spoke freely and
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familiarly to them all, as men and brethren. His protestation of his
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integrity was provocation enough to one who was resolved to run him
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down and make him odious. When he could charge him with no crime, he
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thought it was crime enough that he asserted his own innocency.
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2. In his rage he ordered him to be smitten, so to put disgrace upon
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him, and to be smitten on the mouth, as having offended with his lips,
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and in token of his enjoining him silence. This brutish and barbarous
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method he had recourse to when he <I>could not answer the wisdom and
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spirit wherewith he spoke.</I> Thus Zedekiah smote Micaiah
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+22:24">1 Kings xxii. 24</A>),
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and Pashur smote Jeremiah
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+20:2">Jer. xx. 2</A>),
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when they spoke in the name of the Lord. If therefore we see such
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indignities done to good men, nay, if they be done to us for well doing
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and well saying, we must not think it strange; Christ will give those
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the <I>kisses of his mouth</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+1:2">Cant. i. 2</A>)
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who for his sake receive blows on the mouth. And though it may be
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expected that, as Solomon says, <I>every man should kiss his lips that
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giveth a right answer</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+24:26">Prov. xxiv. 26</A>),
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yet we often see the contrary.</P>
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<P>
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III. The denunciation of the wrath of God against the high priest for
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this <I>wickedness in the place of judgment</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:16">Eccl. iii. 16</A>):
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it agrees with what follows there,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>,
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with which Solomon comforted himself (<I>I said in my heart, God shall
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judge the righteous and the wicked): God shall smite thee, thou whited
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wall,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Paul did not speak this in any sinful heat or passion, but in a holy
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zeal against the high priest's abuse of his power, and with something
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of a prophetic spirit, not at all with a spirit of revenge.
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1. He gives him his due character: <I>Thou whited wall;</I> that is,
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thou hypocrite--a mud-wall, trash and dirt and rubbish underneath, but
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plastered over, or white-washed. It is the same comparison in effect
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with that of Christ, when he compares the Pharisees to whited
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sepulchres,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+23:7">Matt. xxiii. 27</A>.
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Those that daubed with untempered mortar failed not to daub themselves
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over with something that made them look not only clean, but gay.
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2. He reads him his just doom: "<I>God shall smite thee,</I> shall
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bring upon thee his sore judgments, especially spiritual judgments."
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Grotius thinks this was fulfilled soon after, in his removal from the
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office of the high priest, either by death or deprivation, for he finds
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another in that office a little while after this; probably he was
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smitten by some sudden stroke of divine vengeance. Jeroboam's hand was
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withered when it was stretched out against a prophet.
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3. He assigns a good reason for that doom: "For <I>sittest thou</I>
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there as president in the supreme judicature of the church, pretending
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<I>to judge me after the law,</I> to convict and condemn me by the law,
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and yet <I>commandest me to be smitten</I> before any crime is proved
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upon me, which is <I>contrary to the law?</I>" No man must be beaten
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unless he be <I>worthy to be beaten,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+25:2">Deut. xxv. 2</A>.
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It is against all law, human and divine, natural and positive, to
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hinder a man from making his defense, and to condemn him unheard. When
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Paul was beaten by the rabble, he could say, <I>Father, forgive them,
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they know not what they do;</I> but it is inexcusable in a high priest
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that is appointed to judge according to the law.</P>
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<P>
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IV. The offence which was taken at this bold word of Paul's
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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<I>Those that stood by said, Revilest thou God's high priest?</I> It is
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a probable conjecture that those who blamed Paul for what he said were
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believing Jews, who were zealous for the law, and consequently for the
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honour of the high priest, and therefore took it ill that Paul should
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thus reflect upon him, and checked him for it. See here then,
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1. What a hard game Paul had to play, when his enemies were abusive to
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him, and his friends were so far from standing by him, and appearing
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for him, that they were ready to find fault with his management.
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2. How apt even the disciples of Christ themselves are to overvalue
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outward pomp and power. As because the temple had been God's temple,
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and a magnificent structure, there were those who followed Christ that
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could not bear to have any thing said that threatened the destruction
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of it; so because the high priest had been God's high priest, and was a
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man that made a figure, though he was an inveterate enemy to
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Christianity, yet these were disgusted at Paul for giving him his
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due.</P>
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<P>
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V. The excuse that Paul made for what he had said, because he found it
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was a stumbling-block to his weak brethren, and might prejudice them
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against him in other things. These Jewish Christians, though weak, yet
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were brethren, so he calls them here, and, in consideration of that, is
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almost ready to recall his words; for <I>who is offended,</I> saith he,
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<I>and I burn not?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+11:29">2 Cor. xi. 29</A>.
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His fixed resolution was rather to abridge himself in the use of his
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Christian liberty than give offence to a weak brother; rather than do
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this, he will <I>eat no flesh while the world stands,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+8:13">1 Cor. viii. 13</A>.
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And so here though he had taken the liberty to tell the high priest his
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own, yet, when he found it gave offence, he cried <I>Peccavi--I have
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done wrong.</I> He wished he had not done it; and though he did not beg
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the high priest's pardon, nor excuse it to him, yet he begs their
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pardon who took offence at it, because this was not a time to inform
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them better, nor to say what he could say to justify himself.
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1. He excuses it with this, that he did not consider when he said it to
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whom he spoke
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest</I>--<B><I>ouk
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edein.</I></B> "I did not just then think of the dignity of his place,
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or else I would have spoken more respectfully to him." I see not how we
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can with any probability think that Paul did not know him to be the
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high priest, for Paul had been seven days in the temple at the time of
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the feast, where he could not miss of seeing the high priest; and his
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telling him that <I>he sat to judge him after the law</I> shows that he
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knew who he was; but, says he, I did not consider it. Dr. Whitby puts
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this sense upon it, that the prophetic impulse that was upon him, and
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inwardly moved him to say what he did, did not permit him to notice
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that it was the high priest, lest this law might have restrained him
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from complying with that impulse; but the Jews acknowledged that
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|
prophets might use a liberty in speaking of rulers which others might
|
|
not, as
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:10,23">Isa. i. 10, 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or (as he quotes the sense of Grotius and Lightfoot) Paul does not go
|
|
about to excuse what he had said in the least, but rather to justify
|
|
it; "I own that God's high priest is not to be reviled, but I do not
|
|
own this Ananias to be high priest. He is a usurper; he came to the
|
|
office by bribery and corruption, and the Jewish rabbin say that he who
|
|
does so is neither a judge nor to be honoured as such." Yet,
|
|
|
|
2. He takes care that what he had said should not be drawn into a
|
|
precedent, to the weakening of the obligation of that law in the least:
|
|
<I>For it is written,</I> and it remains a law in full force, <I>Thou
|
|
shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.</I> It is for the
|
|
public good that the honour of magistracy should be supported, and not
|
|
suffer for the miscarriages of those who are entrusted with it, and
|
|
therefore that decorum be observed in speaking both of and to princes
|
|
and judges. Even in Job's time it was not thought fit to <I>say to a
|
|
king, Thou art wicked, or to princes, You are ungodly,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+34:18">Job xxxiv. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
Even when we do well, and suffer for it, we must <I>take it
|
|
patiently,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+2:20">1 Pet. ii. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Not as if great men may not hear of their faults, and public grievances
|
|
be complained of by proper persons and in a decent manner, but there
|
|
must be a particular tenderness for the honour and reputation of those
|
|
in authority more than of other people, because the law of God requires
|
|
a particular reverence to be paid to them, as God's vicegerents; and it
|
|
is of dangerous consequence to have those any way countenanced who
|
|
<I>despise dominions,</I> and <I>speak evil of dignities,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:8">Jude 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Curse not the king, no not in thy thought,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+10:20">Eccl. x. 20</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ac23_6"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac23_7"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac23_8"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac23_9"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac23_10"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac23_11"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Paul's Second Defence.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>6 But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and
|
|
the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men <I>and</I>
|
|
brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and
|
|
resurrection of the dead I am called in question.
|
|
7 And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the
|
|
Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided.
|
|
8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither
|
|
angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.
|
|
9 And there arose a great cry: and the scribes <I>that were</I> of
|
|
the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in
|
|
this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us
|
|
not fight against God.
|
|
10 And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain,
|
|
fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them,
|
|
commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from
|
|
among them, and to bring <I>him</I> into the castle.
|
|
11 And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be
|
|
of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in
|
|
Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Many are the troubles of the righteous, but</I> some way or other
|
|
<I>the Lord delivereth them out of them all.</I> Paul owned he had
|
|
experienced the truth of this in the persecutions he had undergone
|
|
among the Gentiles (see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ti+3:11">2 Tim. iii. 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Out of them all the Lord delivered me.</I> And now he finds that he
|
|
who has delivered does and will deliver. He that delivered him in the
|
|
foregoing chapter from the tumult of the people here delivers him from
|
|
that of the elders.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. His own prudence and ingenuity stand him in some stead, and
|
|
contribute much to his escape. Paul's greatest honour, and that upon
|
|
which he most valued himself, was that he was a Christian, and an
|
|
apostle of Christ; and all his other honours he despised and made
|
|
nothing of, in comparison with this, <I>counting them but dung, that he
|
|
might win Christ;</I> and yet he had sometimes occasion to make use of
|
|
his other honours, and they did him service. His being a citizen of
|
|
Rome saved him in the foregoing chapter from his being scourged by the
|
|
chief captain as a vagabond, and here his being a Pharisee saved him
|
|
from being condemned by the sanhedrim, as an apostate from the faith
|
|
and worship of the God of Israel. It will consist very well with our
|
|
willingness to suffer for Christ to use all lawful methods, nay, and
|
|
arts too, both to prevent suffering and to extricate ourselves out of
|
|
it. The honest policy Paul used here for his own preservation was to
|
|
divide his judges, and to set them at variance one with another about
|
|
him; and, by incensing one part of them more against him, to engage the
|
|
contrary part for him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The great council was made up of Sadducees and Pharisees, and Paul
|
|
perceived it. He knew the characters of many of them ever since he
|
|
lived among them, and saw those among them whom he knew to be
|
|
Sadducees, and others whom he knew to be Pharisees
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>One part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees,</I> and perhaps
|
|
nearly an equal part. Now these differed very much from one another,
|
|
and yet they ordinarily agreed well enough to do the business of the
|
|
council together.
|
|
|
|
(1.) The Pharisees were bigots, zealous for the ceremonies, not only
|
|
those which God had appointed, but those which were enjoined by the
|
|
tradition of the elders. They were great sticklers for the authority of
|
|
the church, and for enforcing obedience to its injunctions, which
|
|
occasioned many quarrels between them and our Lord Jesus; but at the
|
|
same time they were very orthodox in the faith of the Jewish church
|
|
concerning the world of spirits, the resurrection of the dead, and the
|
|
life of the world to come.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The Sadducees were deists--no friends to the scripture, or divine
|
|
revelation. The books of Moses they admitted as containing a good
|
|
history and a good law, but had little regard to the other books of the
|
|
Old Testament; see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+22:23">Matt. xxii. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
The account here given of these Sadducees is,
|
|
|
|
[1.] That they <I>deny the resurrection;</I> not only the return of the
|
|
body to life, but a future state of rewards and punishments. They had
|
|
neither hope of eternal happiness nor dread of eternal misery, nor
|
|
expectation of any thing on the other side death; and it was upon these
|
|
principles that they said, <I>It is in vain to serve God,</I> and
|
|
called the proud happy,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+3:14,15">Mal. iii. 14, 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That they denied the existence of angels and spirits, and allowed
|
|
of no being but matter. They thought that God himself was corporeal,
|
|
and had parts and members as we have. When they read of angels in the
|
|
Old Testament, they supposed them to be messengers that God made and
|
|
sent on his errands as there was occasion, or that they were
|
|
impressions on the fancies of those they were sent to, and no real
|
|
existences--that they were this, or that, or any thing rather than what
|
|
they were. And, as for the souls of men, they looked upon them to be
|
|
nothing else but the temperament of the humours of the body, or the
|
|
animal spirits, but denied their existence in a state of separation
|
|
from the body, and any difference between the soul of a man and of a
|
|
beast. These, no doubt, pretended to be free-thinkers, but really
|
|
thought as meanly, absurdly, and slavishly, as possible. It is strange
|
|
how men of such corrupt and wicked principles could come into office,
|
|
and have a place in the great sanhedrim; but many of them were of
|
|
quality and estate, and they complied with the public establishment,
|
|
and so got in and kept in. But they were generally stigmatized as
|
|
heretics, were ranked with the Epicureans, and were prayed against and
|
|
excluded from eternal life. The prayer which the modern Jews use
|
|
against Christians, Witsius thinks, was designed by Gamaliel, who made
|
|
it, against the Sadducees; and that they meant them in their usual
|
|
imprecation, <I>Let the name of the wicked rot.</I> But how degenerate
|
|
was the character and how miserable the state of the Jewish church,
|
|
when such profane men as these were among their rulers!</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. In this matter of difference between the Pharisees and Sadducees
|
|
Paul openly declared himself to be on the Pharisees' side against the
|
|
Sadducees
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
|
|
|
|
He <I>cried out,</I> so as to be heard by all, "<I>I am a Pharisee,</I>
|
|
was bred a Pharisee, nay, I was born one, in effect, for I was the
|
|
<I>son of a Pharisee,</I> my father was one before me, and thus far I
|
|
am still a Pharisee that I <I>hope for the resurrection of the
|
|
dead,</I> and I may truly say that, if the matter were rightly
|
|
understood, it would be found that this is it for which I am now
|
|
<I>called in question.</I>" When Christ was upon earth the Pharisees
|
|
set themselves most against him, because he witnessed against their
|
|
traditions and corrupt glosses upon the law; but, after his ascension,
|
|
the Sadducees set themselves most against his apostles, because they
|
|
<I>preached through Jesus the resurrection of the dead,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+4:1,2"><I>ch.</I> iv. 1, 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
And it is said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+5:17"><I>ch.</I> v. 17</A>)
|
|
|
|
that they were <I>the sect of the Sadducees</I> that were <I>filled
|
|
with indignation</I> at them, because they preached that life and
|
|
immortality which is <I>brought to light by the gospel.</I> Now here,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Paul owns himself a Pharisee, so far as the Pharisees were in the
|
|
right. Though as Pharisaism was opposed to Christianity he set himself
|
|
against it, and against all its traditions that were set up in
|
|
competition with the law of God or in contradiction to the gospel of
|
|
Christ, yet, as it was opposed to Sadducism, he adhered to it. We must
|
|
never think the worse of any truth of God, nor be more shy of owning
|
|
it, for its being held by men otherwise corrupt. If the Pharisees will
|
|
hope for the resurrection of the dead, Paul will go along with them in
|
|
that hope, and be one of them, whether they will or no.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He might truly say that being persecuted, as a Christian, this was
|
|
the thing he was called in question for. Perhaps he knew that the
|
|
Sadducees, though they had not such an interest in the common people as
|
|
the Pharisees had, yet had underhand incensed the mob against him,
|
|
under pretence of his having preached to the Gentiles, but really
|
|
because he had preached the hope of the resurrection. However, being
|
|
called in question for his being a Christian, he might truly say he was
|
|
called in question for the hope of the resurrection of the dead, as he
|
|
afterwards pleaded,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:15,26:6,7"><I>ch.</I> xxiv. 15,
|
|
and <I>ch.</I> xxvi. 6, 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though Paul preached against the traditions of the elders (as his
|
|
Master had done), and therein opposed the Pharisees, yet he valued
|
|
himself more upon his preaching the resurrection of the dead, and a
|
|
future state, in which he concurred with the Pharisees.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. This occasioned a division in the council. It is probable that the
|
|
high priest sided with the Sadducees (as he had done
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+5:17"><I>ch.</I> v. 17</A>,
|
|
|
|
and made it to appear by his rage at Paul,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
which alarmed the Pharisees so much the more; but so it was, there
|
|
arose a <I>dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
for this word of Paul's made the Sadducees more warm and the Pharisees
|
|
more cool in the prosecution of him; so that <I>the multitude was
|
|
divided;</I> <B><I>eschisthe</I></B>--<I>there was a schism,</I> a
|
|
quarrel among them, and the edge of their zeal began to turn from Paul
|
|
against one another; nor could they go on to act against him when they
|
|
could not agree among themselves, or prosecute him for breaking the
|
|
unity of the church when there was so little among them of the unity of
|
|
the spirit. All the cry had been against Paul, but now there arose a
|
|
great cry against one another,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
So much did a fierce furious spirit prevail among all orders of the
|
|
Jews at this time that every thing was done with clamour and noise; and
|
|
in such a tumultuous manner were the great principles of their religion
|
|
stickled for, by which they received little service, for <I>the wrath
|
|
of man worketh not the righteousness of God.</I> Gainsayers may be
|
|
convinced by fair reasoning, but never by a great cry.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. The Pharisees hereupon (would one think it?) took Paul's part
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They strove,</I> <B><I>diemachonto</I></B>--<I>They fought, saying,
|
|
We find no evil in this man.</I> He had conducted himself decently and
|
|
reverently in the temple, and had attended the service of the church;
|
|
and, though it was but occasionally, yet it showed that he was not such
|
|
an enemy to it as he was said to be. He had spoken very handsomely in
|
|
his own defence, and given a good account of himself, and had now
|
|
declared himself orthodox in the great principles of religion, as well
|
|
as regular and conscientious in his conversation; and therefore they
|
|
cannot see that he has <I>done any thing worthy of death of bonds.</I>
|
|
Nay, they go further, "<I>If a spirit or an angel hath spoken to
|
|
him</I> concerning Jesus, and put him upon preaching as he does, though
|
|
we may not be so far satisfied as to give credit to him, yet we ought
|
|
to be cautioned not to oppose him, <I>lest we be found fighting against
|
|
God;</I>" as Gamaliel, who was himself a Pharisee, had argued,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+5:39"><I>ch.</I> v. 39</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now here,
|
|
|
|
(1.) We may observe, to the honour of the gospel, that it was witnessed
|
|
to even by its adversaries, and confessions, not only of its innocency,
|
|
but of its excellency, were extorted sometimes by the power of truth
|
|
even from those that persecuted it. Pilate found no fault in Christ
|
|
though he put him to death, nor Festus in Paul though he detained him
|
|
in bonds; and the Pharisees here supposed it possible that Paul might
|
|
have a commission sent him for heaven by an angel to do what he did;
|
|
and yet it should seem, as elders, they after this joined with the high
|
|
priest in prosecuting him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+24:1"><I>ch.</I> xxiv. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
They sinned against the knowledge which they not only had, but
|
|
sometimes owned, as Christ had said of them, <I>They have both seen and
|
|
hated both me and my Father,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+15:24">John xv. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
Yet,
|
|
|
|
(2.) We will hope that some of them at least did henceforward conceive
|
|
a better opinion of Paul than they had had, and were favourable to him,
|
|
having had such a satisfactory account both of his conversation in all
|
|
good conscience and of his faith touching another world; and then it
|
|
must be observed to their honour that their zeal for the traditions of
|
|
the elders, which Paul had departed from, was so far swallowed up in a
|
|
zeal for the great and fundamental doctrines of religion, to which Paul
|
|
still adhered, that if he will heartily join with them against the
|
|
Sadducees, and adhere to the hope of the resurrection of the dead, they
|
|
will not think his shaking off the ceremonial law to be an evil in him,
|
|
but charitably hope that he walks according to the light God has given
|
|
him by some angel or spirit, and are so far from persecuting him that
|
|
they are ready to patronize and protect him. The persecuting Pharisees
|
|
of the church of Rome are not of this spirit: for let a man be ever so
|
|
sincere and zealous for all the articles of the Christian faith, yet,
|
|
if he lay not his neck under the yoke of their church's authority, they
|
|
find evil enough in him to persecute him unto the death.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The chief captain's care and conduct stand him in more stead; for
|
|
when he has thrown this bone of contention between the Pharisees and
|
|
Sadducees (which set them together by the ears, and gained a fair
|
|
testimony from the Pharisees), yet he is never the nearer, but is in
|
|
danger of being pulled in pieces by them--the Pharisees pulling to have
|
|
him set at liberty, and the Sadducees pulling to have him put to death,
|
|
or thrown to the people, like Daniel into the den of lions; so that the
|
|
chief captain is forced to come with his soldiers and rescue him, as he
|
|
had done,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+21:32,22:24"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 32,
|
|
and <I>ch.</I> xxii. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. See here Paul's danger. Between his friends and his enemies he had
|
|
like to have been pulled to pieces, the one hugging him to death, the
|
|
other crushing him to death, such violences are those liable to that
|
|
are eminent, and that are become remarkable, as Paul was, who was by
|
|
some so much beloved and by others so much maligned.
|
|
|
|
2. His deliverance: <I>The chief captain ordered his soldiers to go
|
|
down</I> from the upper wards, and <I>to take them by force from among
|
|
them,</I> out of that apartment in <I>the temple</I> where he had
|
|
ordered the council to meet, and <I>to bring him into the castle,</I>
|
|
or tower of Antonio; for he saw he could make nothing of them towards
|
|
the understanding of the merits of his cause.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Divine consolations stood him in most stead of all. The chief
|
|
captain had rescued him out of the hands of cruel men, but still he had
|
|
him in custody, and what might be the issue he could not tell. The
|
|
castle was indeed a protection to him, but withal it was a confinement;
|
|
and, as it was now his preservation from so great a death, it might be
|
|
his reservation for a greater. We do not find that any of the apostles
|
|
or elders at Jerusalem came to him; either they had not courage or they
|
|
had not admission. Perhaps, in the night following, Paul was full of
|
|
thoughts and cares what should become of him, and how his present
|
|
troubles might be turned to answer some good purpose. Then did the Lord
|
|
Jesus make him a kind visit, and, thought at midnight, yet a very
|
|
seasonable one
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
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<I>The Lord stood by him,</I> came to his bed-side, though perhaps it
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was but a bed of straw, to show him that he was all the day long with
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him really as sure as he was in the night with him visibly. Note,
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Whoever is against us, we need not fear if the Lord stand by us; if he
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undertake our protection, we may set those that seek our ruin at
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defiance. <I>The Lord is with those that uphold my soul,</I> and then
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nothing can come amiss.
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1. Christ bids him have a good heart upon it: <I>"Be of good cheer,
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Paul;</I> be not discouraged; let not what has happened sadden thee,
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nor let what may yet be before thee frighten thee." Note, It is the
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will of Christ that his servants who are faithful should be always
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cheerful. Perhaps Paul, in the reflection, began to be jealous of
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himself whether he had done well in what he said to the council the day
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before; but Christ, by his word, satisfies him that God approved of his
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conduct. Or, perhaps, it troubled him that his friends did not come to
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him; but Christ's visit did itself speak, though he had not said, <I>Be
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of good cheer, Paul.</I>
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2. It is a strange argument which he makes use of to encourage him:
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<I>As thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness
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also at Rome.</I> One would think this was but cold comfort: "As thou
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hast undergone a great deal of trouble for me so thou must undergo a
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great deal more;" and yet this was designed to encourage him; for
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hereby he is given to understand,
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(1.) That he had been serving Christ as a witness for him in what he
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had hitherto endured. It was for no fault that he was buffeted, and it
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was not his former persecuting of the church that was now remembered
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against him, however he might remember it against himself, but he was
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still going on with his work.
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(2.) That he had not yet finished his testimony, nor was, by his
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imprisonment, laid aside as useless, but was only reserved for further
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service. Nothing disheartened Paul so much as the thought of being
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taken off from doing service to Christ and good to souls: <I>Fear
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not,</I> says Christ, <I>I have not done with thee,</I>
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(3.) Paul seems to have had a particular fancy, and an innocent one, to
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go to Rome, to preach the gospel there, though it was already preached,
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and a church planted there; yet, being a citizen of Rome, he longed for
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a journey thither, and had designed it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+19:21"><I>ch.</I> xix. 21</A>):
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<I>After I have been at Jerusalem, I must also see Rome.</I> And he had
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written to the Romans some time ago <I>that he longed to see them,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+1:11">Rom. i. 11</A>.
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Now he was ready to conclude that this had broken his measures, and he
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should never see Rome; but even in that Christ tells him he should be
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gratified, since he desired it for the honour of Christ and to do
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good.</P>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>A Conspiracy against Paul; Paul Sent to Felix.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>12 And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together,
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and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would
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neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
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13 And they were more than forty which had made this
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conspiracy.
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14 And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We
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have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat
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nothing until we have slain Paul.
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15 Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief
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captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye
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would enquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or
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ever he come near, are ready to kill him.
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16 And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait,
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he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul.
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17 Then Paul called one of the centurions unto <I>him,</I> and said,
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Bring this young man unto the chief captain: for he hath a
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certain thing to tell him.
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18 So he took him, and brought <I>him</I> to the chief captain, and
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said, Paul the prisoner called me unto <I>him,</I> and prayed me to
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bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto
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thee.
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19 Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and went <I>with
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him</I> aside privately, and asked <I>him,</I> What is that thou hast to
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tell me?
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20 And he said, The Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou
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wouldest bring down Paul to morrow into the council, as though
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they would enquire somewhat of him more perfectly.
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21 But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait for
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him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with
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an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have
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killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a promise from
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thee.
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22 So the chief captain <I>then</I> let the young man depart, and
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charged <I>him, See thou</I> tell no man that thou hast showed these
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things to me.
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23 And he called unto <I>him</I> two centurions, saying, Make ready
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two hundred soldiers to go to Cæsarea, and horsemen threescore
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and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the
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night;
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24 And provide <I>them</I> beasts, that they may set Paul on, and
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bring <I>him</I> safe unto Felix the governor.
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25 And he wrote a letter after this manner:
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26 Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix
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<I>sendeth</I> greeting.
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27 This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed
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of them: then came I with an army, and rescued him, having
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understood that he was a Roman.
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28 And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused
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him, I brought him forth into their council:
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29 Whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law,
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but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of
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bonds.
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30 And when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the
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man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave commandment to his
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accusers also to say before thee what <I>they had</I> against him.
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Farewell.
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31 Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and
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brought <I>him</I> by night to Antipatris.
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32 On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and
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returned to the castle:
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33 Who, when they came to Cæsarea, and delivered the epistle
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to the governor, presented Paul also before him.
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34 And when the governor had read <I>the letter,</I> he asked of
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what province he was. And when he understood that <I>he was</I> of
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Cilicia;
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35 I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also
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come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here the story of a plot against the life of Paul; how it was
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laid, how it was discovered, and how it was defeated.</P>
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<P>
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I. How this plot was laid. They found they could gain nothing by
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popular tumult, or legal process, and therefore have a recourse to the
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barbarous method of assassination; they will come upon him suddenly,
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and stab him, if they can but get him within their reach. So restless
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is their malice against this good man that, when one design fails, they
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will turn another stone. Now observe here,</P>
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<P>
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1. Who they were that formed this conspiracy. They were <I>certain
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Jews</I> that had the utmost degree of indignation against him because
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he was the apostle of the Gentiles,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
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<I>And they were more than forty</I> that were in the design,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
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<I>Lord, how are they increased that trouble me!</I></P>
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<P>
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2. When the conspiracy was formed: <I>When it was day. Satan had filled
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their hearts</I> in the night to purpose it, and, as soon as it was
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day, they got together to prosecute it; answering to the account which
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the prophet gives of some who <I>work evil upon their beds, and when
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the morning is light they practise it,</I> and are laid under a woe for
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it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+2:1">Mic. ii. 1</A>.
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In the night Christ appeared to Paul to protect him, and, when it was
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day, here were forty men appearing against him to destroy him; they
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were not up so soon but Christ was up before them <I>God shall help
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her, and that right early,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+46:5">Ps. xlvi. 5</A>.</P>
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<P>
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3. What the conspiracy was. These men <I>banded together</I> in a
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league, perhaps they called it a <I>holy</I> league; they engaged to
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stand by one another, and every one, to his power, to be aiding and
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assisting to murder Paul. It was strange that so many could so soon be
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got together, and that in Jerusalem too, who were so perfectly lost to
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all sense of humanity and honour as to engage in so bloody a design.
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Well might the prophet's complaint be renewed concerning Jerusalem
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:21">Isa. i. 21</A>):
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<I>Righteousness has lodged in it, but now murderers.</I> What a
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monstrous idea must these men have formed of Paul, before they could be
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capable of forming such a monstrous design against him; they must be
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made to believe that he was the worst of men, an enemy to God and
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religion, and the curse and plague of his generation; when really his
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character was the reverse of all this! What laws of truth and justice
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so sacred, so strong which malice and bigotry will not break
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through!</P>
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<P>
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4. How firm they made it, as they thought, that none of them might fly
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off, upon conscience of the horror of the fact, at second thoughts:
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<I>They bound themselves under an anathema,</I> imprecating the
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heaviest curses upon themselves, their souls, bodies, and families, if
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they did not kill Paul, and so quickly <I>that they would not eat nor
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drink till they had done it.</I> What a complication of wickedness is
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here! To design to kill an innocent man, a good man, a useful man, a
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man that had done them no harm, but was willing to do them all the good
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he could, was <I>going in the way of Cain,</I> and proved them to be of
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<I>their father the devil, who was a murderer from the beginning;</I>
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yet, as if this had been a small matter,
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(1.) They bound themselves to it. To incline to do evil, and intend to
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do it, is bad; but to engage to do it is much worse. This is entering
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into covenant with the devil; it is swearing allegiance to the prince
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of darkness; it is leaving no room for repentance; nay, it is bidding
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defiance to it.
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(2.) They bound one another to it, and did all they could, not only to
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secure the damnation of their own souls, but of theirs whom they drew
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into the association.
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(3.) They showed a great contempt of the providence of God, and a
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presumption upon it, in that they bound themselves to do such a thing
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within so short a time as they could continue fasting, without any
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proviso or reserve for the disposal of an overruling Providence. When
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we say, <I>To-morrow we will do this or that,</I> be it ever so lawful
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and good, forasmuch as <I>we know not what shall be on the morrow,</I>
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we must add, <I>If the Lord will.</I> But with what face could they
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insert a proviso for the permission of God's providence when they knew
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that what they were about was directly against the prohibitions of
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God's work?
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(4.) They showed a great contempt of their own souls and bodies; of
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their own souls in imprecating a curse upon them if they did not
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proceed in this desperate enterprise (what a woeful dilemma did they
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throw themselves upon! God certainly meets them with his curse if they
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do go on in it, and they desire he would if they do not!)--and of their
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own bodies too (for wilful sinners are the destroyers of both) in tying
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themselves out from the necessary supports of life till they had
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accomplished a thing which they could never lawfully do, and perhaps
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not possibly do. Such language of hell those speak that wish God to
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damn them, and the devil to take them, if they do not do so and so.
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<I>As they love cursing, so shall it come unto them.</I> Some think the
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meaning of this curse was, they would either kill Paul, as an Achan, an
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accursed thing, a troubler of the camp; or, if they did not do it, they
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would make themselves accursed before God in his stead.
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(5.) They showed a most eager desire to compass this matter, and an
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impatience till was done: not only like David's enemies, <I>that were
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mad against him,</I> and <I>sworn against him</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+102:8">Ps. cii. 8</A>),
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but like the servants of Job against his enemy: <I>O that we had of
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this flesh! we cannot be satisfied,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:31">Job xxxi. 31</A>.
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Persecutors are said to <I>eat up God's people as they eat bread;</I>
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it is as much a gratification to them as meat to one that is hungry,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:4">Ps. xiv. 4</A>.</P>
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<P>
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5. What method they took to bring it about. There is no getting near
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Paul in the castle. He is there under the particular protection of the
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government, and is imprisoned, not, as others are, lest he should do
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harm, but lest he should have harm done him; and therefore the
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contrivance is that the chief priests and elders must desire the
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governor of the castle to let Paul come to them to the council-chamber,
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to be further examined (they have some questions to ask him, or
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something to say to him), and the, in his passage from the castle to
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the council, they would put an end to all disputes about Paul by
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killing him; thus the plot was laid,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:14,15"><I>v.</I> 14, 15</A>.
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Having been all day employed in engaging one another to this
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wickedness, towards evening they come to the principal members of the
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great sanhedrim, and, though they might have concealed their mean
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design and yet might have moved them upon some other pretence to send
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for Paul, they are so confident of their approbation of this villainy,
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that they are not ashamed nor afraid to own to them <I>that they have
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bound themselves under a great curse,</I> without consulting the
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priests first whether they might lawfully do it, <I>that they will eat
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nothing</I> the next day <I>till they have killed Paul.</I> They design
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to breakfast the next morning upon his blood. They doubt not but the
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chief priests will not only countenance them in the design, but will
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lend them a helping hand, and be their tools to get them an opportunity
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of killing Paul; nay, and tell a lie for them too, pretending to <I>the
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chief captain that they would enquire something more perfectly
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concerning him,</I> when they meant no such thing. What a mean, what an
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ill opinion had they of their priests, when they could apply to them on
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such an errand as this! And yet, vile as the proposal was which was
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made to them (for aught that appears), the priests and elders consented
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to it, and at the first work, without boggling at it in the least,
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promised to gratify them. Instead of reproving them, as they ought,
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for their wicked conspiracy, they bolstered them up in it, because it
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was against Paul whom they hated; and thus they made themselves
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partakers of the crime as much as if they had been the first in the
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conspiracy.</P>
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<P>
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II. How the plot was discovered. We do not find that the plotters,
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though they took an oath of fidelity, took an oath of secrecy, either
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because they thought it did not need it (they would every one keep his
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own counsel) or because they thought they could accomplish it, though
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it should take wind and be known; but Providence so ordered it that it
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was brought to light, and so as effectually to be brought to nought.
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See here,</P>
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<P>
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1. How it was discovered to Paul,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
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There was a youth that was related to Paul, <I>his sister's son,</I>
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whose mother probably lived in Jerusalem; and some how or other, we are
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not told how, <I>he heard of their lying in wait,</I> either overheard
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them talking of it among themselves, or got intelligence from some that
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were in the ploy: and <I>he went into the castle,</I> probably, as he
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used to do, to attend on his uncle, and bring him what he wanted, which
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gave him a free access to him and <I>he told Paul</I> what he heard.
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Note, God has many ways of bringing <I>to light the hidden works of
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|
darkness;</I> though the contrivers of them <I>dig deep to hide them
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from the Lord,</I> he can made a <I>bird of the air to carry the
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voice</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+10:20">Eccl. x. 20</A>),
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or the conspirators' own tongues to betray them.</P>
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<P>
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2. How it was discovered to the chief captain by the young man that
|
|
told it to Paul. This part of the story is related very particularly,
|
|
perhaps because the penman was an eye-witness of the prudent and
|
|
successful management of this affair, and remembered it with a great
|
|
deal of pleasure.
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(1.) Paul had got a good interest in the officers that attended, by his
|
|
prudent peaceable deportment. He could call one of the centurions to
|
|
him, though a centurion was one in authority, that had soldiers under
|
|
him, and used to call, not to be called to, and he was ready to come at
|
|
his call
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>);
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and he desired that he would introduce this young man to the chief
|
|
captain, to give in an information of something that concerned the
|
|
honour of the government.
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(2.) The centurion very readily gratified him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
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He did not send a common soldier with him, but went himself to keep the
|
|
young man in countenance, to recommend his errand to the chief captain,
|
|
and to show his respect to Paul: "<I>Paul the prisoner</I> (this was
|
|
his title now) <I>called me to him, and prayed me to bring this young
|
|
man to thee;</I> what his business is I know not, but <I>he has
|
|
something to say to thee.</I>" Note, It is true charity to poor
|
|
prisoners to act for them as well as to give to them. "<I>I was sick
|
|
and in prison,</I> and you went on an errand for me," will pass as well
|
|
in the account as, "<I>I was sick and in prison, and you came unto
|
|
me,</I> to visit me, or sent me a token." Those that have acquaintance
|
|
and interest should be ready to use them for the assistance of those
|
|
that are in distress. This centurion helped to save Paul's life by this
|
|
piece of civility, which should engage us to be ready to do the like
|
|
when there is occasion. <I>Open thy mouth for the dumb,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+31:8">Prov. xxxi. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those that cannot give a good gift to God's prisoners may yet speak a
|
|
good word for them.
|
|
|
|
(3.) The chief captain received the information with a great deal of
|
|
condescension and tenderness,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
He <I>took the young man by the hand,</I> as a friend or father, to
|
|
encourage him, that he might not be put out of countenance, but might
|
|
be assured of a favourable audience. The notice that is taken of this
|
|
circumstance should encourage great men to take themselves easy of
|
|
access to the meanest, upon any errand which may give them an
|
|
opportunity of doing good--<I>to condescend to those of low estate.</I>
|
|
This familiarity to which this Roman tribune or colonel admitted Paul's
|
|
nephew is here upon record to his honour. Let no man think he
|
|
disparages himself by his humility or charity. He <I>went with him
|
|
aside privately,</I> that none might hear his business, <I>and asked
|
|
him, "What is it that thou hast to tell me?</I> Tell me wherein I can
|
|
be serviceable to Paul." It is probable that the chief captain was the
|
|
more obliging in this case because he was sensible he had run himself
|
|
into a premunire in binding Paul, against his privilege as a Roman
|
|
citizen, which he was willing now to atone for.
|
|
|
|
(4.) The young man delivered his errand to the chief captain very
|
|
readily and handsomely
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:20,21"><I>v.</I> 20, 21</A>).
|
|
|
|
"<I>The Jews</I>" (he does not say who, lest he should invidiously
|
|
reflect upon <I>the chief priests and the elders;</I> and his business
|
|
was to save his uncle's life, not to accuse his enemies) "<I>have
|
|
agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul to-morrow into
|
|
the council,</I> presuming that, being so short a distance, thou wilt
|
|
send him without a guard; <I>but do not thou yield unto them,</I> we
|
|
have reason to believe thou wilt not when thou knowest the truth;
|
|
<I>for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty me,</I> who
|
|
have sworn to be the death of him, <I>and now are they ready looking
|
|
for a promised from thee,</I> but I have happily got the start of
|
|
them."
|
|
|
|
(5.) The captain dismissed the young man with a charge of secrecy:
|
|
<I>See that thou tell no man that thou hast shown these things unto
|
|
me,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
The favours of great men are not always to be boasted of; and not fit
|
|
to be employed in business. If it should be known that the chief
|
|
captain had this information brought to him, perhaps they would compass
|
|
and imagine the death of Paul some other way; "therefore keep it
|
|
private."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. How the plot was defeated: The chief captain, finding how
|
|
implacable and inveterate the malice of the Jews was against Paul, how
|
|
restless they were in their designs to do him a mischief, and how near
|
|
he was to become himself accessory to it as a minister, resolves to
|
|
send him away with all speed out of their reach. He received the
|
|
intelligence with horror and indignation at the baseness and
|
|
bloody-mindedness of these Jews; and seemed afraid lest, if he should
|
|
detain Paul in his castle here, under ever so strong a guard, they
|
|
would find some way or other to compass their end notwithstanding,
|
|
either beating the guards or burning the castle; and, whatever came of
|
|
it, he would, if possible, protect Paul, because he looked upon it that
|
|
he did not deserve such treatment. What a melancholy observation is it,
|
|
that the Jewish <I>chief priests,</I> when they knew of this
|
|
assassination-plot, should countenance it, and assist in it, while a
|
|
Roman <I>chief captain,</I> purely from a natural sense of justice and
|
|
humanity, when he knows it, sets himself to baffle it, and puts himself
|
|
to a great deal of trouble to do it effectually!</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He orders a considerable detachment of the Roman forces under his
|
|
command to get ready <I>to go to Cæsarea</I> with all expedition, and
|
|
to bring Paul thither <I>to Felix the governor,</I> where he might
|
|
sooner expect to have justice done him than by the great sanhedrim at
|
|
Jerusalem. I see not but the chief captain might, without any
|
|
unfaithfulness to the duty of his place, have set Paul at liberty, and
|
|
given him leave to shift for his own safety, for he was never legally
|
|
committed to his custody as a criminal, he himself owns <I>that nothing
|
|
was laid to his charge worthy of bonds</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>),
|
|
|
|
and he ought to have had the same tenderness for his liberty that he
|
|
had for his life; but he feared that this would have incensed the Jews
|
|
too much against him. Or perhaps, finding Paul to be a very
|
|
extraordinary man, he was proud to have him his prisoner, and under his
|
|
protection; and the mighty parade with which he sent him off intimates
|
|
as much. <I>Two centurions,</I> or captains of the hundreds, are
|
|
employed in this business,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:23,24"><I>v.</I> 23, 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
They must <I>get ready two hundred soldiers,</I> probably those under
|
|
their own command, <I>to go to Cæsarea;</I> and with these
|
|
<I>seventy horse, and two hundred spearmen</I> besides, which some
|
|
think were the <I>chief captain's</I> guards; whether they were horse
|
|
or foot is not certain, most probably foot, as pikemen for the
|
|
protection of the horse. See how justly God brought the Jewish nation
|
|
under the Roman yoke, when such a party of the Roman army was necessary
|
|
to restrain them from the most execrable villanies! There needed not
|
|
all this force, there needed not any of it, to keep Paul from being
|
|
rescued by his friends; ten times this force would not have kept him
|
|
from being rescued by an angel, if it had pleased God to work his
|
|
deliverance that way, as he had sometimes done; but,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The chief captain designed hereby to expose the Jews, as a
|
|
headstrong tumultuous people, that would not be kept within the bounds
|
|
of duty and decency by the ordinary ministers of justice, but needed to
|
|
be awed by such a train as this; and, hearing how many were in the
|
|
conspiracy against Paul, he thought less would not serve to defeat
|
|
their attempt.
|
|
|
|
(2.) God designed hereby to encourage Paul; for, being
|
|
thus attended, he was not only kept safely in the hands of his friends,
|
|
but out of the hands of his enemies. Yet Paul did not desire such a
|
|
guard, any more than Ezra did
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+8:22">Ezra viii. 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
and for the same reason, because he trusted in God's all-sufficiency;
|
|
it was owing, however, to the governor's own care. But he was also made
|
|
considerable; thus his <I>bonds in Christ</I> were made manifest all
|
|
the country over
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+1:13">Phil. i. 13</A>);
|
|
|
|
and, son great an honour having been put upon them before by the
|
|
prediction of them, it was agreeable enough that they should be thus
|
|
honourably attended, <I>that the brethren in the Lord might wax the
|
|
more confident by his bonds,</I> when they same him rather guarded as
|
|
the patriot of his country than guarded against as the pest of his
|
|
country, and so great a preacher made so great a prisoner. When his
|
|
enemies hate him, and I doubt his friends neglect him, then does a
|
|
Roman tribune patronise him, and carefully provide,
|
|
|
|
[1.] For his ease: <I>Let them provide beasts, that they may set Paul
|
|
on.</I> Had his Jewish persecutors ordered his removal by <I>habeas
|
|
corpus</I> to Cæsarea, they would have made him run on foot, or
|
|
dragged him thither in a cart, or on a sledge, or have horsed him
|
|
behind one of the troopers; but the chief captain treats him like a
|
|
gentleman, though he was his prisoner, and orders him a good horse to
|
|
ride upon, not at all afraid that he should ride away. Nay, the order
|
|
being that they should provide, not a beast, but beasts, to set Paul
|
|
on, we must either suppose that he was allowed so great a piece of
|
|
state as to have a led horse, or more, that if he did not like one he
|
|
might take to another; or (as some expositors conjecture) that he had
|
|
beasts assigned him for his friends and companions, as many as pleased
|
|
to go along with him, to divert him in his journey, and to minister to
|
|
him.
|
|
|
|
[2.] For his security. They have a strict charge given them by their
|
|
commander in chief <I>to bring him safely to Felix the governor,</I> to
|
|
whom he is consigned, and who was supreme in all civil affairs among
|
|
the Jews, as this chief captain was in military affairs. The Roman
|
|
historians speak much of this Felix, as a man of mean extraction, but
|
|
that raised himself by his shifts to be governor of Judea, in the
|
|
execution of which office, Tacitus, <I>Hist.</I> 5, says this of him:
|
|
<I>Per omnem sævitiam ac libidinem jus regium servili ingenio
|
|
exercuit--He used royal power with a servile genius, and in connection
|
|
with all the varieties of cruelty and lust.</I> To the judgement of
|
|
such a man as this is poor Paul turned over; and yet better so than in
|
|
the hands of <I>Ananias the high priest!</I> Now, a prisoner, thus upon
|
|
his deliverance by course of law, ought to be protected as well as a
|
|
prince.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The chief captain orders, for the greater security of Paul, that he
|
|
be taken away at <I>the third hour of the night,</I> which some
|
|
understand of three hours after sun-set, that, it being now after
|
|
<I>the feast of pentecost</I> (that is, in the midst of summer), they
|
|
might have the cool of the night to march in. Others understand it of
|
|
<I>three hours after midnight, in the third watch, about three in the
|
|
morning,</I> that they might have the day before them, and might get
|
|
out of Jerusalem before Paul's enemies were stirring, and so might
|
|
prevent any popular tumult, and leave them to roar when they rose, like
|
|
a lion disappointed of his prey.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. <I>He writes a letter to Felix the governor</I> of this province, by
|
|
which he discharges himself from any further care about Paul, and
|
|
leaves the whole matter with Felix. This letter is here inserted
|
|
<I>totidem verbis--verbatim,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is probable that Luke the historian had a copy of it by him, having
|
|
attended Paul in this remove. Now in this epistle we may observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) The compliments he passes upon <I>the governor,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
He is <I>the most excellent governor Felix,</I> this title being given
|
|
him of course, his excellency, &c. He sends him <I>greeting,</I> wishes
|
|
him all health and prosperity; may he rejoice, may he ever rejoice.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) The just and fair account which he gives him of Paul's case:
|
|
|
|
[1.] That he was one that the Jews had a pique against: <I>They had
|
|
taken him,</I> and would <I>have killed him;</I> and perhaps Felix knew
|
|
the temper of the Jews so well that he did not think much the worse of
|
|
him for that,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That he had protected him because he was a Roman: "When they were
|
|
about to kill him, <I>I came with an army,</I> a considerable body of
|
|
men, <I>and rescued him;</I>" which action for a citizen of Rome would
|
|
recommend him to the Roman governor.
|
|
|
|
[3.] That he could not understand the merits of his cause, nor what it
|
|
was that made him so odious to the Jews, and obnoxious to their
|
|
ill-will. He took the proper method to know: he <I>brought him forth
|
|
into their council</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>),
|
|
|
|
to be examined there, hoping that, either from their complaints or his
|
|
own confession, he would learn something of the ground of all this
|
|
clamour, but he found <I>that he was accused of questions of their
|
|
law</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>),
|
|
|
|
about <I>the hope of the resurrection of the dead,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
This chief captain was a man of sense and honour, and had good
|
|
principles in him of justice and humanity; and yet see how slightly he
|
|
speaks of another world, and the great things of that world, as if that
|
|
were a question, which is of undoubted certainty, and which both sides
|
|
agreed in, except the Sadducees; and as if that were a question only
|
|
<I>of their law,</I> which is of the utmost concern to all mankind! Or
|
|
perhaps he refers rather to the question about their rituals than about
|
|
their doctrinals, and the quarrel he perceived they had with him was
|
|
for lessening the credit and obligation of their ceremonial law, which
|
|
he looked upon as a thing not worth speaking of. The Romans allowed the
|
|
nations they conquered the exercise of their own religion, and never
|
|
offered to impose theirs upon them; yet, as conservators of the public
|
|
peace, they wound not suffer them, under colour of their religion, to
|
|
abuse their neighbours.
|
|
|
|
[4.] That thus far he understood that there was <I>nothing laid to his
|
|
charge worthy of death or of bonds,</I> much less proved or made out
|
|
against him. The Jews had, by their wickedness, made themselves odious
|
|
to the world, had polluted their own honour and profaned their own
|
|
crown, had brought disgrace upon their church, their law, and their
|
|
holy place, and then they cry out against Paul, as having diminished
|
|
the reputation of them; and was this a crime <I>worthy of death or
|
|
bonds?</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) His referring Paul's case to Felix
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>When it was told me that the Jews laid wait for the man,</I> to
|
|
kill him, without any legal process against him, <I>I sent straightaway
|
|
to thee,</I> who art the most proper person to head the cause, and give
|
|
judgment upon it, and let <I>his accusers</I> go after him, if they
|
|
please, and <I>say before thee what they have against him,</I> for,
|
|
being bred a soldier, I will never pretend to be a judge, and so
|
|
<I>farewell.</I>"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. Paul was accordingly conducted to Cæsarea; the soldiers got him
|
|
safely out of Jerusalem by night, and left the conspirators to consider
|
|
whether they should east and drink or no before they had killed Paul;
|
|
and, if they would not repent of the wickedness of their oath as it was
|
|
against Paul, they were now at leisure to repent of the rashness of it
|
|
as it was against themselves; if any of them did starve themselves to
|
|
death, in consequence of their oath and vexation at their
|
|
disappointment, they fell unpitied. Paul was conducted to
|
|
<I>Antipatris,</I> which was seventeen miles from Jerusalem, and about
|
|
the mid-way to Cæsarea,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thence <I>the two hundred foot-soldiers,</I> and <I>the two hundred
|
|
spearmen, returned</I> back to Jerusalem, to their quarters in <I>the
|
|
castle;</I> for, having conducted Paul out of danger, there needed not
|
|
strong a guard, but <I>the horsemen</I> might serve to bring him to
|
|
Cæsarea, and would do it with more expedition; this they did, not
|
|
only to save their own labour, but their master's charge; and it is an
|
|
example to servants, not only to act obediently according to their
|
|
masters' orders, but to act prudently, so as may be most for their
|
|
masters' interest.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. He was delivered into the hands of Felix, as his prisoner,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
The officers <I>presented the letter,</I> and <I>Paul with it, to
|
|
Felix,</I> and so discharged themselves of their trust. Paul had never
|
|
affected acquaintance or society with great men, but with the
|
|
disciples, wherever he came; yet Providence overrules his sufferings so
|
|
as by them to give him an opportunity of witnessing to Christ before
|
|
great men; and so Christ had foretold concerning his disciples, <I>that
|
|
they should be brought before rulers and kings for his sake, for a
|
|
testimony against them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+13:9">Mark xiii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>The governor</I> enquired <I>of what province</I> of the empire the
|
|
prisoner originally was, and was told <I>that he was a native of
|
|
Cilicia,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>;
|
|
|
|
and,
|
|
|
|
(1.) He promises him a speedy trial
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>I will hear thee when thing accusers have come,</I> and will have
|
|
an ear open to both sides, as becomes a judge."
|
|
|
|
(2.) He ordered him into custody, that he should <I>be kept</I> a
|
|
prisoner <I>in Herod's judgment-hall,</I> in some apartment belonging
|
|
to that palace which was denominated from Herod the Great, who built
|
|
it. There he had opportunity of acquainting himself with great men that
|
|
attended the governor's court, and, no doubt, he improved what
|
|
acquaintance he got there to the best purposes.</P>
|
|
|
|
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