Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: ACTS #39 - 22:30-23:11)
D. 22:30-23:11. PAUL PRESERVED FOR ROME
1. 22:30-23:10 PAUL DEFENDS HIS HOPE OF RESURRECTION
a. 22:30 THE COLONEL ARRANGES FOR PAUL TO MEET HIS ACCUSERS
Tede ePAUri-on, bouLOme-nos GNOnai to as-phaLES [804]
But on the morrow, desiring to know the certainty
to ti ka-te-goREItai [2723]huPO ton IouDAIon, Elu-sen auTON,
wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him,
kai eKEleu-sen su-nelTHEIN tous ar-chi-eREIS kai pan to suNEdri-on [4892],
and commanded the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to come together,
kai ka-ta-gaGON ton PAUlon Este-sen [2476]eis auTOUS.
and brought :Paul down and set him before them.
b. 23:1 PAUL TESTIFIES OF HIS INTEGRITY
a-teNIsas [816] de PAUlos to su-neDRIo, EIpen,
And :Paul, looking steadfastly on the Sanhedrin, said,
ANdres a-delPHOI, eGOPAse su-neiDEsei a-gaTHEpe-poLIteu-mai toTheO Achri TAUtes tes heMEras.
Men and brethren, I have lived before :God in all good conscience until this :day.
c. 23:2 And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.
ho de ar-chi-eREUS A-naNIas ePEta-xen [2004] tois pa-reSTOsin auTOTUPtein auTOU to STOma [4750].
d. 23:3 PAUL REBUKES THE HIGH PRIEST
TOte ho PAUlos pros auTON EIpen, TUPtein se MELlei ho TheOS,
Then said :Paul unto him, :God shall smite you,
TOIche [5109] ke-ko-ni-aMEne [2867]: kai su KAthe KRInon me kaTA ton NOmon,
you whited wall: and do you sit to judge me according to the law,
kai pa-ra-noMON [3891]keLEUeis [2753]me TUPtes-thai?
and command me to be smitten contrary to the law?
e. 23:4 And they that stood by said, Do you revile the high priest of God?
hoi de pa-reSTOtes EIpan, Ton ar-chi-eREa tou TheOU loi-doREIS [3058]?
f. 23:5 PAUL APOLOGIZES
Ephe te ho PAUlos, Ouk Edein, a-delPHOI, HOti esTIN ar-chi-eREUS: GEgrap-tai gar,
And Paul said, I knew not, brethren, that he was high priest: for it is written,
HOti ARchon-ta tou laOU sou ouk eREIS kaKOS [2560].
You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your :people.
g. 23:6 THE WISDOM OF PAUL
gnous de ho PAUlos HOti to hen MEros esTIN Sad-douKAIon [4523]
And when :Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees
to de HEte-ron Pha-riSAIon [5330], Ekra-zen en to su-neDRIo,
and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the Sanhedrin,
ANdres a-delPHOI, eGO Pha-riSAI-OS ei-mi, huiOS Pha-riSAIon;
Men andbrethren, I am a Pharisee, son of Pharisees;
peRI elPIdos [1680] kai a-naSTAse-os [386] neKRON KRIno-mai.
I am being judged for thehope and resurrection of the dead.
h. 23:7 HIS WISDOM CAUSES DISSENSION AMONG HIS ACCUSERS
TOUto de auTOU laLOUNtos, eGEne-to STAsis [4714] ton Pha-riSAIon kai Sad-douKAIon;
And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and Sadducees;
kai esCHISthe [4977] to PLEthos.
and the multitude was divided.
i. 23:8 THE EXPLANATION
Sad-douKAIoi gar LEgou-sin me EInai aNAsta-sin,
For Sadducees say thereis no resurrection,
MEte AGge-lon, MEte PNEUma; Pha-riSAIoi de ho-mo-loGOUsin [3670] ta amPHOte-ra.
neither angel, nor spirit; but Pharisees confess :both.
j. 23:9 NOW THE PHARISEES DEFEND HIM!
eGEne-to de krauGE [2906] meGAle: kai a-naSTANtes tiNES TON gram-maTEon
And a great clamor arose: and some of the scribes
tou MErous ton Pha-riSAIon, di-eMAchon-to [1264],
of the part of the Pharisees stood up, andstrove,
LEgon-tes, OuDEN KAkon heuRIsko-men en to anTHROpo TOUto:
saying, We find no evil in this :man:
ei de PNEUma eLAle-sen auTO, e AGge-los?
and whatif a spirit has spoken to him, or an angel?
k. 23:10 THE COLONEL RESCUES PAUL FROM THE DISSENSION
POLles de gi-noMEnes STAse-os [4714], pho-beTHEIS [2125]
And when great dissension arose, the colonel,
ho chiLIar-chos, me di-aSPASthe [1288] ho PAUlos hup' auTON,
fearing lest :Paul be torn in pieces by them,
eKEleu-sen to STRAteu-ma ka-taBAN harPAsai [726] auTON
commanded the soldiery to go down andtake him by force
ek MEsou auTON, Agein eis ten pa-rem-boLEN.
from among them, andbring himinto the castle.
2. 23:11 THE LORD PERSONALLY ENCOURAGES PAUL
Te de e-piOUse nukTI e-piSTAS auTO ho KUri-os, EIpen, THARsei 2293:
And the following night the Lord stood by him, andsaid, Be of good cheer:
hos gar di-e-marTUro [1263] ta peRI eMOU eis Ie-rou-saLEM, HOUto se dei kai eis 'ROmen mar-tuREsai.
for as you have testified :concerning me at Jerusalem, so must you witness also at Rome.
NOTE: 22:20-23:11 - See the wisdom Paul received from the Holy Spirit in 23:6. By raising an area of difference between Pharisees and Sadducees, he took their attention away from himself, leaving their original problem with him for another day.
But in 23:11, we see the wonderful encouragement our Lord was to Paul. And, because God is no respecter of persons, we can count on His encouragement for each one of us also. God's Sovereign hand was upon Paul to safeguard him right through to Rome, so that he would have opportunity to effectively witness for Jesus there, just as he had at Jerusalem. J.A.W.