Bible Study series. Acts 23:12-35. The Romans whisked him out of the court (23:10); then they escorted him out of Jerusalem with a large military contingency because of a plot to kill him.
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Let’s begin.
Scripture: Acts 23:12-35
12 On that day, Jews formed a mob and put themselves under a curse, saying they would neither eat nor drink until they killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty who formed this conspiracy. 14 They approached the high priest and the elders and said, “We have cursed ourselves with a curse not to taste anything until we kill Paul. 15 Now you, along with the great council therefore must inform the commander that he should bring him before you, and that you are about to determine more accurately his case. Before he gets here, we are ready to kill him.”
16 The son of Paul’s sister heard about the ambush and appeared and went into the barracks to report to Paul. 17 Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Bring this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.” 18 And so he took and brought him to the commander and said, “The prisoner Paul called for me and requested me to bring this young man to you, having something to tell you.” 19 Taking him by his hand, the commander went apart by themselves and asked, “What is it that you have to report to me?” 20 He said, “the Jews have agreed to request that tomorrow you should bring Paul down to the great council, as though they are about to inquire more accurately about him. 21 And so you must not listen to them, for they are laying in wait for him—more than forty of them, who have put themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they kill him; even now they are ready to receive your consent.” 22 And so the commander dismissed the young man, ordering him, “Tell no one that you have revealed these things to me.”
23 Summoning two of the centurions, he said, “Make ready two hundred soldiers, to go to Caesarea, and seventy cavalrymen, and two hundred spearmen, at 21:00 hours, 24 horses for escort, putting Paul on the mount, to bring him safely through to Felix the governor.”
25 He wrote a letter having this exact content:
26 Claudius Lysias
To his Excellency the Governor Felix, greetings:
27 Through a standby detachment of soldiers I have rescued this man from being seized by the Jews, and who was about to be killed by them, after I learned that he was Roman. 28 When I intended to know the cause for which they accused him, I brought him to their High Council. 29 I discovered he was being accused about issues of their law, the charge containing nothing deserving death or imprisonment. 30 When a plot was revealed to me about to be against this man, I immediately sent him to you, also ordering the accusers to state to you the case against him.
31 And so the soldiers by this order to them took Paul and brought him at night to Antipatris. 32 At morning, they allowed the horsemen to depart with him, while they turned around to the barracks. 33 They entered Caesarea and handed over the letter to the governor and presented Paul to him. 34 He read the letter and asked from which province he was and learned from Cilicia. “I shall try your case,” he said, “whenever your accusers appear.” 35 He ordered him to be guarded in Herod’s official residence. (Acts 23:12-35)
Comments:
12-15:
Fanatics putting themselves under curses is misguided, but they think they are right. Christians should never do this. In fact, I suggest you should never put yourself under a vow, particularly Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians. Paul, a Messianic Jew, allowed himself to be put under a partial vow, only for the benefit of outreach to extra-strict Messianic Jews and soon-to-be Messianic Jewish converts (Acts 21:17-26). Call it cross-cultural outreach.
Incidentally, Lev. 5:4-6 talks about getting out from under a thoughtless or careless oath, but these men entered theirs carefully and thoughtfully. Rabbis said these extreme curses and vows could be escaped from by reason of constraint. I’m not sure where the “constraint” comes in when the oath-takers did this voluntarily, so the ruling sounds empty. In any case, these forty men could get out of their vows by special permission.
16-22:
Paul and his sister grew up in Jerusalem. She got married. Bruce believes that Paul’s own family may have abandoned him (Phil. 3:8, which says he suffered the loss of all things, for Christ’s sake). But here his nephew must have had a soft spot in his heart for his uncle. The unnamed young man may have gone to Jerusalem, just as Paul did at his age (comment on v. 16). Schnabel estimates that the nephew was in his late twenties or early thirties because “young man” describes someone between eighteen and thirty and because Paul was about in his fifties by now (comment on v. 16).
Right after Jesus appears to Paul and informs him that he was going to testify in Jerusalem, Paul’s nephew appears on the stage, but in the background of the stage. Clearly Jesus was leading the boy, whether he realized it or not, so Paul could be delivered. Jesus will deliver you from your troubles by arranging for a human messenger or a divine messenger to bring about circumstances in your favor.
Dear Dr. Luke, I love your narrative history and the details you do include, but would it have been too distracting to tell us the boy’s and his mother’s names? Hodesh is mentioned in the genealogies of Benjamin (1 Chron. 8:9), so maybe that was her name, since their father named his son after the king of their tribe, Saul, though the king’s character was flawed. Was it the most common name in Jewish culture at the time, Miriam? As for his nephew, Luke, how about a few appositive phrases, like “a student of rabbis” or “a Messianic Jewish boy”? Anything at all, beyond Paul having a sister and a nephew? But perhaps Luke was in the area taking notes, and it was dangerous to reveal Paul’s sister’s and his nephew’s names, if his notes were confiscated. In any case, I wrote those words out of admiration, not anger and frustration.
We don’t know how young the boy was, but the commander took him by the hand (v. 19), so he could not have been a young adult. He could not have been too young, either, because he remembers the plot in great detail. Mid-teen, maybe?
23-24:
The number of fanatical assassins—forty of them—startled the commander, so he provided a huge military escort and protection for Paul the Roman citizen. Peterson, referring to other commentators, says that the image of all these men escorting Paul shows Paul to be a hero. I like that quick analysis. But Schnabel says it is not a big deal.
Four hundred and seventy men was about half of the force stationed in Jerusalem. This shows the urgency of bringing Paul, the Roman citizen, to safety.
21:00 hours is 9:00 p.m. I used military time.
“bring him safely through”: this comes from the one verb diasōzō (pronounced dee-ah-soh-zoh), and it literally means “save through.” It means to bring someone through to the other side, safely and soundly. Its related verb sōzō is standard for “save,” as in people being saved and healed through Christ. The verb (and noun) is very versatile.
25-30:
Now we know the commander’s name. He comes across as tough and authoritative and in charge, but also kind and just.
Luke likes the military, throughout Luke Acts (Luke 3:14; 7:3-8; Acts 10; 27).
Claudius Lysias omits some details, like putting Paul in chains. Claudius presents himself as a total hero, and I have to say that in his favor he was mostly heroic!
31-35:
“Antipatris”: you can find it only on Bible maps, though there is some dispute as to its precise location.
The soldiers went back, while the horsemen went on to deliver Paul to Felix, because Paul was far enough away from Jerusalem and immediate danger. It must have been a sight to see: Paul was surrounded by seventy horsemen, coming into Caesarea, where Messianic and probably Gentile Christian prophets showed up and told him not to go into Jerusalem and he would be put in chains (Acts 21:1-14). What a grand reentrance!
GrowApp for Acts 23:12-35
1. In v. 11, Jesus said Paul would reach Rome. Now Paul’s nephew overhears a plot to kill his uncle. Clearly Jesus was working behind the scenes to get Paul to his goal. How has God blessed you with circumstances that work out?
2. In Luke’s account, the Romans are portrayed as protecting Paul, while his fellow Jews are portrayed as attacking him. Have those closest to you attacked you? How have you overcome their betrayal?
3. Have you received support for your Christian faith from surprising places and people? At church? Friends? Tell your story.
RELATED
The Historical Reliability of the Book of Acts
Book of Acts and Paul’s Epistles: Match Made in Heaven?
SOURCES
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