Acts 23 is the twenty-third chapter of the

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. It records the period of Paul's imprisonment in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

then in

Caesarea Caesarea () ( he, קֵיסָרְיָה, ), ''Keysariya'' or ''Qesarya'', often simplified to Keisarya, and Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesare ...

. The book containing this chapter is anonymous but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that

Luke People *Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known as ...

composed this book as well as the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-volu ...

.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

and is divided into 35 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: *

Papyrus 48 Papyrus 48 (Gregory-Aland), signed by 𝔓48, is an early copy of a part of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Acts of the Apostles, it contains portions of Acts 23:11-29. The manuscript paleographically has been assign ...

(c. AD 250) *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(325–350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...

(330–360) * Codex Bezae (c. 400) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400–440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) designated by the siglum C or 04 {in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 3 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a ma ...

(c. 450; extant verses 1–17) *

Codex Laudianus Codex Laudianus, designated by Ea or 08 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 1001 ( von Soden), called ''Laudianus'' after the former owner, Archbishop William Laud. It is a diglot Latin — Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, palaeo ...

(c. 550)

Locations

The events in this chapter took place in

, Antipatris and

Paul before the Sanhedrin (23:1–10)

This part continues the record of Paul's trial before the Sanhedrin from previous chapter. The tribune ordered the Sanhedrin to meet () in an advisory capacity to help him 'determine whether or not Paul had a case to answer in Jewish law'.

Verse 2

: ''And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.'' *"The high priest Ananias" (verse 2; ''cf''. 24:1): is Ananias son of Nebedaeus, who was appointed by Herod of Chalcis in 47 CE, and replaced in 59 (Josephus. ''Antiquities''. 20.103, 131, 179, 2O5).

Verse 6

: ''But when Paul perceived that one part were

Sadducees The Sadducees (; he, צְדוּקִים, Ṣədūqīm) were a socio-religious sect of Jewish people who were active in Judea during the Second Temple period, from the second century BCE through the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Th ...

and the other

Pharisees The Pharisees (; he, פְּרוּשִׁים, Pərūšīm) were a Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Pharisaic beliefs bec ...

, he cried out in the council, ::''"Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!"''

Plots and counterplots (23:11–22)

After the trial, Paul received 'private reassurance' that things happening to him 'are part of God's plan' (verse 11) and the first indication that "his 'witness' in Rome will not be as missionary but as prisoner". When 'the Jews' (the term used by Luke for 'those who are opposed to Paul') decide to assassinate Paul (verses 12–15), and Paul's nephew (verse 16) relays this information to Paul (and Luke), Paul receives 'a high-quality escort' to Caesarea (verses 23–24).

Verse 11

: ''But the following night the Lord stood by him and said,'' ::''"Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome."'' For years Paul has the ambition to preach the gospel in Rome, the great capital of the empire (; ), Ellicott, C. J. (Ed.
''Ellicott's Bible Commentary for English Readers''. Acts 23.
London : Cassell and Company, Limited,

905-1906 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the Brahmi numerals, beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshat ...

Online version: (OCoLC) 929526708. Accessed 28 April 2019. and the comforting word of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

("Be of good cheer") reflects what Jesus had 'promised and foretold' in ("''In the world ye shall have tribulation, but in me ye shall have peace''"). Poole, Matthew, ''A Commentary on the Holy Bible''
"Acts 23"
Accessed 22 February 2019.

Paul sent to Caesarea (23:23–30)

The necessity and extent of the military escort for Paul's transfer from Jerusalem to Caesarea (verses 23–24) indicate the danger on the roads at this period, which is corroborated by the historian Flavius Josephus (Josephus. ''Antiquities''. 20.160-6, 185–8; ''Jewish War''. 2.253-65). The tribune, Claudius Lysias, 'wrote a letter' (verse 25), telling 'the story in a way more flattering to himself' (verse 27), but 'otherwise repeats for the governor's benefit' what the readers had known.

Verses 23–24

:'' And he called for two centurions, saying, "Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night; and provide mounts to set Paul on, and bring him safely to Felix the governor."'' *"Felix the governor" is mentioned for the first time in the book. According to historical records, Felix was 'a freedman, brother to the imperial secretary Pallas' (Josephus. ''Jewish War''. 2.247, ''Antiquities''. 20.137), was appointed by Claudius to be the procurator of Judea around 52 CE until 60 and generally regarded as cruel and corrupt (cf. Tacitus. Hist. 5.9), even was indicted by the Jews of Caesarea after his retirement from office (Josephus. ''Antiquities''. 20.182) He was replaced by Festus (Josephus. ''Jewish War''. 2.271; ''Antiquities''. 182).

The journey to Caesarea (23:31–35)

Caesarea is located about 110 kilometer from Jerusalem by road, and Antipatris (verse 31) is about half-way, 'at the point where the hill-country road intersects with the road running north from Lydda along the coastal plain'. Paul was then detained in Herod's praetorium (verse 35), where some scholars have suggested is the place the Epistle to the Philippians could have been written (cf. ), as an alternative opinions to Rome as the traditional origin.

Verse 31

:''Then the soldiers, as they were commanded, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.'' *" Antipatris", on the road from

(at 26 miles distant from Caesarea), was built by Herod the Great (Herod I), who named it after his father "Antipater".Meyer's NT Commentary on Acts 23
Accessed 24 April 2019.

Verse 33

:''When they came to

and had delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him.'' *"Presented": from Greek: , ',Greek Text Analysis: Acts 23:33
Biblehub is a word 'particularly used of setting any one before a judge' (cf. , and the subscription of 2 Timothy).Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors)

In: ''The

Pulpit Commentary The ''Pulpit Commentary'' is a homiletic commentary on the Bible created during the nineteenth century under the direction of Rev. Joseph S. Exell and Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones. It consists of 23 volumes with 22,000 pages and 95,000 entrie ...

''. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019.

References

Sources

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Acts of the Apostles 23