Paul Before the Council
Acts 23:1-10
Part 1: Paul’s First Statement Before the Council,
and the Reaction of the High Priest (23:1-5)
1 And
Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in
all good conscience before God until this day. 2 And the high priest
Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth. 3 Then
said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to
judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? 4
And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God’s high priest? 5 Then
said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is
written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people. 6 But
when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees,
he cried out in the council, Men and 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 that were 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 him into the castle.
[no audio file due to recorder battery failure]
Outline:
I. Paul’s First Statement Before the Council, and the
Reaction of the High Priest (23:1-5)
1. The Statement by Paul (23:1)
2. The Striking of Paul (23:2)
3. The Question from Paul (23:3)
4. The Question to Paul (23:4)
5. The Answer of Paul (23:5)
II. Paul’s Second Statement Before the Council, and the
Division of the Council (23:6-10)
1. The Second Statement by Paul
to the Council (23:6)
2. The Reason for the Dissension
in the Council (23:7-8)
3. The Conclusion of Part of the
Council (23:9)
4. The Rescue of Paul From the
Council (23:10)
1. The Statement by Paul (23:1)
And Paul, earnestly beholding
the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before
God until this day.
Job 27:5-6 - 5 God
forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity
from me. 6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my
heart shall not reproach me so long
as I live.
2. The Striking of Paul (23:2)
And the high priest Ananias
commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.
the high priest Ananias
This is the same Ananias in 24:1, but not in 5:1ff., or
in 9:10ff. - the son of Nedebaeus, high
priest from AD 47-58
notorious for greed
killed by Zealots AD 66 for his pro-Roman sympathies[1]
A Saducee with great wealth and prestige
Made high priest by Herod of Chalcis in AD 47
Josephus, Antiquities
XX:v.2, vi.ii.3, ix.ii.3, x; War
II:xvii.9
Sent to Rome by Quadratus, Governor of Syria, to answer charges
concerning his oppression of the Samaritans
Released by Claudius Caesar
Deposed later by Felix
Assasinated by Sicarii or Zealots AD 59[2]
Came to Caesarea to accuse Paul before Felix personally[3]
smite him on the mouth
“For a Jew to order a
Jew to be struck on the cheek was peculiarly offensive. “He that strikes the
cheek of an Israelite strikes, as it were, the cheek of the Shechinah,” for it
is said (Prov. xx. 25), “He that strikes a man” (i.e., an Israelite who alone deserves the name; Rashi quotes Babha Metsia, f. 114, col. 2), strikes
the Holy One.”[4]
1 Ki. 22:24 - But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak
unto thee?
Jer. 20:1-2 - 1 Now
Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was
also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied
these things. 2 Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in
the stocks that were in the high gate
of Benjamin, which was by the house
of the LORD.
Lam. 3:30 - He giveth his cheek to
him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.
Mic. 5:1 - Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid
siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
3. The Question from Paul (23:3)
Then said Paul unto him, God
shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law,
and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?[5]
God
shall smite thee
Dt. 28:22 - The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation,
and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with
mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
Dt. 28:28 - The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:
Is. 30:13 - The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:
Jn. 18:19-24 - 19 The
high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine. 20 Jesus
answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and
in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said
nothing. 21 Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have
said unto them: behold, they know what I said. 22 And when he had thus spoken,
one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand,
saying, Answerest thou the high priest so? 23 Jesus
answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou
me? 24 Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest.
thou
whited wall
Mt. 23:27 - Woe unto
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres,
which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's
bones, and of all uncleanness.
Ezek. 13:8-16 - 8 Therefore
thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies,
therefore, behold, I am against you,
saith the Lord GOD. 9 And mine hand shall be upon the
prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the
assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the
house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall
know that I am the Lord GOD. 10 Because,
even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a
wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter: 11 Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower;
and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it. 12 Lo, when the wall is fallen,
shall it not be said unto you, Where is
the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?
13 Therefore
thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it
with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine
anger, and great hailstones in my
fury to consume it. 14 So
will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground,
so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye
shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 15 Thus
will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it
with untempered morter, and will say
unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it; 16 To wit, the
prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions
of peace for her, and there is no
peace, saith the Lord GOD.
for
sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten
contrary to the law?
Lev. 19:15 - Ye
shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of
the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness
shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
Dt. 25:1-2 - 1 If
there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall
justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked. 2 And it
shall be, if the wicked man be worthy
to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten
before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.
4. The Question to Paul (23:4)
And they that stood by said,
Revilest thou God’s high priest?
Jn. 18:22 - And when he had thus spoken, one of the
officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the
high priest so?
1 Sam. 2:28 - And
did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to
offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto
the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of
Israel?
5. The Answer of Paul (23:5)
Then said Paul, I wist not,
brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak
evil of the ruler of thy people.
I wist
not, brethren, that he was the high priest
“Out of actual service neither the priests nor even the
high-priest wore a distinctive dress…”[6]
for it
is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people
Ex. 22:28 - Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.
Lev. 5:14-19 - 14 And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, 15 If a soul
commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the
LORD; then he shall bring for his trespass unto the LORD a ram without blemish
out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel
of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering: 16 And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in
the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the
priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the
trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him. 17 And if a soul sin, and commit
any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the
LORD; though he
wist it not, yet is he
guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. 18 And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock,
with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest: and the priest
shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be
forgiven him. 19 It is a trespass offering: he hath certainly
trespassed against the LORD.
Eccl. 10:20 - Curse not the king, no not in
thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for
a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell
the matter.
“Paul may have said this with a
mild tone of irony: “He didn’t act like a high priest should; how could I
recognize him as such when he was so totally out of character?” Now that the
focus was on the role, Paul made clear that he respected the office. He even
quoted Exod 22:28 to underscore that he did respect God’s representatives in
accordance with the Torah. He was a law-abiding Jew in every respect.”[7]
Perhaps it needs to be asked, and I have yet to find anyone doing so:
1) Who is “God’s high priest” (23:4) in reality, and in Paul’s mind?
2) Who is “the ruler” of God’s people (23:5) in reality, and in Paul’s
mind?
3) Who is reviling God’s true High Priest in this incident?
4) Who is speaking evil of the true Ruler of God’s people in this
incident?
5) What would Paul have understood from the Lord’s question and
response to him on the Damascus road in Acts 9:4-5 about the significance of
someone slapping him in the face for bearing witness to the Resurrected Christ?
6) Is the issue here merely between Paul and Ananias, or is it between
Ananias and Christ, with Paul, the witness for Christ, understanding this?
Complete outline:
I. Paul’s First Statement Before the Council, and the
Reaction of the High Priest (23:1-5)
1. The Statement by Paul (23:1)
2. The Striking of Paul (23:2)
3. The Question from Paul (23:3)
4. The Question to Paul (23:4)
5. The Answer of Paul (23:5)
[Sermon preached 1
MAR 2015 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown,
PA.]
Appendix 1 — Resources
cited in Notes
Augustine,
Letter 138 (to Marcellinus, A.D. 412), Ch. 2, §13, in The Confessions And Letters Of St. Augustin, With A Sketch Of His Life
And Work, Vol. 1 in A Select Library Of
The Nicene And Post-Nicene Fathers Of The
Christian Church, ed.
Philip Schaff, Series 1
(Edinburgh: T&T Clark; Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, n.d.), pg. 485; on Christian Classics Ethereal Library at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf101.vii.1.CXXXVIII.html [accessed 21 FEB 2015].
G. K. Beale and
D. A. Carson, eds., Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old
Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007).
Darrell L. Bock, Acts,
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New
Testament, eds. Robert W. Yarbrough and Robert H. Stein (Grand Rapids:
Baker Academic, 2007).
F. F. Bruce, “Ananias,” in The New Bible Dictionary, eds. J. D. Douglas, F. F. Bruce, R. V. G.
Tasker, J. I. Packer, D. J. Wiseman (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 1962), pg. 35.
John Calvin, Acts, Calvin’s Commentaries, electronic
ed. (Albany, OR: Ages Software, (1998).
R. Cassidy, Society and Politics in the Acts of the
Apostles (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1987).
M. M. Culy and M.
C. Parsons, Acts: A Handbook on the Greek
Text (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2003).
Adolf Deissmann, Paul:
A Study in Social and Religious History, 2nd ed., trans. William E. Wilson
(New York: Harper Torchbooks, n.d.).
James C. De Young, “Ananias,” in The Classic Bible Dictionary, ed. Jay P. Green, Sr. (Lafayette, IN:
Sovereign Grace Trust Fund, 1988), pg. 64.
Alfred Edersheim, Sketches
of Jewish Social Life In the Days of Christ (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co., n.d.; 1979 reprint); on Christian Classics
Ethereal Library (CCEL) at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edersheim/sketches.html [accessed 28 FEB 2015].
Alfred
Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and
Services As They Were at the Time of Jesus Christ (Grand Rapids: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., n.d.); on Christian
Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edersheim/temple.html [accessed 28 FEB 2015].
F. W. Farrar, The Life and Work of St. Paul, 2 vols.
(New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1880); on Internet
Archive at https://archive.org/details/lifeworkofstpaul802farr
[accessed 28 FEB 2015].
L. T. Johnson The Acts of the Apostles, Vol. 5, Sacra
Pagina (Collegeville: Liturgical, 1992).
R. J. Knowling, “The Acts of the Apostles”, in The Expositor’s Greek New Testament, ed.
W. Robertson Nicoll (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., n.d.).
I. Howard Marshall, Acts:
An Introduction And Commentary, Vol. 5 in Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, gen. ed. Leon Morris (Downers
Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1980; 2008 reprint).
David G. Peterson, The
Acts of the Apostles, in The Pillar
New Testament Commentaries, gen. ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids: William B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009).
John B. Polhill, Acts, Vol. 26, The New American Commentary, gen. ed. David S. Dockery (Nashville,
TN: Broadman & Holman, Publishers, 1992).
Emmet Russell, “Ananias,” in The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, gen. ed. Merrill C.
Tenney (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1967), pg. 38.
Eckhard J. Schnabel, Acts,
Vol. 5 in the Zondervan Exegetical
Commentary on the New Testament, gen. ed. Clinton E. Arnold (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 2012).
John A. Selbie, “Ananias,” in A Dictionary of the Bible Dealing with its Language, Literature, and
Contents Including the Biblical Theology, ed. James Hastings (Peabody, MA:
Hendrickson Publishers, n.d.; 1988 reprint from 1988 original by T. & T.
Clark, Edinburgh), 1:91.
F. S. Spencer Acts (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic,
1997).
D. J. Williams, Acts, Vol. 5, New International Biblical
Commentary (Peabody, MA: Hendricksen, 1990).
Appendix 2 — Resources
on Acts
G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson, eds., Commentary on the New Testament Use of
the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), pp. 513-606.
Paul Barnett, The
Birth of Christianity: The First Twenty Years, After Jesus, Vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 2005).
Darrell L. Bock, Acts,
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New
Testament, eds. Robert W. Yarbrough and Robert H. Stein (Grand Rapids:
Baker Academic, 2007).
F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles: The Greek Text
with Introduction and Commentary, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co., 1951, 1952).
Dennis E. Johnson, The Message of Acts in the History of
Redemption (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1997).
I. Howard Marshall, Acts:
An Introduction And Commentary, Vol. 5 in Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, gen. ed. Leon Morris (Downers
Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1980; 2008 reprint).
David G. Peterson, The
Acts of the Apostles, in The Pillar
New Testament Commentaries, gen. ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids: William B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009).
John B. Polhill, Acts,
Vol. 26 in The New American Commentary,
gen. ed. David S. Dockery (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, Publishers,
1992).
Eckhard J. Schnabel, Acts,
Vol. 5 in the Zondervan Exegetical
Commentary on the New Testament, gen. ed. Clinton E. Arnold (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 2012).
W. C. van Unnik, “The ‘Book of Acts’ the Confirmation of
the Gospel,” in Novum Testamentum 4:1
(OCT 1960), pp. 26-59; reprinted in The
Composition of Luke’s Gospel: Selected Studies from Novum Testamentum,
compiled by David E. Orton, Vol. 1 of Brill’s
Readers in Biblical Studies (Leiden: Brill, 1999), pp. 184-218.
William H. Willimon, Acts,
in Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for
Teaching and Preaching, series ed. James Luther Mays, New Testament ed.
Paul J. Achtemeier (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010).
Appendix 3 — Resources on Paul
Kenneth E. Bailey, Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Cultural
Studies in 1 Corinthians (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011).
F. F. Bruce, Paul:
Apostle of the Heart Set Free (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 1977).
D. A. Carson, The
Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
1996), pp. 496-501.
W. J. Conybeare and J. S. Howson, The Life, Times and Travels of St. Paul, 2 vols. in 1, unabridged
American ed. (New York: E. B. Treat U Co., 1869); on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=Bn1CAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 12 FEB 2013].
Adolf Deissmann, Paul:
A Study in Social and Religious History, 2nd ed., trans. William E. Wilson
(New York: Harper Torchbooks, n.d.).
F. W. Farrar, The Life
and Work of St. Paul (New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1889); on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=RB2KeCSM6KsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 12 FEB 2013].
Bruce N. Fisk, “Paul: Life and
Letters”, in The Face of New Testament
Studies: A Survey of Recent Research, ed. Scot McKnight and Grant R.
Osborne (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), pp. 283-325.
Richard B.Gaffin, Jr.,
"Acts and Paul", 46 lectures (MP3 format), WTS Resources Media Center
on Westminster Theological Seminary
at http://wts.edu/resources/media.html?paramType=audio&filterTopic=5&filterSpeaker=10&filterYear=2005 [accessed 20 MAR 2013].
Frank J. Goodwin, A
Harmony of the Life of the St. Paul According to the Acts of the Apostles and
the Pauline Epistles (New York: American Tract Society, 1895); on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=YgpEAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 12 FEB 2013].
Richard N. Longenecker, The
Ministry And Message Of Paul (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971).
Richard N. Longenecker, Paul,
Apostle Of Liberty (New York: Harper & Row, 1964).
Richard N. Longenecker, ed., The Road From Damascus : The Impact Of Paul's Conversion On His Life,
Thought, And Ministry (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997).
Richard N. Longenecker, Studies
In Paul, Exegetical And Theological (Sheffield : Sheffield Phoenix Press,
2004).
J. Gresham Machen, The
Origin of Paul's Religion: The James Sprunt Lectures Delivered at Union
Theological Seminary in Virginia (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 1925).
Leon Morris, The
Apostolic Preaching of the Cross (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 1955).
John Pollock, The
Apostle: A Life of Paul, 3rd ed. (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 1969,
2012); also published as The Man Who
Shook the World (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1972; originally The Apostle: A Life of Paul, New York:
Doubleday, 1969).
Stanley E. Porter, Paul
in Acts, in Library of Pauline
Studies, gen. ed. Stanley E. Porter (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers,
Inc., 1999; 2001 reprint of The Paul of
Acts: Essays in Literary Criticism, Rhetoric and Theology, in Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen
Testament 115, by Mohr Siebeck, Tubingen).
W. M. Ramsay, The
Cities of St. Paul: Their Influence on his Life and Thought (New York: A.
C. Armstrong and Son; London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1908); on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=JryEbmKool0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 13 FEB 2013].
W. M. Ramsay, Pauline
and Other Studies in Early Christian History (New York: A. C. Armstrong and
Son, 1906); on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=-1ZJAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 13 FEB 2013].
W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul
the Traveler and the Roman Citizen, 10th ed. (London: Hodder and Stoughton,
1907); on Christian Classics Ethereal
Library (CCEL) at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/ramsay/paul_roman.html
[accessed 13 FEB 2013].
W. M. Ramsay, The
Teaching of Paul in terms of The Present Day: The Deems Lectures in New York
University (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1914); on Internet Archive at http://ia600404.us.archive.org/2/items/teachingofpaulin00rams/teachingofpaulin00rams.pdf
[accessed 13 FEB 2013].
A. T. Robertson, Epochs
in the Life of Paul: A Study of Development in Paul's Character (Grand
Rapids: Baker Book House, 1974).
Eckhard J. Schnabel, Paul The Missionary: Realities, Strategies
And Methods (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic,
2008).
Udo Schnelle, Apostle
Paul: His Life and Theology, trans. M. Eugene Boring (Grand Rapids: Baker
Academic, 2003; trans. from Paulus: Leben
und Denken, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co., n.d.).
Thomas R. Schreiner, Paul,
Apostle of God's Glory in Christ: A Pauline Theology (Downers Grove, IL:
IVP Academic, 2001).
James Stalker, The
Life of St. Paul, (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1885; rev. ed. 2010 by
Kessinger Publishing from 1912 ed.); on Google
Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=vT0HAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 7 FEB 2013].
James Ironside Still, St.
Paul on Trial (London: Student Christian Movement, 1923).
End Notes:
[1] F. F. Bruce, “Ananias,” in The New Bible Dictionary, eds. J. D. Douglas, F. F. Bruce, R. V. G.
Tasker, J. I. Packer, D. J. Wiseman (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 1962), pg. 35.
[2] James C. De Young, “Ananias,” in The Classic Bible Dictionary, ed. Jay P. Green, Sr. (Lafayette, IN:
Sovereign Grace Trust Fund, 1988), pg. 64.
[3] Emmet Russell, “Ananias,” in The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, gen. ed. Merrill C.
Tenney (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1967), pg. 38. See also on Ananias:
R. J. Knowling, op. cit., II:465; and John A. Selbie, “Ananias,”
in A Dictionary of the Bible Dealing with
its Language, Literature, and Contents Including the Biblical Theology, ed.
James Hastings (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, n.d.; 1988 reprint from
1988 original by T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh), 1:91.
[4] F. W. Farrar, The
Life and Work of St. Paul, 2 vols. (New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1880),
II:323, note 1; on Internet Archive
at https://archive.org/details/lifeworkofstpaul802farr
[accessed 28 FEB 2015]. Cited by Knowling, op. cit., pg. 466, “The act was
illegal and peculiarly offensive to a Jew at the hands of a Jew, Farrar, St. Paul, ii, p. 323.”
[5] “The threat “God is going to strike [typtein] you” may be a prophecy, but this phrase is regarded as an
adjuration written in the law in the Mishnah (m. Šebu. 4:13, cited in
Str-B 2:766; Barrett 1994–1998: 1059). The law in question is possibly Deut.
28:22, 28 (pataxai se kyrios).
Calling the high priest a “whitened wall” (cf. the whitewashed tombs in Matt.
23:27) may reflect the imagery in Ezek. 13:8–15 likening false prophets to
rickety walls daubed with whitewash: they look solid, but the appearance is
misleading. The high priest is accused of hypocrisy in that he is supposed to
be a just judge and yet is acting contrary to the law in defiance of the
requirement of justice in Lev. 19:15.” G.
K. Beale and D. A. Carson, eds., Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old
Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), pg. 598. “The
terrible death of Ananias was a fulfillment of the words.” Knowling, op. cit.,
pg. 466.
[6] Alfred
Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and
Services As They Were at the Time of Jesus Christ (Grand Rapids: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., n.d.), pg. 91; on Christian
Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edersheim/temple.vi.html [accessed 28 FEB 2015], s.v. “These Functions not Sacerdotal.” Knowling cites this as on page
67 of an earlier edition of this work by Edersheim. R. J. Knowling, “The
Acts of the Apostles”, in The Expositor’s
Greek New Testament, ed. W. Robertson Nicoll (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co., n.d.), II:466.
[7[ John B. Polhill, Acts,
Vol. 26 in The New American Commentary,
gen. ed. David S. Dockery (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, Publishers,
1992), pg. 469. I wonder about the “mild tone” Polhill mentions. Perhaps there
was nothing mild about it at all! Marshall refers to what he terms “the old
suggestion,” and “the most probable solution” as “bitter irony,” and
paraphrases it accordingly, “I did not think that a man who could give such an
order could be the high priest.” I. Howard Marshall, Acts: An Introduction And Commentary, Vol. 5 in Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, gen.
ed. Leon Morris (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1980; 2008 reprint),
pp. 383-384. Another way that this “ironic force” has been paraphrased is, “Oh,
I did not know he was the high priest.” M. M. Culy and M. C. Parsons, Acts: A Handbook on the Greek Text (Waco,
TX: Baylor University Press, 2003), pg. 440; cited by Darrell L. Bock, Acts, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, eds. Robert W.
Yarbrough and Robert H. Stein (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), pg. 670.
Two other sources are listed by Bock as seeing irony here: Marshall, op. cit.,
1st ed. (1980), pg. 364, and D. J. Williams, Acts, Vol. 5, New International Biblical Commentary (Peabody, MA:
Hendricksen, 1990), pg. 385. Bruce allows that this might be the meaning, and
offers another paraphrase, “Idid not think that a man who behaved so illegally
[as to order him to be struck across the mouth] could possibly be the high
priest”.” F.
F. Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set
Free (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1977), pg. 352, not
52. Peterson objects to this
understanding, noting the following sources as proponents: R. Cassidy, Society and Politics in the Acts of the
Apostles (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1987), pg. 65; Marshall, op. cit.; L. T.
Johnson The Acts of the Apostles,
Vol. 5, Sacra Pagina (Collegeville: Liturgical, 1992), pg. 397; and F. S.
Spencer Acts (Sheffield: Sheffield
Academic, 1997), pg. 212. David G. Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles, in The
Pillar New Testament Commentaries, gen. ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids: William
B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009), pg. 614-615, and note 14. Peterson bases his
objection on the Exodus quotation by Paul, while Schabel takes the opposite
tack commenting that the view that Paul was “speaking ironically” is actually
“made plausible” by the quotation. Eckhard J. Schnabel, Acts, Vol. 5 in the Zondervan
Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, gen. ed. Clinton E. Arnold
(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), pg. 927. In addition to Marshall, Schnabel
lists two souces that would substantiate Marshall’s characterization of this
view as “the old suggestion”: Augustine, Ep.
138; and Calvin, Acts 2:229.
Schnabel, op. cit., pg. 927, note 18. Augustine, writes, “…he took pains sarcastically to indicate what his
words meant, that those of them who were discerning might understand that now
the whited wall, i.e.the
hypocrisy of the Jewish priesthood, was appointed to be thrown down by the
coming of Christ…” Augustine, Letter 138 (to Marcellinus, A.D. 412), Ch.
2, §13,
in The
Confessions And Letters Of St. Augustin, With A Sketch Of His Life And Work, Vol. 1 in A
Select Library Of The Nicene And Post-Nicene Fathers Of
The Christian Church, ed. Philip Schaff, Series
1 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark; Grand Rapids: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, n.d.), pg. 485; on Christian Classics Ethereal
Library at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf101.vii.1.CXXXVIII.html [accessed 21 FEB
2015]. Calvin follows Augustine in this understanding: “Therefore,
subscribing to Augustine, I do not doubt but that this is a taunting excuse.
Neither doth that any whit hinder, because plain speech becometh the ministers
of the word. For seeing there be two sorts of ironies, one which is covered
with subtilty and means to deceive, another which doth so figuratively note out
the thing which is in hand, that it doth prick sorer; in this second, there is
nothing which doth not well beseem the servants of Christ. Therefore, this is
the meaning of the words, Brethren, I acknowledge nothing in this man which
belongeth to the priest.” John Calvin, Acts,
Calvin’s Commentaries, electronic ed. (Albany, OR: Ages Software, (1998), s.v.
Acts 23:5.
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