12 And when it was day, the Jews, having banded together, put themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they should kill Paul.
But having received information of a plot about to be put in execution against the man [by the Jews], I have immediately sent him to thee, commanding also his accusers to say before thee the things that are against him. [Farewell.]
Do not thou then be persuaded by them, for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, who have put themselves under a curse neither to eat nor drink till they kill him; and now they are ready waiting the promise from thee.
Hide me from the secret counsel of evil-doers, from the tumultuous crowd of the workers of iniquity, Who have sharpened their tongue like a sword, [and] have aimed their arrow, a bitter word; That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. They encourage themselves in an evil matter, they concert to hide snares; they say, Who will see them? They devise iniquities: We have it ready, the plan is diligently sought out. And each one's inward [thought] and heart is deep.
Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, (for it is written, Cursed [is] every one hanged upon a tree,)
asking as a grace against him that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying people in wait to kill him on the way.
And he swore to her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask me I will give thee, to half of my kingdom. And she went out, and said to her mother, What should I ask? And she said, The head of John the baptist. And immediately going in with haste to the king, she asked saying, I desire that thou give me directly upon a dish the head of John the baptist. And the king, [while] made very sorry, on account of the oaths and those lying at table with [him] would not break his word with her.
Then he began to curse and to swear, I know not the man. And immediately [the] cock crew.
and took counsel together in order that they might seize Jesus by subtlety and kill him;
And I was like a tame lamb [that] is led to the slaughter; and I knew not that they devised devices against me, [saying,] Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
Rage, ye peoples, and be broken in pieces! And give ear, all ye distant parts of the earth: Gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces! Settle a plan, and it shall come to nought; speak a word, and it shall not stand: for ùGod is with us.
Nothing devoted, which shall be devoted from among men, shall be ransomed: it shall certainly be put to death.
Why are the nations in tumultuous agitation, and [why] do the peoples meditate a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the princes plot together, against Jehovah and against his anointed: Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their cords from us!
joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and into an oath, to walk in the law of God, which had been given by Moses the servant of God, and to keep and do all the commandments of Jehovah our Lord, and his ordinances and his statutes;
And Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, So do the gods [to me], and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about this time!
Then said he to all Israel, Be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said to Saul, Do what is good in thy sight. And Saul said to Jehovah the God of Israel, Give a perfect [testimony]! And Jonathan and Saul were taken, and the people escaped. And Saul said, Cast [lots] between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken. And Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him and said, With the end of the staff which is in my hand I tasted a little honey, [and] behold, I must die! And Saul said, God do so [to me] and more also; thou shalt certainly die, Jonathan.
But Jonathan had not heard when his father adjured the people; and he put forth the end of his staff which was in his hand, and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes became bright. Then answered one of the people and said, Thy father strictly adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth food this day; and the people are faint.
But the men of Israel were distressed that day. Now Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth food until evening, and [until] I am avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted food.
And it shall be, that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burned with fire, he and all that he hath, because he hath transgressed the covenant of Jehovah, and because he hath wrought wickedness in Israel.
But the children of Israel committed unfaithfulness in that which had been brought under the curse: Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing; and the anger of Jehovah was kindled against the children of Israel.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 23
Commentary on Acts 23 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 23
The close of the foregoing chapter left Paul in the high priest's court, into which the chief captain (whether to his advantage or no I know not) had removed his cause from the mob; and, if his enemies act there against him with less noise, yet it is with more subtlety. Now here we have,
Act 23:1-5
Perhaps when Paul was brought, as he often was (corpus cum causa-the person and the cause together), before heathen magistrates and councils, where he and his cause were slighted, because not at all understood, he thought, if he were brought before the sanhedrim at Jerusalem, he should be able to deal with them to some good purpose, and yet we do not find that he works at all upon them. Here we have,
Act 23:6-11
Many are the troubles of the righteous, but some way or other the Lord delivereth them out of them all. Paul owned he had experienced the truth of this in the persecutions he had undergone among the Gentiles (see 2 Tim. 3:11): Out of them all the Lord delivered me. 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.
Act 23:12-35
We have here the story of a plot against the life of Paul; how it was laid, how it was discovered, and how it was defeated.