35 he said, I will hear thee fully when thine accusers also are arrived. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's praetorium.
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.]
to whom I answered, It is not [the] custom of the Romans to give up any man before that the accused have the accusers face to face, and he have got opportunity of defence touching the charge.
Now Jesus having been born in Bethlehem of Judaea, in the days of Herod the king, behold magi from the east arrived at Jerusalem, saying,
But Herod the king having heard [of it], was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;
Then Herod, seeing that he had been mocked by the magi, was greatly enraged; and sent and slew all the boys which [were] in Bethlehem, and in all its borders, from two years and under, according to the time which he had accurately inquired from the magi.
They lead therefore Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium; and it was early morn. And *they* entered not into the praetorium, that they might not be defiled, but eat the passover.
And after five days came down the high priest Ananias, with the elders, and a certain orator called Tertullus, and laid their informations against Paul before the governor.
who ought to appear before thee and accuse, if they have anything against me;
And Felix, knowing accurately the things concerning the way, adjourned them, saying, When Lysias the chiliarch is come down I will determine your affair;
And after certain days, Felix having arrived with Drusilla his wife, who was a Jewess, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned concerning righteousness, and temperance, and the judgment about to come, Felix, being filled with fear, answered, Go for the present, and when I get an opportunity I will send for thee; hoping at the same time that money would be given him by Paul: wherefore also he sent for him the oftener and communed with him. But when two years were completed, Felix was relieved by Porcius Festus as his successor; and Felix, desirous to oblige the Jews, to acquire their favour, left Paul bound.
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.