35 I will give hearing to your cause, he said, when those who are against you have come. And he gave orders for him to be kept in Herod's Praetorium.
And when news was given to me that a secret design was being made against the man, I sent him straight away to you, giving orders to those who are against him to make their statements before you.
To whom I gave answer that it is not the Roman way to give a man up, till he has been face to face with those who are attacking him, and has had a chance to give an answer to the statements made against him.
Now when the birth of Jesus took place in Beth-lehem of Judaea, in the days of Herod the king, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
And when it came to the ears of Herod the king, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was very angry; and he sent out, and put to death all the male children in Beth-lehem and in all the parts round about it, from two years old and under, acting on the knowledge which he had got with care from the wise men.
So they took Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the Praetorium. It was early. They themselves did not go into the Praetorium, so that they might not become unclean, but might take the Passover.
And after five days, the high priest, Ananias, came with certain of the rulers, and an expert talker, one Tertullus; and they made a statement to Felix against Paul.
And it would have been better if they had come here to make a statement, if they have anything against me.
But Felix, who had a more detailed knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, When Lysias, the chief captain, comes down, I will give attention to your business.
But after some days, Felix came with Drusilla his wife, who was of the Jews by birth, and sent for Paul, and gave hearing to him about faith in Christ Jesus. And while he was talking about righteousness and self-control and the judging which was to come, Felix had great fear and said, Go away for the present, and when the right time comes I will send for you. For he was hoping that Paul would give him money: so he sent for him more frequently and had talk with him. But after two years Porcius Festus took the place of Felix, who, desiring to have the approval of the Jews, kept Paul in chains.
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.