9 And there was a great outcry: and some of the scribes on the side of the Pharisees got up and took part in the discussion, saying, We see no evil in this man: what if he has had a revelation from an angel or a spirit?
And it came about that when I had come back to Jerusalem, while I was at prayer in the Temple, my senses became more than naturally clear, And I saw him saying to me, Go out of Jerusalem straight away because they will not give hearing to your witness about me.
And when I went down on the earth, a voice came to my ears saying to me, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly?
And when they had gone away they said to one another, This man has done nothing which might give cause for death or prison.
But, in my opinion, there is no cause of death in him, and as he himself has made a request to be judged by Caesar, I have said that I would send him.
And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was taking food with the tax-farmers and sinners, said to his disciples, Why does he take food and drink with such men?
And when we had all gone down on the earth, a voice came to me, saying in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly? It is hard for you to go against the impulse which is driving you. And I said, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are attacking. But get up on your feet: for I have come to you for this purpose, to make you a servant and a witness of the things in which you have seen me, and of those in which you will see me; And I will keep you safe from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, To make their eyes open, turning them from the dark to the light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may have forgiveness of sins and a heritage among those who are made holy by faith in me. So, then, King Agrippa, I did not go against the vision from heaven;
For this night there came to my side an angel of the God who is my Master and whose servant I am,
Now when David had said these words to Saul, Saul said, Is this your voice, David, my son? And Saul was overcome with weeping.
If then God gave them, when they had faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the same as he gave to us, who was I to go against God?
And he went down on the earth, and a voice said to him, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly?
And he said to them a third time, Why, what evil has he done? I see no reason for putting him to death: I will give him punishment and let him go.
You say that this man has been teaching the people evil things: now I, after going into the question before you, see nothing wrong in this man in connection with the things which you have said against him: And Herod is of the same opinion, for he has sent him back to us; for, you see, he has done nothing for which I might put him to death.
And the Pharisees and their scribes made protests against his disciples, saying, Why do you take food and drink with tax-farmers and sinners?
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.