Acts 23:22

23:12-24 False religious principles, adopted by carnal men, urge on to such wickedness, as human nature would hardly be supposed capable of. Yet the Lord readily disappoints the best concerted schemes of iniquity. Paul knew that the Divine providence acts by reasonable and prudent means; and that, if he neglected to use the means in his power, he could not expect God's providence to work on his behalf. He who will not help himself according to his means and power, has neither reason nor revelation to assure him that he shall receive help from God. Believing in the Lord, we and ours shall be kept from every evil work, and kept to his kingdom. Heavenly Father, give us by thy Holy Spirit, for Christ's sake, this precious faith.

So the chief captain then let the young man depart,.... After he had had the account from him, and was master of the whole affair: and charged him, see thou tell no man that thou hast showed these things to me; which was prudently said; it was a right and wise thing to conceal this matter, that the men might go on with their designs, and an opportunity be taken to convey Paul away, before the time came fixed by them to execute them; for otherwise, should it have been known that their plot was discovered, they would have entered upon new measures.

The chief captain shows by this his care, both for St. Paul, and for the young man too; for had it been known that he had discovered their conspiracy, they would have sought his life, and might divers ways have taken it away; and as for Paul, being disappointed in this, they would have made other attempts against him.

Verse 20. - Stephen thy witness for thy martyr Stephen , A.V.; consenting for consenting unto his death , A.V. and T.R.; keeping the garments for kept the raiment , A.V. Consenting ; συνευδοκῶν (above, Acts 8:1 ; Luke 11:48 ; Romans 1:32 ; 1 Corinthians 7:12, 13 ). It is also found in 1 Macc. 1:60; 2 Macc. 11:34, 35. Of them that slew him ( τῶν ἀναιρούν των αὐτόν ). Ἀναιρέω , in the sense of "to kill," is a favorite word of St. Luke's ( Luke 22:2 ; Luke 23:32 ; Acts 2:23 ; Acts 5:33, 36 ; Acts 7:28 ; Acts 9:23, 24, 29 ; Acts 10:39 ; Acts 12:2 ; Acts 13:28 ; Acts 16:27 ; Acts 22:20 ; Acts 23:15, 21, 27 ; Acts 25:3 ; Acts 26:10 ); but elsewhere in the New Testament only Matthew 2:16 and 2 Thessalonians 2:8 , R.T. It is frequent in the LXX. and also in medical writers in the sense of "taking away" or " removing." Acts 22:20

22 . So the chief captain then let the young man depart ] There is but one conjunction in the original, which is doubly rendered here by So and then . It is better to omit the latter. and charged him, See thou tell no man , &c.] The Rev. Ver. has “charging him, Tell no man, &c.” The Greek is literally “charging him to tell, &c.” but though this is correct enough in Greek when a sentence like “that thou hast shewed, &c.” is to follow it cannot stand in English; so for the infinitive “to tell” an imperative or its equivalent must be substituted. The A. V. has taken the one, the Rev. Ver. the other way of rendering. that thou hast shewed [ Rev. Ver. signified] &c.] This change is made because the same word was so rendered in Acts 23:15 .

(22) So the chief captain. —The chiliarch is obviously glad of the intelligence. His sympathies are clearly with St. Paul personally as against the high priest and his followers. He welcomes an opportunity for showing his zeal for the safe-keeping of a Roman citizen, and for making a statement of the whole transaction from his own point of view. With true official caution he treats the communication he has received as confidential, and takes his measures accordingly.

Acts 23:22 . ἐκλαλῆσαι , Jdt 11:9 (but al [374]), “to divulge,” here only in N.T., but in classical Greek, and in Philo. As in i. 4, transition to oratio recta , cf. Luke 5:14 , Mark 6:9 , etc., very common in Greek prose, Winer-Moulton, lxiii., ii., 2, Blass, Gram. , p. 280. [374] Alford’s Greek Testament .