And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul.
which some · relative pronoun — nominative plural masculine
came
προσελθόντεςproselthontes
G4334
to approach · verb — second aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
priests
ἀρχιερεῦσινarchiereusin
G749
the high-priest (literally · noun — dative plural masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
elders
πρεσβυτέροιςpresbuterois
G4245
older · noun — dative plural masculine
said
εἶπαν·eipan
G2036
to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
bound
ἀνεθεματίσαμενanethematisamen
G332
to declare or vow under penalty of execration · verb — aorist active indicative, 1st person plural
ourselves
ἑαυτοὺςhe'autous
G1438
him- (her- · reflexive pronoun
curse
ἀναθέματιanathemati
G331
a (religious) ban or (concretely) excommunicated (thing… · noun — dative singular neuter
eat
γεύσασθαιgeusasthai
G1089
to taste · verb — aorist middle deponent infinitive
nothing
μηδενὸςmēdenos
G3367
not even one (man · adjective — genitive singular neuter
until
ἕωςhe'ōs
G2193
a conjunction · preposition
slain
ἀποκτείνωμενapokteinōmen
G615
to kill outright · verb — present active subjunctive, 1st person plural
Paul
Παῦλον.Paulon
G3972
(little · noun — accusative singular masculine, a proper name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 23:12 And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink t…
Jeremiah 8:12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fal…
Psalms 52:1-2 Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.
Isaiah 3:9 The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for the…
Hosea 4:9 And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.
Micah 7:3 That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mi…
Jeremiah 6:15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fal…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 23:12–end
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.
I. How this plot was laid. They found they could gain nothing by popular tumult, or legal process, and therefore have a recourse to the barbarous method of assassination; they will come upon him suddenly, and stab him, if they can but get him within their reach. So restless is their malice against this good man that, when one design fails, they will turn another stone. Now observe here,
1. Who they were that formed this conspiracy. They were certain Jews that had the utmost degree of indignation against him because he was the apostle of the Gentiles, Act 23:12. And they…
bound themselves under a curse . . . that they would neither eat . . . fill they had killed Paul--Compare Sa2 3:35; Sa1 14:24.
Adam Clarke on Acts 23:12
That they would neither eat nor drink, etc. - These forty Jews were no doubt of the class of the sicarii mentioned before, (similar to those afterwards called assassins), a class of fierce zealots, who took justice into their own hand; and who thought they had a right to despatch all those who, according to their views, were not orthodox in their religious principles. If these were, in their bad way, conscientious men, must they not all perish through hunger, as God put it out of their power to accomplish their vow? No: for the doctrine of sacerdotal absolution was held among the Jews as among the Papists: hence it is said, in Hieros. Avodah Zarah, fol. 40: "He that hath made a vow not to ea…
And they came to the chief priests, and elders,.... Who were members of the sanhedrim, to acquaint them with their designs:
and said, we have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul: these chief priests and elders, had they acted according to the character they bore, on such an information, would have taken up those men, and punished them, at least would have dissuaded them from so vile an action; but they knew the men to whom they applied, and very likely they were all of them of the sect of the Sadducees, whom Paul had so much offended the day before; and therefore were pleased with what they had done, approved of their scheme, and readily fe…
The Church Fathers
And yet they ought to have come to the tribune, ought to have laid a charge, and assembled a court of justice: for these are not the doings for priests, but for captains of banditti, these are not the doings for rulers, but for ruffians. They endeavor also to corrupt the ruler: but it was providentially ordered, to the intent that he also should learn of their plot. For not only by their having nothing to say, but also by their secret attempt, they convicted themselves that they were naught.
"We have bound ourselves," they say, "under a curse, that we will not eat nor drink." What is all this zeal? "That he may bring him down," it says, "unto you, as though ye would enquire into his case more perfectly." Has he not twice made a speech unto you? has he not said that he is a Pharisee? What would ye have over and above this? So reckless were they and afraid of nothing, not tribunals, not laws: such their hardihood which shrunk from nothing. They both declare their purpose, and announce the way of carrying it into effect.
For such is the nature of that nation: when there needs concerting together for a good object, not even two concur with each other: but when it is for an evil object, the entire people does it. And they admit the rulers also as accomplices. "And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul. Now therefore ye with the council signify to the tribune that he bring him down unto you to-morrow, as though ye would enquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Anathema — Anything laid up or suspended; hence anything laid up in a temple or set apart as sacred. In this sense the form of the word is anath(ee)ma, once in plural used in the Greek New Testament, in Luke…
Claudius Lysius · Sends Paul to Felix — Sends Paul to Felix
Conspiracy · .Paul — .Paul
Hatred · Exemplified: The Jews — Exemplified: The Jews
Malice · 8:44;18:22,23; — 8:44;18:22,23;
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Acts 23:10-16
10. And when there arose a sore dissension among them, the chief captain feared lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces by them, and he commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him from them, and to bring him into the camp, 11. And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, lie of good courage, Paul: for as thou hast borne witness of me at Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness of me at Rome also. 12. And when it was day, certain of the Jews gathered themselves together, and bound themselves with a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. 13. And there were more than forty men which had made this conspiracy. 14. And they…
The plan to kill Paul was desperate, as a group of . . . more than forty took an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul (cp. 1 Sam 14:24-46; Matt 14:6-11; see also Deut 23:21-23; Matt 5:33-37; Jas 5:12).
