Acts 23:16

And when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
when	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
Paul’s	Παύλου Paulou	G3972	(little · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
sister’s	ἀδελφῆς adelphēs	G79	a sister (naturally or ecclesiastically) · noun — genitive singular feminine
son	υἱὸς huios	G5207	a "son" (sometimes of animals) · noun — nominative singular masculine
heard	Ἀκούσας Akousas	G191	to hear (in various senses) · verb — aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
wait	ἔνεδρον énedron	G1749	an ambush
went	παραγενόμενος paragenomenos	G3854	to become near · verb — second aorist middle deponent participle, nominative singular masculine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
entered	εἰσελθὼν eiselthōn	G1525	to enter (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
into	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
castle	παρεμβολὴν parembolēn	G3925	a throwing in beside (juxtaposition) · noun — accusative singular feminine
told	ἀπήγγειλεν apēngeilen	G518	to announce · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
Paul	Παύλῳ. Paulō	G3972	(little · noun — dative 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 23:10 And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldi…
1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
Job 5:13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
Proverbs 21:30 There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.
Lamentations 3:37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
Acts 23:32 On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the castle:
2 Samuel 17:17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel; for they might not be seen to come into the city: and a wench went and told them; and they went…
Acts 21:34 And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude: and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be…

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…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 23:16

Paul's sister's son--(See on Act 9:30). If he was at this time residing at Jerusalem for his education, like Paul himself, he may have got at the schools those hints of the conspiracy on which he so promptly acted.

Adam Clarke on Acts 23:16

Paul's sister's son - This is all we know of Paul's family. And we know not how this young man got to Jerusalem; the family, no doubt, still resided at Tarsus.

John Gill on Acts 23:16

And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait,.... Paul might have a sister living in Jerusalem; or this her son might be there on account of his studies; he might be a pupil to one of the doctors, by which means he might come at this secret, that such a number of men were in ambush, in order to take away his uncle's life: wherefore having got intelligence of it, he went and entered into the castle; the Alexandrian copy reads, "the synagogue"; but Paul was not there, but in the castle of Antonia; the Ethiopic version renders it, "the prison"; though it is plain that he was not very closely confined, it was easy to have access to him; the reason might be, not only because he was…

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The Church Fathers

Again human forethought is saved. See, Paul allowed nobody to learn of this, not even the centurion, so that the matter might not be divulged. Instead, the centurion took him and brought him to the tribune. The tribune rightly ordered that he be hidden, so that the matter would remain secret. Then he told the centurions what had to be done.
— John Chrysostom, CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 23.17-21

"And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul." This was of God's providence, their not perceiving that it would be heard. What then did Paul? he was not alarmed, but perceived that this was God's doing: and casting all upon Him, so he acquits himself from further concern about it.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 49

"Paul's sister's son heard of it." This was of God's providence, their not perceiving that it would be heard. What then did Paul? he was not alarmed, but perceived that this was God's doing: and casting all upon Him, so he acquits himself from further concern about it: "having called one of the centurions," etc. He told of the plot, he was believed; he is saved.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 49

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

Paul — =Saul (q.v.) was born about the same time as our Lord. His circumcision-name was Saul, and probably the name Paul was also given to him in infancy “for use in the Gentile world,” as “Saul” would be…
Castle · A tower — A tower
Claudius Lysius · Sends Paul to Felix — Sends Paul to Felix
Friendship · .Paul and his nephew — .Paul and his nephew

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 23:16

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 23:12–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 23:16

Adam Clarke on Acts 23:16

John Gill on Acts 23:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Acts 23:16

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 23:12–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 23:16

Adam Clarke on Acts 23:16

John Gill on Acts 23:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Acts 23:10-16

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Acts 23:16-22