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.
The chief priests agreed to murder, they prove themselves without fear of God or common humanity. To take a man from the judge's hands and slay him is to rage as murderers in the very seat of judgment itself. No godly affection, no human feeling could have permitted such wickedness.
AI summary
Malice that cannot gain its end by tumult or law will turn to the knife. Forty men bound themselves by oath to murder Paul, their hearts filled with hatred because he preached to Gentiles. Satan had stirred them in the night; by daylight they were ready to kill. But Christ appeared to Paul in darkness to shield him, and God was awake before His enemies rose.
AI summary
Commenting on Acts 23:12-35
They wanted the sanhedrim convened so the captain would bring Paul down from the castle, supposedly for further inquiry. But their true intent was to ambush him between the fortress and temple, where they lay waiting to murder him far from either place, keeping their hands clean.
AI summary