Acts 23:21

Act 23:21. Μὴ πεισθῇς) do not comply with their request.—ἕτοιμοι, ready) to kill him.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_23:21-22. And now (καὶ νῦν, see Hartung, Partikell. I. p. 135) they are in readiness to put into execution the ἀνελεῖν αὐτόν (comp. Act_23:15), expecting that on thy part the promise (to have Paul brought on the morrow to the Sanhedrim) will take place.

ἐπαγγ. is neither jussum (Münthe, Rosenmüller) nor nuntius (Beza, Camerarius, Grotius, Alberti, Wolf; Henry Stephanus even conjectured ἀπαγγ.), but, according to its constant meaning in the N.T., promissio.

ἐκλαλ.] he commanded to tell it, to divulge it, to no one. Comp. Dem. 354. 23; Jdt_7:9; not elsewhere in N.T.

ἐνεφ. πρός με] Oratio variata. See on Act_1:4.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 23:21 . ἐνεδρ .: only in Luke in N.T., Luk 11:54 , with the accusative also in classical Greek, and several times in LXX, 1Ma 5:4 , Jos., Ant. , v., 2, 12. καὶ νῦν , see on Act 20:22 . προσδεχ .: only once elsewhere in Acts, Act 24:15 , probably in same sense as here, so R.V. text. In the Gospels, the word is found once in Mar 15:43 (= Luk 23:51 ), and five times in Luke, four times translated in R.V. as here; Luk 2:25 ; Luk 2:38 ; Luk 12:36 ; Luk 23:51 , cf. also Tit 2:13 , Jud 1:21 , and Wis 18:7 , 2Ma 8:11 . In classical Greek two meanings as in N.T.: (1) to accept, receive favourably, (2) to wish for or expect a thing. ἐπαγγελίαν : only here in N.T. of a human promise, see above on Act 1:4 , cf. Est 1:7Est 1:7 , Est 4:7 , 1Ma 10:15 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee--Thus, as is so often the case with God's people, not till the last moment, when the plot was all prepared, did deliverance come.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

21. But do not thou yield unto them] More literally, “Do not thou therefore yield, &c.” (with Rev. Ver.).

which have bound themselves with an oath] The Greek is the same as in Act_23:12. It is better therefore to render as there “bound themselves under a curse.” Beside which, the invocation implied in the original is much stronger than is indicated by our English “oath.” And to vary the English rendering gives an idea of variation in the Greek, which in one continuous narrative should be avoided.

looking for a promise] Rev. Ver. “the promise” i.e. the one which they are coming to ask you to make.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

21 But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee.

Ver. 21. Which have bound themselves] Gr. ανεθεματισαν, wished themselves dead, or given up to the devil, except they brought their purpose to pass; and likely enough they had their wish, for they missed their purpose. Cursing men are cursed men. See Act 23:17.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Looking for a promise from thee - Waiting for your consent to bring him down to them.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Do not thou yield unto them; this the young man desires out of his care for his uncle’s (Paul’s) preservation, as also touched with the horror of the fact if it should have been executed; and howsoever, by this means he delivers his own soul, having done his utmost to hinder it.

Now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee; the match is laid, the hand is as it were lifted up, nothing is wanting to Paul’s destruction but the chief captain’s consent, which the Jews assuredly expected, it being but a small courtesy to grant them, to examine a prisoner, especially such a one as upon their complaint was committed in a case cognizable by them: but, Deus e machina, Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand; for God is with us, Isa 8:10.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Do not thou therefore for but do not thou, A.V.; under a curse for with an oath, A.V.; neither to eat nor to drink for that they will neither eat nor drink, A.V.; slain for killed, A.V.; the for a (promise), A.V. Do not yield (mh peisqhv); be not persuaded by them; do not assent unto them. (see Luk_16:6; Act_5:40 Act_17:4, etc.) The promise, etc.; thn ajpoan. The word occurs above fifty times in the New Testament, and is always rendered "promise" in the A.V., except in 1Jn_1:5, where it is rendered both in the A.V. and the R.V. "message," which is the literal meaning of the word. In Polybius it means "a summons." Either of these meanings suits this passage better than "promise."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes on verse 17

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. σὺ οὖν μὴ πεισθῇς αὐτοῖς, do not thou therefore yield to them. The οὖν refers to the idea of a scheme in which the chief captain was to be made use of; this has only been suggested in the previous verse, not directly stated.

ἀνεθεμάτισαν ἑαυτούς, they have bound themselves under a curse. Cf. Act 23:12 above.

προσδεχόμενοι τὴν ἀπὸ σοῦ ἐπαγγελίαν, looking for the promise from thee, i.e. which they are coming to try and induce thee to make to them.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. (τὴν) ἐπαγγελίαν] not, ‘an order’ (as Rosenm., al.), nor ‘a message’ (as Grot., Beza, Wolf, al.): but the [not a, as E. V.] promise (to that effect): as constantly in N. T.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Have bound themselves. "If we should wonder how, so early in the morning, after the long discussion in the Sanhedrim, which must have occupied a considerable part of the day, more than forty men should have been found banded together, under an anathema, neither to eat nor to drink till they had killed Paul; and, still more, how such a conspiracy, or, rather, conjuration, which, in the nature of it, would be kept a profound secret, should have become known to Paul 's sister's son - the circumstances of the case furnish a sufficient explanation. The Pharisees were avowedly a fraternity or guild; and they, or some of their kindred fraternities, would furnish the ready material for such a band, to whom this additional vow would be nothing new or strange, and, murderous though it sounded, only seem a further carrying out of the principles of their order. Again, since the wife and all the children of a member were ipso facto members of the guild, and Paul 's father had been a Pharisee (ver. 6), Paul 's sister also would, by virtue of her birth, belong to the fraternity, even irrespective of the probability that, in accordance with the principles of the party, she would have married into a Pharisaical family" (Edersheim, " Jewish Social Life ").

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.