Acts 23:3

23:3 you corrupt hypocrite: Cp. Ezek 13:10-17; Matt 23:27.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Act 23:3. Τύπτειν μέλλει, shall smite thee) Retribution in kind is predicted by Paul.—τοῖχε κεκονιαμένε) Thou whited wall, having outside a white coating of chalk, but within clay. The chalk is the appearance and colour of justice; the part within is injustice. The High Priest himself had his eyes so dulled (held fast) by the whiteness of that chalk, that he embraced wrong rather than right. Perhaps also he had hoary hairs or a white robe.—καὶ, dost thou also) Καὶ in the very beginning of a reproving speech is equivalent to therefore: but here at the beginning, it has the strict meaning, also. Dost thou also, not merely the rest; thou, who dost wish to be looked upon as a defender of the law.

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

Act_23:3. The words contain truth freely expressed in righteous apostolic indignation, and require no excuse, but carry in themselves (καὶ σὺ κάθῃ κ.τ.λ.) their own justification. Yet here, in comparison with the calm meekness and self-renunciation of Jesus (Joh_18:22; comp. Mat_5:39), the ebullition of a vehement temperament is not to be mistaken.

τύπτειν[143] σὲ μέλλει ὁ Θεός is not to be understood as an imprecation (Camerarius, Bolten, Kuinoel), butfor which the categorical μέλλει is decisiveas a prophetic announcement of future certain retribution; although it would be arbitrary withal to assume that Paul must have been precisely aware of the destruction of Ananias as it afterwards in point of fact occurred (he was murdered in the Jewish war by sicarii, Joseph. Bell. ii. 17. 9).

τοῖχε κεκον.] figurative designation of the hypocrite, inasmuch as he, with his concealed wickedness, resembles a wall beautifully whitened without, but composed of rotten materials within. See Senec. de provid. 6; Ep. 115; Suicer, Thes. II. p. 144. Comp. Mat_23:27.

καὶ σύ] thou too, even thou, who yet as high priest shouldest have administered thine office quite otherwise than at such variance with its nature.

κρίνων] comprises the official capacity, in which the high priest sits there; hence it is not, with Kuinoel, to be taken in a future sense, nor, with Henry Stephanus, Pricaeus, and Valckenaer, to be accented κρινῶν. The classical παρανομεῖν, to act contrary to the law, is not elsewhere found in the N.T.

[143] Observe the prefixing of tie τύπτειν, which returns the blow just received in a higher sense on the high priest. That the command of the high priest was not executed (Baumgarten, Trip), is an entirely arbitrary assumption. Luke would have mentioned it, because otherwise the reader could not but understand the execution as having ensued.

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 23:3 . Wetstein sees in the words the customary formula of malediction among the Jews. But we need not regard Paul’s words as an imprecation of evil on the high priest, but only an expression of the firm belief that such conduct would meet with punishment, cf. Knabenbauer, in loco. The terrible death of Ananias was a fulfilment of the words. On the paronomasia and other instances of the same figure see Blass, Gram. , p. 292. τοῖχε κεκον ., cf. Mat 23:27 , Luk 11:44 , the expression may have been proverbial, in LXX, cf. Pro 21:9 . A contrast has been drawn between St. Paul’s conduct and that of our Lord under provocation, as, e.g. , by St. Jerome, Adv. Pelag. , iii., 1, but there were occasions when Christ spoke with righteous indignation, and never more severely than when He was condemning the same sin which St. Paul censured hypocrisy. καὶ σύ , emphatic, cf. Mar 4:13 , Luk 10:29 . καὶ at the commencement of a question expressing indignation or astonishment (Page). κάθῃ κρίνων , later form for κάθησαι , cf. for the phrase Luk 22:30 . παρανομῶν : only here in N.T., but cf. LXX, Psa 75:4 , 118:51; the verb also occurs several times in 4 Macc.

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

It is lawful for us to complain of injuries, and to summon the wicked to the judgment seat of God, so that we do it without hatred, and with a quiet and peaceable mind.

It appeareth plainly by the Greek plural, that Paul did not curse the high Priest, but only pronounce the punishment of God against him.

This is a vehement and sharp speech, but yet not reproachful: For the godly may speak roundly, and yet be void of the bitter affection of a sharp and angry mind.

For the Law commandeth the judge to hear the person that is accused patiently, and to pronounce the sentence advisedly.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

God shall smite thee--as indeed He did; for he was killed by an assassin during the Jewish war [JOSEPHUS, Wars of the Jews, 2.17.9].

thou whited wall--that is, hypocrite (Mat 23:27). This epithet, however correctly describing the man, must not be defended as addressed to a judge, though the remonstrance which follows--"for sittest thou," &c.--ought to have put him to shame.

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

Verse 3. God shall smite thee, thou whited wall] Thou hypocrite! who sittest on the seat of judgment, pretending to hear and seriously weigh the defense of an accused person, who must in justice and equity be presumed to be innocent till he is proved to be guilty; and, instead of acting according to the law, commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law, which always has the person of the prisoner under its protection; nor ever suffers any penalty to be inflicted but what is prescribed as the just punishment for the offense. As if he had said: "Thinkest thou that God will suffer such an insult on his laws, on justice, and on humanity, to pass unpunished?"

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. God shall smite thee. Paul cannot put up that injury, but he must, at least, with sharp words reprehend the high priest, and denounce God’s vengeance unto him. For it is no curse, as appeareth sufficiently by the Greek text, but rather a reprehension, joined with the denouncing of a punishment. If any man object, that Paul did not use that modesty which Christ commandeth his to use, when he commandeth them after they have received a blow on the left cheek to turn the right cheek also, (Matthew 5:39) we may readily answer, that Christ doth not in these words require silence, whereby the wickedness and frowardness of the wicked may be nourished; but he doth only bridle their minds, that they may not take that injury, which they have already received, impatiently. Christ will have those that be his to be ready to suffer another injury after that they have already received one; and by this means he represseth all desire of revenge. This is a brief and true definition of patience which beseemeth all the faithful, that they break not out into wrathfulness, that they do not one evil turn for another; but that they overcome evil with goodness. But this is no let but that they may complain of those injuries which they have suffered, but that they may reprove the wicked, and cite them to the judgment-seat of God; so they do this with quiet and calm minds; and, secondly, without evil will and hatred; as Paul appealeth, in this place, unto God’s judgment-seat, that the high priest may not flatter himself in his tyranny. Therefore he accuseth him, because he breaketh the law, from which (as he pretendeth) he hath his authority; whence he gathereth, that he shall not escape unpunished.

If any man, being overcome with impatience, do but murmur, he shall not be blameless. But a manifest and sharp accusation, if it proceed from a quiet mind, doth not pass the bounds set down by Christ. If any man say that it is mixed with railing, I answer, that we must always mark with what affection the words be uttered. Christ pronounceth that man to be worthy to be punished by the council who shall only say to his brother raca; and as for him who shall say thou fool, he maketh him subject to a more heavy judgment (Matthew 5:22). But if opportunity be offered to reprove, we must oftentimes reprehend sharply. Whereby it appeareth, that this only was Christ’s drift to keep back his, first, from all indignation, secondly, from speaking anything in despite of any man. Therefore, let us beware of railing, and then we may not only note in our brethren foolishness, but also it shall be lawful for us to express their offenses by their names when need shall be. So Paul did not speak for his own sake, that he might, with sharp words, requite the injury done to him by the high priest; but because he was a minister of the word of God, he would not wink at an offense which did deserve sharp and serious reprehension; especially seeing it was profitable to bring to light the gross hypocrisy of Ananias. Therefore, so often as we have any dealings with the wicked, if we be desirous to handle a good cause well, we must beware that there break out in us no motion of anger, that no desire of revenge provoke us to break out into railing. But if the spirit of meekness reign in us, we may handle the wicked according to their deserts, as it were out of the mouth of God; yet so that it may appear that we be rather prophets, than that we blunder out anything rashly through immoderate heat.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(3) God shall smite thee, thou whited wall.—The phrase is interesting as showing either that our Lord, in likening the Pharisees to “whitened sepulchers” (see Notes on Mat_23:27; Luk_11:44), had used a proverbial comparison, or else, as seems equally probable, that it had become proverbial among His disciples as having been so used by Him. The whole utterance must be regarded by St. Paul’s own confession as the expression of a hasty indignation, recalled after a moment’s reflection; but the words so spoken were actually a prophecy, fulfilled some years after by the death of Ananias by the hands of the sicarii. (Jos. Wars, ii. 17, §§ 2-9).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. God shall smite thee, thou whited wall] Here we may see how very far even the excellence of St Paul comes short of the behaviour of the Divine Master, who when he suffered threatened not, and when reviled, reviled not again. We need not however consider that St Paul’s language here was a wish for evil upon the high priest, but only an expression of confidence in God that such conduct as that of Ananias would not be allowed to go unpunished. We know from Josephus (Wars, ii. 17. 9) that Ananias did come to a violent end. St Paul calls him “whited wall” because he bore the semblance of a minister of justice, but was not what he seemed. Cp. “whited sepulchres” (Mat_23:27).

for sittest thou, &c.] The original has merely the copulative conjunction, which the Rev. Ver. consequently represents by “and sittest thou, &c.” The translation misses the force of the Greek, which has the pronoun emphatically expressed. The connexion seems to be this. The Apostle had just named the high priest “a whited wall;” he then continues “and dost thou (such an one) sit, &c.”

after the law] i.e. according to the law (as Rev. Ver.). Cp. Pr. Bk. “Deal not with us after our sins.”

contrary to the law] For St Paul had not yet been heard. Cp. Joh_7:51.

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.

Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee,.... Which may be considered either as a prophecy of what would be, that God would smite him with some judgment here, or with death quickly, or with eternal damnation hereafter; taking up his own words, and suggesting that a retaliation would be made, and that the measure he meted, would be measured to him again; or else as an imprecation upon him; for the words may be rendered, "may God smite thee"; the future tense being often used by the Jews for the imperative, and that in this very phrase; for certain it is, that this is the form of an imprecation with them: for it is said, if anyone should say, , "may God smite", or "so may God smite"; this is "a curse", written in the law (p); though this instance of the apostle ought not to be drawn into example, any more than those of other saints, who might be under a direction of the Holy Ghost to deliver out such things, which would come to pass in righteous judgment: and if this was Ananias, the son of Nebedaeus, as is generally thought, it is remarkable, that five years after this, in the beginning of the wars of the Jews with the Romans, this Ananias, hiding himself under the ruins of a conduit, was discovered, and taken out, and killed (q): and no doubt but he very fitly calls him

thou whited wall; or hypocrite, in like manner as Christ compares the hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees to whited sepulchres, Mat 23:27.

for sittest thou to judge me after the law; the law of Moses, which was the rule of judgment in the sanhedrim, at least professed to be, and which was allowed of by the Romans, especially in matters relating to the Jewish religion:

and commandest me to be smitten contrary to law? which condemns no man before he is heard, and much less punishes him, Joh 7:51 and which is contrary not only to the Jewish laws, but to the Roman laws, and all others founded upon the law of nature and reason.

(p) Misn. Shebuot, c. 4. sect. 13. & Maimon. in ib. (q) Joseph. de Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 17. sect. 9.

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

3 Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?

Ver. 3. God shall smite thee] He was afterwards cruelly slain by Manaimus, a captain of the Jews in the beginning of the Jewish wars. As Master Bradford went towards the stake, he was met by a brother-in-law of his, called Roger Beswick, which as soon as he had taken Bradford by the hand, Woodroof, sheriff of London, came with his staff and brake the said Roger’s head, that the blood ran about his shoulders. But within half a year after, God so struck Woodroof on the right side with a palsy, or whatever it was, that for eight years’ time, to his dying day, he was not able to turn himself in his bed, &c.

Thou whited wall] That is, thou hypocrite, Mat 23:27. So Master Philpot, martyr, to Doctor Morgan that scoffed him, I must now tell thee (said he), thou painted wall and hypocrite, that God shall rain fire and brimstone upon such scorners of his word and blasphemers of his people as thou art. What an arrogant fool is this (said Bonner to Philpot), I will handle thee like a heretic, and that shortly. I fear nothing (answered Philpot) that you can do to me; but God shall destroy such as thou art; and that shortly, as I trust. So when Shaxton, Bishop of Salisbury, said to William Wolsey, martyr, and some others with him, Good brethren, remember yourselves and become new men; for I myself was in this fond opinion that you are now in, but I am become a new man; Wolsey replied, Ah, you are become a new man! Woe be to thee, thou wicked new man; for God shall justly judge thee, &c.

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.

God shall smite thee - God shall punish thee. God is just; and he will not suffer such a manifest violation of all the laws of a fair trial to pass unavenged. This was a remarkably bold and fearless declaration. Paul was surrounded by enemies. They were seeking his life. He must have known that such declarations would only excite their wrath and make them more thirsty for his blood. That he could thus address the president of the council was not only strongly characteristic of the man, but was also a strong proof that he was conscious of innocence, and that justice was on his side. This expression of Paul, “God shall smite thee,” is not to be regarded in the light of an imprecatio, or as an expression of angry feeling, but of a prediction, or of a strong conviction on the mind of Paul that a man so hypocritical and unjust as Ananias was could not escape the vengeance of God. Ananias was slain, with Hezekiah his brother, during the agitation that occurred in Jerusalem when the robbers, or Sicarii, under their leader, Manahem, had taken possession of the city. He attempted to conceal himself in an aqueduct, but was drawn forth and killed. See Josephus, Jewish Wars, book 2, chapter 17, section 8. Thus, Paul’s prediction was fulfilled.

Thou whited wall - This is evidently a proverbial expression, meaning thou hypocrite. His hypocrisy consisted in the fact that while he pretended to sit there to do justice, he commanded the accused to be smitten in direct violation of the Law, thus showing that his character was not what he professed it to be, but that of one determined to carry the purposes of his party and of his own feelings. Our Saviour used a similar expression to describe the hypocritical character of the Pharisees Mat 23:27, when he compares them to whited sepulchres. A whited wall is a wall or enclosure that is covered with lime or gypsum, and that thus appears to be different from what it is, and thus aptly describes the hypocrite. Seneca (De Providentia, chapter 6) uses a similar figure to describe hypocrites: “They are sordid, base, and like their walls adorned only externally.” See also Seneca, Epis. 115.

For sittest thou ... - The Law required that justice should be done, and in order to that, it gave every man an opportunity of defending himself. See the note, Joh 7:51. Compare Pro 18:13; Lev 19:15-16; Exo 23:1-2; Deu 19:15, Deu 19:18.

To judge me after the law - As a judge, to hear and decide the case according to the rules of the Law of Moses.

Contrary to the law - In violation of the Law of Moses Lev 19:35, “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment.”

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

God will strike thee, thou whited wall.[1] These words are rather by way of a prophecy. (Witham) --- Whited wall. That is, hypocrite, for pretending to judge me according to law; whereas, against all sense of justice, thou strikest me before my condemnation; nay, even without giving me a hearing. The Fathers admire, on this occasion, the greatness of mind and freedom St. Paul exhibited, in reproving the great. (Tirinus) --- This expression was not the angry words of an irritated man, nor the effect of personal resentment, but the just freedom which insulted innocence may lawfully use in its own defence. (Haydock) --- It was likewise a prophecy of what was going to happen. To those who do not consider it, it may seem a curse; but to others a prophecy, as it really was. (St. Augustine, lib. i. cap. 19. de Verb. Dni.) --- For St. John Chrysostom relates that the high priest, being thunderstruck by this answer, became speechless and half deaf; so that not being able to reply a single word, the bystanders did it for him. (Tirinus) --- It was also, as Ven. Bede says, to shew that the Jewish priesthood was to be destroyed, as now the true priesthood of Christ was come and established. (Beda in hunc locum. [Ven. Bede in this place.])

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Pecutiet, Greek: tuptein se mellei, futurum erit ut te percutiat.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Thou whited wall; an excellent similitude to represent wicked men, especially hypocrites, by, who counterfeit God’s glory and worship, whilst they intend only their own profit or grandeur. Thus our Saviour compared the scribes and Pharisees unto whited sepulchres, Mat 23:27. Whited sepulchres and walls, though they seem fair and comely, have within nothing but rottenness and useless rubbish. Now these words are not to be looked upon as a curse or imprecation upon the high priest, which does not consist with the temper of the gospel; but they are rather to be taken as a prophecy or prediction, St. Paul having on occasion had the gift of prophecy amongst the other gifts of the Holy Ghost. And accordingly it is observed, that this high priest either died, or was put out of his place, soon after. And thus Paul’s imprecation upon Alexander the coppersmith, mentioned 2Ti 4:14, is to be understood; as also several other curses (seemingly wished) by holy men, especially in the Psalms, as Psa 109:6,7, &c., and many other places, which are by no means for our imitation; neither were they spoken so much as the wishes or prayers of such as uttered them, as their prophecies or prections; which we know came to pass; as that now mentioned was fulfilled in the person of Judas.

Contrary to the law; it was contrary to all law, Divine and human, that any should be punished before that he was heard; and especially to their own judicial law, which in matters of this nature they were yet governed by under the Romans. Now the Jews were first to hear and inquire diligently, whether the matter any were accused of were true, before they might give sentence, or inflict any punishment upon them, Deu 17:4.

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

3. God shall smite thee—Shall is used as often for will, to express a simple future tense. Literally, God is about to smite thee. This is not an imprecation, but a warning to this man, which the apostle was empowered to pronounce to him, of the violent termination impending over the continuance of his violent career.

Whited wall—Like whited sepulchres, a phrase used by the Master, who here sustained Paul, of precisely such characters as Ananias. This epithet refers to inward coarseness and vileness, covered with an outside polish, which belonged both to a wall and to the highpriestly hypocrite.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And for for, A.V.; according to for after, A.V. God shall smite thee (tuptein se mellei). A distinct announcement of something that would happen. (For the incident itself, comp. 1Ki_22:24, 1Ki_22:25; Jer_28:15, Jer_28:17; and Act_12:1, Act_12:2, Act_12:23) Ananias perished by the daggers of the Sicarii (Josephus, "Bell. Jud," 2. 17:9), at the beginning of the Jewish war under the procuratorship of Florus, in the year A.D. 66. He had been previously deposed from the high priesthood by King Agrippa toward the close of the government of Felix, ("Ant. Jud:," 20:8:8) about A.D. 59, or early in A.D. 60, less than two years from the present time. Thou whited wall. This expression is admirably illustrated by the quotations from Seneca in Kuinoel: "These base and sordid spirits are like the walls of their own houses, only beautiful on the outside." "What are our gilt roofs hut lies? for we well know that under the gilding unseemly beams are concealed." "It is not only our walls which are coated with a thin outward ornament; the greatness of those men whom you see strutting in their pride is mere tinsel; look beneath the surface, and you will see all the evil that is hid under that thin crust of dignity" ("De Provid.," 6, and "Epist." 115). Ananias was sitting in his priestly robes of office, presiding over the council in power and dignity, and presumably a righteous judge, but his heart within was polluted with injustice, selfishness, and a corrupt disposition, which made him act unrighteously. (comp. Mat_23:27) Contrary to the Law; or, acting illegally; paranomwn, only found here in the New Testament, but common in classical Greek. St. Paul"s temper was very excusably roused by the brutality and injustice of Ananias. But we may, perhaps, think that he did not quite attain to "the mind that was in Christ Jesus," who "when he was reviled, reviled not again," but was "led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, he opened not his mouth". (Act_8:32)

Vers. 3-10. Things dubious and things certain.

There are few passages of Scripture in which there are so many doubtful points in a small space.

I THREE DOUBTFUL POINTS. It is uncertain:

1. What Paul meant by his apologetic remark (ver. 5; see Exposition).

2. Whether he was justified in administering such a scathing rebuke, "God shall smite thee," etc. It certainly looks much like the utterance of a man who for the moment has lost his self-control, and there seems to be ground for contrasting it with the calm dignity of the Master when he was smitten. (Joh_18:22, Joh_18:23) The apostle laid no claim to perfection Php_3:13 "perfect," in Php_3:15, signifies mature, instructed, disciplined) and he may well have been provoked, at this time, into a resentment which he afterwards wished he had been able to master.

3. Whether he was right in classing himself with the Pharisaic party (ver. 6). Though with them in those respects in which they differed from the Sadducees, and though, therefore, his words were formally correct, his spirit was so different from theirs, his principles were so opposite to theirs, his energies were so spent in combating theirs, that there was (or at least seems to have been) more of falsity than truth in his declaration. It is always a doubtful thing to say under pressure what we should never dream of saying under ordinary circumstances. But we may look at

II THREE CERTAIN TRUTHS. It is certain:

1. That only intrinsic worth can long hold the honor of our fellow-men. If Paul was ready, as he was, to pay outward deference to "God"s high priest" (ver. 4); if he was unwilling to "speak evil of the ruler of the people" (ver. 5); he certainly held in small honor the particular high priest then pre- siding. Kings, judges, statesmen, ministers, may enjoy a temporary deference and an outward tribute as public officers; but if they are corrupt, if they are self-seeking, if they are indulgent, they will soon sink into dishonor and even into contempt. Only the worthy will continue to enjoy the esteem of their kind. Possibly a few of the shrewdest and most cunning have carried their honors to the grave, though they have deserved public reprobation, but these have passed to a scene where the veil will be torn off, and the long-outstanding penalty be required; but these are the few and not the many. Usually the pretender is unmasked here, and the iron hand of indignation comes down on the guilty head.

2. That it is an honorable and excellent thing to explain or apologize when one or the other is demanded.

(1) It is the right thing; it is due to those who have been misled or injured.

(2) It is the manly thing; it requires more courage, and courage of a higher order, to withdraw with expressions of regret than to maintain with the appearance of rectitude.

(3) It is the Christian thing; though, indeed, our Lord needed not to do this himself, yet we are sure it is in perfect accordance with his will: "If thy brother sin against thee, and he repent, forgive him, etc.

(4) It is the peaceful thing; to defend one"s position is to foment strife; to acknowledge error is to disarm resentment and promote peace.

3. That straightforwardness is the best course to pursue. It is very doubtful whether Paul gained anything by his adoption of this expedient; he was in the greatest danger of being "pulled in pieces" (ver. 10). Such expediency as that which he employed may sometimes be rewarded by a temporary success. But the deepest and the longest success is the reward of sincerity and unswerving truth: the deepest, because our own self-respect is preserved inviolate and our integrity strengthened; the longest, for that which is founded on truth is built upon a rock, and is likeliest to endure. C.

The human judge in the presence of the Divine.

thou to judge me," etc.? (see celebrated sermon by Rev. Sydney Smith, preached at York, March 28, 1824).

I The law of man rests on the Law of God.

1. In its aims.

2. In its execution.

II The blessing of a faithfully kept and righteously administered system of justice, which, notwithstanding all human infirmities, can be maintained.

III The bar of human law both a prediction and an evidence of the future judgment. Yet the imperfections of earthly justice remind us that God shall make up all inequalities, and show hereafter perfectly that all justice is love.

IV The corruption of Jewish Law proved the necessity of a better law, the law of Christ, which is not a despotic law, but "peace, and righteousness, and joy in the Holy Ghost;" not smiting our neighbor, but "bearing one another"s burdens. R.

Passion under insult.

We may at once say that, though much excuse may be found for St. Paul, he was quite below the Christian standard in making such an answer to the official. He was certainly far below his Divine Master, who, "when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed him. self to him who judgeth righteously." A probable explanation of St. Paul"s failure to recognize the high priest is given by Michaelis: "Soon after the holding of the first council at Jerusalem, Ananias, son of Nebedaeus, was deprived of the high priest"s office for certain acts of violence, and sent to Rome, whence he was afterwards released, and returned to Jerusalem. Between the death of Jonathan, who succeeded him and who was murdered by Felix, and the high priesthood of Ismael, who was invested with this office by Agrippa, an interval elapsed in which this dignity was vacant. This was at the time when Paul was apprehended, and the Sanhedrim, being destitute of a president, Ananias undertook the office. It is probable that Paul was ignorant of this circumstance." The incident may suggest to us

I THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF INDIGNATION. Distinguish between "anger," which is generally used for quick passionate temper, often both unreasoning and unreasonable, and "indignation," which is the proper uprising of our nature against wrong. We seldom do well to be "angry;" we always do well to be "indignant." Anger suggests feeling mastering judgment; indignation suggests judgment giving character to feeling. Every man ought to be sensitive to wrong, whether it be done to others or to himself. The question for him concerns, not the feeling of indignation, but the forms in which such indignation may find expression. St. Paul ought to be indignant at the offering of such an insult, by one who occupied the position of a judge. "St. Paul"s prompt and stern utterance perhaps anticipated compliance with this direction, which was quite illegal in itself, and must have been considered to be aggravated as given against a Roman citizen, placed at a Jewish bar by the Roman commandant." For a similar insult offered to our Lord, see Joh_18:22.

II THE NOBILITY OF THE MAN WHO CAN APOLOGIZE EVEN FOR HIS RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATIONS. At once, in the spirit of the Christian gentleman, as soon as the official position of the person whom he had answered was pointed out to him, he expressed his regret. Some have, indeed, thought that he meant to say such conduct as that of Ananias made it impossible to regard him as the high priest, but it is more simple to read in his words some sense of his having yielded to his sensitive and intense feelings. Impulsive men are usually quick to acknowledge their faults, and to remove any evil impressions which their conduct or language may have produced. The highest virtue is the self-mastery that keeps us from making such mistakes; but the next virtue is a cheerful and humble readiness to make amends when our mistakes, or our hasty language, have injured another.

III THE HIGHER RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE MASTERY OF INDIGNATION BY THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTIAN FORBEARANCE, Just as there is a "righteousness which exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees," so there is a righteousness which exceeds the worldly maxims and moral rules which guide ordinary men. It may be right to resent insult, but, from the Christian standpoint, it is much more right to bear it, and be patient under it, and forgive it. And such righteousness is illustrated in the scenes of our Lord"s trial, when contumely was heaped upon him. Show that few things offer a severer test of Christian virtue than unprovoked and unreasonable insult. By it even the watchful man may be taken at unawares, and be suddenly moved to passion. Only the constant habit of thinking before we speak, and letting the moments of thinking be moments of prayer, can keep us in the trying hour. St. Paul"s reset for his hasty words would be more profound before God than before men. He found a serious and humbling lesson in this mistake. Impress how often we err, and disgrace our Christian profession, by the tone and temper in which we "answer back. R.T.

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

Then said Paul - Being carried away by a sudden and prophetic impulse. God is about to smite thee, thou whited wall - Fair without; full of dirt and rubbish within. And he might well be so termed, not only as he committed this outrage, while gravely sitting on the tribunal of justice but also as, at the same time that he stood high in the esteem of the citizens, he cruelly defrauded the priests of their legal subsistence, so that some of them even perished for want. And God did remarkably smite him; for about five years after this, his house being reduced to ashes, in a tumult begun by his own son, he was besieged in the royal palace; where having hid himself in an old aqueduct, he was dragged out and miserably slain.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

3-5. For once in the history of his persecution, the provocation was too great for Paul, and found vent in a burst of anger. (3) " Then said Paul to him, God shall smite thee, thou whitewashed wall. And do you sit to judge me according to the law, and command me to be smitten contrary to the law? (4) But those who were standing by said, Do you revile God's high priest? (5) Paul said, I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people. " The flash of anger was but momentary. No sooner were the words spoken than his habitual self-control regained its ascendancy. He frankly admits that he had done wrong, but excuses himself by the fact that he knew not that it was the high priest. If he had been disposed to further excuse himself, by urging that the high priest deserved all he had said of him, his plea would have been true, but insufficient. For how can we return good for evil, if we return to men their deserts? It were well if his example should be imitated by all disciples who meet with injustice at the hands of their rulers.

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.

3. τύπτειν σε μέλλει ὁ θεός, τοῖχε κεκονιαμένε, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall. Here we may see how very far even the excellence of St Paul comes short of the behaviour of the Divine Master, who when He suffered threatened not, and when reviled, reviled not again. We need not however consider that St Paul’s language here was a wish for evil upon the high priest, but only an expression of confidence in God that such conduct as that of Ananias would not be allowed to go unpunished. We know from Josephus (B. J. II. 17. 9) that Ananias did come to a violent end. St Paul calls him ‘whited wall’ because he bore the semblance of a minister of justice, but was not what he seemed. Cf. ‘whited sepulchres’ (τάφοι κεκονιαμένοι, Mat 23:27). κεκονιαμένοι μετὰ ἀδικίας is found in LXX. (Pro 21:9).

καὶ σὺ κάθη κρίνων με, and dost thou sit judging me. The σὺ seems intended to refer to the epithet just applied to Ananias. Dost thou (such an one) sit, &c.

παρανομῶν, contrary to the law. Literally ‘transgressing the Law.’ For St Paul had not yet been heard to the end. Cf. Joh 7:51.

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.

3.] It is perfectly allowable (even if the fervid rebuke of Paul be considered exempt from blame) to contrast with his conduct and reply that of Him Who, when similarly smitten, answered with perfect and superhuman meekness, Joh 18:22, Joh 18:23. Our blessed Saviour is to us, in all His words and acts, the perfect pattern for all under all circumstances: by aiming at whatever He did in each case, we shall do best: but even the greatest of his Apostles are so far our patterns only, as they followed Him, which certainly in this case Paul did not. That Paul thus answered, might go far to excuse a like fervent reply in a Christian or a minister of the gospel,—but must never be used to justify it: it may serve for an apology, but never for an example.

τύπτειν σε μέλλει κ.τ.λ.] Some have seen a prophetic import in these words;—see above on the death of Ananias. But I would rather take them as an expression founded on a conviction that God’s just retribution would come on unjust and brutal acts.

τοῖχε κεκον.] Lightfoot’s interpretation, “quod (Ananias) colorem tantum gestaret pontificatus, cum res ipsa evanuerit,” is founded on the hypothesis (for it is none other) that the high priesthood was vacant at this time, and Ananias had thrust himself into it. The meaning is as in ref. Matt.; and in all probability Paul referred in thought to our Lord’s saying.

κάθῃ κρίνων με] This must not be taken as favouring the common interpretation of ver. 5 (see below): for the whole Sanhedrim were the judges, and sitting to judge him according to the law.

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

Shall smite thee [τυπτειν σε μελλει] . More strictly, is about to smite. The words are not an imprecation, but a prophecy of punishment for his violent dealing. According to Josephus, in the attack of the Sicarii upon Jerusalem, he was dragged from his hiding - place, in a sewer of the palace, and murdered by assassins.

Thou whited wall. Compare Mt 23:27.

Contrary to the law [παρανομων] . A verb. Lit., transgressing the law.

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