1Paul, looking steadfastly at the council, said, “Brothers, I have lived before God in all good conscience until today.”
2The high priest, Ananias, commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.
3Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to judge me according to the law, and command me to be struck contrary to the law?”
4Those who stood by said, “Do you malign God’s high priest?”
5Paul said, “I didn’t know, brothers, that he was high priest. For it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”
6But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men and brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. Concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!”
7When he had said this, an argument arose between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the crowd was divided. 8For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess all of these. 9A great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ part stood up, and contended, saying, “We find no evil in this man. But if a spirit or angel has spoken to him, let’s not fight against God!”
10When a great argument arose, the commanding officer, fearing that Paul would be torn in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them and bring him into the barracks.
11The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Cheer up, Paul, for as you have testified about me at Jerusalem, so you must testify also at Rome.”
12When it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. 13There were more than forty people who had made this conspiracy. 14They came to the chief priests and the elders, and said, “We have bound ourselves under a great curse to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. 15Now therefore, you with the council inform the commanding officer that he should bring him down to you tomorrow, as though you were going to judge his case more exactly. We are ready to kill him before he comes near.”
16But Paul’s sister’s son heard they were lying in wait, and he came and entered into the barracks and told Paul. 17Paul summoned one of the centurions and said, “Bring this young man to the commanding officer, for he has something to tell him.”
18So he took him and brought him to the commanding officer and said, “Paul, the prisoner, summoned me and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.”
19The commanding officer took him by the hand, and going aside, asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?”
20He said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though intending to inquire somewhat more accurately concerning him. 21Therefore don’t yield to them, for more than forty men lie in wait for him, who have bound themselves under a curse to neither eat nor drink until they have killed him. Now they are ready, looking for the promise from you.”
22So the commanding officer let the young man go, charging him, “Tell no one that you have revealed these things to me.”
23He called to himself two of the centurions, and said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers to go as far as Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred men armed with spears, at the third hour of the night.” 24He asked them to provide mounts, that they might set Paul on one, and bring him safely to Felix the governor. 25He wrote a letter like this:
26“Claudius Lysias to the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings.
27“This man was seized by the Jews, and was about to be killed by them when I came with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. 28Desiring to know the cause why they accused him, I brought him down to their council. 29I found him to be accused about questions of their law, but not to be charged with anything worthy of death or of imprisonment. 30When I was told that the Jews lay in wait for the man, I sent him to you immediately, charging his accusers also to bring their accusations against him before you. Farewell.”
31So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32But on the next day they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the barracks. 33When they came to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him. 34When the governor had read it, he asked what province he was from. When he understood that he was from Cilicia, he said, 35“I will hear you fully when your accusers also arrive.” He commanded that he be kept in Herod’s palace.
Who were the Pharisees and Sadducees? There were four political and religious parties that influenced Jewish society at the time of Christ, the Sadducees and Pharisees (who were also spiritual leaders), the former who were connected to the Temple, were theological liberals, and consorted with Rome. Conversely, the Pharisees were teachers of the law.
The Zealots wanted to overthrow Rome in favor of national independence. They were fanatical about the Law and saw themselves as warriors for God. They believed the pagan Roman Empire as the enemy of God, and thought it was their duty to engage in military resistance against Rome.
Opposite to the Zealots were the Herodians, who supported the rule of king Herod and were supporters of Roman rule.
In contrast to the Zealots were the Sadducees and Pharisees. The Sadducees are traditionally thought to have had their beginnings with Zadok, the high priest under King David, but their actual beginnings were with the Hasmonean “priest-kings” in the 2nd century B.C. At the time of Christ, they were economically affluent, politically powerful, religiously liberal, and represented by most of the high priests. Many served on the council known as the Sanhedrin. Holding only to the Law of Moses (the first five books of the OT), they denied the resurrection of the dead, life after death, eternal punishment, a literal kingdom, the existence of angels, and God's control of history (see Matt 22:23; Acts 4:1-2; 5:17; 23:6-8).
The Pharisees, on the other hand, were religious conservatives whose cause probably derived from the Hasidim, their name meaning "to separate." They arose roughly at the same time as the Sadducees, perhaps as a reaction to them. Many had a distrust of the priesthood and chose to study the law on their own, and were considered doctors of the Law. Like the Herodians, another political party in Israel, though less influential, they favored local political autonomy. Like the Sadducees, they were well represented on the Sanhedrin. Unlike the Sadducees they held to the Talmud, Mishna, oral and rabbinic tradition with fanatical zeal. They believed in God's intervention in the affairs of men through angels, and a future kingdom in literal fulfillment of God's promise to David. Their most notable difference with the Sadducees was their adamant belief in the resurrection of the body, and life after death (see Paul's exploitation of this dispute in Acts 23:5-8). For all of their differences, Jesus warned His disciples against "the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees," which was later identified as their teaching (Matt 16:6-12). Both groups were spiritually blind, self-righteous, sign-seeking, and hypocritical (see Matt 3:7; 16:1; 22:29; 23:1-39; Luke 12:1).