Cs – The Conspiracy to Kill Paul 23: 12-22

The Conspiracy to Kill Paul
23: 12-22

59 AD

The conspiracy to kill Paul DIG: What dangers had Paul faced in the past? How do you explain the fierce determination of these men to kill Paul? Why do they think he is so dangerous? Why were the Pharisees left out of the plot? Why can we be reasonably sure that those forty men didn’t starve to death? How would you feel if you were Paul when you heard the news from your nephew? What do we know about Paul’s family? How does Luke speak of the Roman military in Acts? Why did the Jews hate Paul so much?

REFLECT: What examples of irrational hatred have you seen? What might be a way to break through that? When is it better just to get away from them? What risks did Paul’s nephew take in this story? How might you be called upon this week to risk something by standing up for someone others dislike? How desperate is your need for courage right now? What are you facing that cannot be dealt with by anything less than God’s gift of holy grit and determination? Have you experienced a transfer of God before? What could you testify about the Lord’s faithfulness to supply His people strength when needed?

Paul’s life had been in danger from the very beginning of his ministry, when he witnessed for Messiah in Damascus (9:22-25). During his first visit to Jerusalem, after his conversion, the unbelieving Hellenistic Jews tried to kill him (9:29). Jewish leaders in Pisidian Antioch drove him out of the city (13:50-51), and a mob of Jews and Gentiles in Iconium threatened to stone him (14:5). However, the stoning that had been plotted in Iconium took place in Lystra, where they dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead (14:19-20), and in Corinth, unbelieving Jews tried to get him arrested (18:12-17). In Ephesus, the unbelieving Jews had a plot to kill him (20:19), and they even planned to kill him at sea (20:3). The Jews made false accusations against him at the Temple in Jerusalem, and would have killed him there, but for the intervention of a cohort of Roman soldiers. The Jews had plotted against Paul’s Savior (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Ka – The Plot Against Jesus), and they would do no less against him.

Paul’s words take on special meaning when you consider all that he suffered at the hands of his own countrymen, “For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of the congregations of God in Messiah Yeshua that are in Judea – for you suffered the same things at the hands of your own countrymen as they did from the Judean leaders, who killed both the Lord Yeshua and the prophets and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God and hostile to all people, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they might be saved. As a result, they constantly fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last” (First Thessalonians 2:14-16).

The plot formulated: The very next day after testifying before the Jewish supreme court (see Cr – Paul’s Defense Before the Great Sanhedrin), unbelieving Jews from Asia (21:27) formed a conspiracy (23:12a). Some of the Sadducees agreed to cooperate with them and try to influence Claudius Lysias, the commander of the Roman guard. The Pharisees, with their greater openness to Paul (23:9), are not mentioned. It was a natural thing for the Sanhedrin to want further information from Paul, and it would be an easy thing to arrange an ambush to kill him. Never-mind that human blood was not supposed to be spilled in the Temple Compound, they had ignored their own rules before (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Lh – The Laws of the Great Sanhedrin Regarding Trials). They were that desperate again.

But all those plotting to take Paul’s life had forgotten that he was an apostle of Jesus Christ, and that the exalted Lord was watching from heaven. When Paul was saved on the Damascus Road (9:1-31), Yeshua had told him that he would suffer, but God had also promised that He would deliver him from his enemies (9:15-16 and 26:16-17).⁵⁴⁷ The Lord’s assuring vision the night before (23:11) was timely, for Paul’s troubles were far from over.

More than forty zealots bound themselves by an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. More than forty men would be needed because Paul would be guarded heavily by Roman soldiers. The leaders of the plot went to the ruling cohanim and elders and said: We have bound ourselves with a great curse to neither eat nor drink until we have killed Paul (23:12b-14) The Greek word used to express their oath is particularly strong (Greek: anathematizo meaning abomination). They placed themselves under a great curse, probably in some form such as, “May I be eternally damned if . . .” But they didn’t starve to death, for such an oath could be dissolved by the rabbis. The Oral Law (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law) provided for a release from an oath that was unfulfilled because of some unforeseen circumstance. The sages have allowed four kinds of vows to be nullified: vows of urging, vows of exaggeration, vows made in error and vows made under duress (Mishna N’darim 3.3).⁵⁴⁸ Paul’s removal under heavy Roman guard would have qualified (see Cu – Paul Escorted to Caesarea).

So this time you and the Sanhedrin serve notice to the commander to bring him down to the Royal Stoa once again – like you are about to investigate his case more thoroughly. But we are ready to kill him before he comes near (23:12-15). The conspirators wanted to lure Paul to their own Hall of Judgment on the extreme opposite corner of the Temple Compound. The Court of the Gentiles between Fort Antonia and the Royal Stoa was a three-acre platform with walls stretching a quarter mile and could have held two amphitheaters the size of the Roman Coliseum, or a total of about 200,000 people. This would have exposed Paul and the few Roman troops accompanying him to attack. The zealots could easily spring out from the mouth of the Double Gate Passage as the Roman guard approached the Royal Stoa,  overwhelm them, assassinate Paul, and then flee south through the underground tunnel leading into the Lower City.  That the assassins assumed the Sanhedrin’s leadership would take part in the murder plot says much about the apparent corruption of Isra’el’s highest court. Nor did the Sanhedrin disappoint them (23:20).

The plot discovered: But the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush (23:16a). We know a little bit about Sha’ul’s parents. His father was a Pharisee who lived in Tarsus, Cilicia. His family were Hellenistic Jews who from the tribe of Benjamin who spoke both Hebrew and Greek. But we know nothing about his sister or about his nephew, who was visiting or living in Yerushalayim and who helped save him. How this nephew became aware of the plot is uncertain. Either Paul’s enemies included members of his own family, in which case the nephew’s presence would not have alarmed them; or his relationship to Paul was unknown to the plotters.⁵⁴⁹

Paul’s nephew went into the headquarters at Fort Antonia and told him (23:16). This is the only specific reference in Scripture to Paul’s family (except for the possible references in Romans 16:7, 11 and 21). It raises many questions that cannot be answered with certainty. What was Paul’s nephew doing in Jerusalem, since the family home was in Tarsus? Was he following in his uncle’s footsteps and studying to be a rabbi? Since Paul’s family had apparently disinherited him when he became a believer (Philippians 3:8), why did he care what happened to his uncle? Had Paul’s sister or nephew become believers? This one line of Scripture brings up more questions than it answers.⁵⁵⁰

His accessibility to Paul was not unusual. He had not been charged with a crime, so he was merely in protective custody. Prisoners of high rank, such as Paul with his Roman citizenship, were often given a great deal of liberty for visits from family and friends. In fact, Paul’s considerable standing with the Romans can be seen by the ease with which he called one of the centurions and said: Take this young man to the commander, for he has a message for him.”⁵⁵¹ Paul didn’t even tell the centurion about the plot! Nevertheless, the centurion took him and led him to the commander and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you” (23:17-18).

The commander sensed that it was a matter of extreme importance and took him by the hand, stepped aside, and began asking him privately. We get the impression that the lad was quite young, and the commander’s actions were quite appropriate. He asked: What is it that you have to report to me. And Paul’s nephew gave the report in detail, saying: The Judean leaders have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin in the Royal Stoa tomorrow – as if they are about to investigate more thoroughly about him. But do not give in to them, for more than forty of them have bound themselves by a curse not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Even now, they are ready and waiting for your consent (23:19-21). Thus, in God’s providence, Lysias learned of the plot even before the Jews approached him.

So the commander dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me about these things” (23:22). It seems that Lysias made up his mind as to what he should do while the boy was speaking. He may well have already decided that his proper course of action was to refer the case of Paul to his superior officer, since he himself did not have the necessary authority to deal with it. The boy’s news had simply sped up his action of sending Paul to Caesarea, and made it clear that he must authorize maximum security measures to do it.⁵⁵² It would be ten more years before Paul was executed by Roman hands (see Dg – Paul’s Fourth Missionary Journey).

It was a matter of supreme importance that the matter be kept strictly secret. No one was to know that Lysias was aware of the plot. One has to admire the integrity and courage of Claudius. How did he know the boy was even telling the truth? Paul had already caused Lysias so much trouble that it might have been a relief to get rid of him. But he had a Roman citizen to protect, and he was going to do his duty. Throughout the book of Acts, Luke speaks favorably of the Roman military officers, beginning with Cornelius in Acts 10 and ending with Julius in Acts 27:1, 3 and 43. There is no record in Acts of official Roman persecution against the Church; the opposition was always instigated by unbelieving Jews. While the Roman Empire had its share of corrupt political opportunists, for the most part, the military leaders were men of quality who respected Roman law.⁵⁵³

This passage is rooted in God’s providence, which moves to protect God’s children, although the means are not always known. The Lord works behind-the-scenes here. Stephen’s martyrdom (see Ax – The Stoning of Stephen) shows that providence also does not always mean physical rescue as it does here with Paul. Paul was assured that he would reach Rome (23:11). It is ironic that Roman justice would bring him there as a prisoner so that will he would arrive safely and immediately be speaking to the highest levels of Roman society. It is unlikely that if Paul had journeyed as part of a missionary outreach to Rome on his own, such a high-level audience would have been possible. It is one of the mysteries of YHVH and His providence that many times we cannot see why things are happening as they are. Yet God is surely at work in ways we could not have planned on our own.⁵⁵⁴

Lord, sometimes I must confess with David that evils beyond number surround me, my sins have overtaken me – I cannot see – they are more than the hairs of my head – and my heart fails me. ADONAI, please deliver me! ADONAI, come quickly to help me! Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You. Let those who love your salvation continually say, “ADONAI be magnified!” But I – I am poor and needy – yet my Lord is mindful of me. You are my help and my deliverer – O my God, do not delay (Psalm 40:12-13, 16-17).⁵⁵⁵