Acts 23:12-35

 (Acts 23:12-35)

And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.  And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy.  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. Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would enquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him.  And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul.  Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him, and said, Bring this young man unto the chief captain: for he hath a certain thing to tell him.  So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee.  Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and went with him aside privately, and asked him, What is that thou hast to tell me?  And he said, The Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul to morrow into the council, as though they would enquire somewhat of him more perfectly. 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. So the chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, See thou tell no man that thou hast shewed these things to me.  And he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night;  And provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor. And he wrote a letter after this manner:  Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting.  This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman.  And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into their council:  Whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy ofdeath or of bonds.  And when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell.  Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris.  On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the castle:  Who, when they came to Caesarea, and delivered the epistle to the governor, presented Paul also before him.  And when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province he was. And when he understood that he was of Cilicia;  I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall.

 

The Lord, standing beside Paul, who was bound, asked him to be a bold witness. The day after Paul personally heard the Lord's encouragement, the Jews built a party. The reason why about 40 Jews built the party was to make an oath that they must kill Paul. Paul was asked by the Lord to be a bold witness of the gospel, but Jews who did not believe in the Lord's resurrection even swore that they would neither eat nor drink until Paul was killed.

 

The oath of about 40 Jews seems to be a firm determination not to kill Paul. Allied people went to the high priests and elders to fulfill their commitments. They couldn't investigate anything because of the turmoil at the council the day before, so they would have thought that if they asked Chief Chen for a reconsideration, he would not be able to refuse. Their plan was to kill Paul in ambush by the side of the road when the Roman army brought him down from the premises to attend the council. They showed their blind attitude, obsessed with the idea that they didn't need any law or procedure and only had to kill Paul.

 

『 And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul. 』 This is the only one that mentions that Paul has relatives. From his nephew, Paul learned of the plans of the assassination of those who were trying to harm him. Paul realized the seriousness of the situation when he heard the concrete plans of those trying to kill him. So, he asked the centurion to meet him, and he informed the centurion through Paul's nephew of the plans of the Jews who had decided to kill him. Chief Chun accepted the story of Paul's nephew. After witnessing the conflict the day before, Chief Chen would have thought that the Jews would be able to stay that way.

 

Chief Chun called the two centurions at three o'clock at night. Three o'clock at night means 9 o'clock in the evening. Commander Cheon prepared two centuries with two hundred infantry men to escort Paul to Caesarea, seventy soldiers on horseback, two hundred soldiers with spears, and a beast to carry Paul. Chief Chun was well aware of the persistence and violence of the Jews, so he judged that he could not delay at all. And so that the conspirators couldn't notice, he mobilized four hundred and seventy-two escorts to take Paul away. It can be seen that this was urgent and prudent enough to instruct Chun immediately to do so. Captain Chun sent Paul, who was threatened with murder, safely to Caesarea so that he could be put on trial.

 

Official jurisdiction over Roman citizens rested with the governor. Chun sent a letter with Paul, a Roman citizen, to the governor. When Chun wrote a letter to the governor, Roman law required that a junior official would send a written affidavit when reporting a case to a superior official. Following the procedure, the situation was reported in the form of a letter typical of the time. However, the contents reported by Director Chun excluded all the contents of concern that his position would be embarrassing. It was only after he first arrested Paul and ordered him to be flogged, that Chief Chun knew that Paul was a Roman citizen. Although he concealed his mistakes, Chun was well aware that Paul was not guilty of being tried in a Roman court. That is why Chun sent Paul to the governor without delay.