Acts 23 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

Some translations set quotations from the Old Testament farther to the right on the page than the rest of the text. The ULT does this with the quoted material in 23:5.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Resurrection of the dead

The Pharisees believed that after people died, they would become alive again and God would either reward them or punish them. The Sadducees believed that once people died, they stayed dead and would never become alive again. (See: reward)

“Called a curse”

Some Jews promised God that they would not eat or drink until they killed Paul, and they asked God to punish them if they did not do what they had promised to do.

Roman citizenship

The Romans thought that they needed to treat only Roman citizens justly. They could do as they desired with people who were not Roman citizens, but they had to obey the law with other Romans. Some people were born Roman citizens, and others gave money to the Roman government so they could become Roman citizens. The “chief captain” could have been punished for treating a Roman citizen the same way he would treat a non-citizen.

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Whitewash

This is a common metaphor in Scripture for appearing to be good or clean or righteous when one is evil or unclean or unrighteous. (See: figs-metaphor)