See note Acts 22:5¹.

More dignified and solemn than simply "brothers."

After man's fall and his being sent out of the garden of Eden (Gen. 3:23), God in His dispensation wanted man to be responsible to his own conscience. But man failed to live and walk according to his conscience and fell further into wickedness (Gen. 6:5). After the judgment of the flood, God ordained that man should be under human government (Gen. 9:6). Man failed in this also. Then, before fulfilling His promise to Abraham concerning the blessing of the nations in his seed, Christ (Gen. 12:3; Gal. 3:8), God put man under the test of the law (Rom. 3:20; 5:20). Man failed this test utterly. All these failures indicate that man has fallen from God to his conscience, from his conscience to human government, and from human government to lawlessness; that is, man has fallen to the uttermost. Hence, to conduct oneself in all good conscience before God, as Paul did, was a great return to God from man's fall. Paul spoke this word to vindicate himself before those who accused him of being a lawless and even reckless person. In his defense he referred again to his conscience in 24:16. This showed his high standard of morality, in contrast to the hypocrisy of the Jewish religionists and the crookedness of the Roman (Gentile) politicians. See note Acts 23:12^1b, note Acts 24:2¹, note Acts 24:24¹, note Acts 24:26^1a and note Acts 24:27³, note Acts 25:9¹ and note Acts 25:13².

This was Paul's straightforwardness and boldness in dealing with his persecutors. See note Acts 22:1^2b.

Or, condemn.

See note Matt. 3:7^2b.

See note Matt. 3:7^1a.

Here again Paul exercised his wisdom to avoid suffering persecution. See note Acts 22:1^2b.

More dignified and solemn than simply "brothers."

Or, condemned.

More dignified and solemn than simply "brothers."

This was the Lord's sovereignty exercised to rescue Paul from the hand of the Jews. Through the riot of the Jews in Jerusalem, God delivered Paul out of the predicament into which he fell when he took James's compromising proposal and participated in the Nazarite vow. Now, through the commander of the Roman cohort, God in His sovereignty again rescued Paul, this time from the hand of the rioting Jews, who had attempted to kill him, that He might separate him from all the dangerous situations and entrapments and send him to a quiet prison. This was to afford him a quiet environment and give him time, whether in Caesarea (Acts 24:27) or in the city of Rome (Acts 28:16, 23, 30), that through his last Epistles he might release exhaustively to the church throughout the generations the revelation of the mystery of God's New Testament economy that he received from the Lord. The benefit and profit that the church throughout the generations has received from these Epistles will take eternity to measure.

According to the Jewish calendar, sundown is the beginning of the next day.

The Lord was living all the time in Paul essentially (Gal. 2:20). Now, to strengthen and encourage him, the Lord stood by him economically. This showed the Lord's faithfulness and good care for His servant.

The Lord admitted that the apostle did bear a solemn testimony concerning Him in Jerusalem. A testimony differs from mere teaching (see note Acts 2:40^1a).

To carry out His heavenly ministry for the propagating of Himself that the kingdom of God might be established for the building up of the churches as His fullness, the ascended Christ wanted to use not a group of preachers trained by man's teaching to do a preaching work, but a body of His witnesses, martyrs, who bore a living testimony of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ (see note Acts 1:8^3c and note Acts 26:16^1b). Satan could instigate the Jewish religionists and utilize the Gentile politicians to bind the apostles and their evangelistic ministry, but he could not bind Christ's living witnesses and their living testimonies. The more they bound the apostles and their evangelistic ministry, the stronger and brighter these martyrs of Christ and their living testimonies became. In His appearing to the apostle, the Lord indicated that He would not rescue him immediately from his bonds but would leave him in bonds and bring him to Rome that he might testify concerning Him, as he had done in Jerusalem. The Lord encouraged Paul to do this.

This was to fulfill Paul's desire in Acts 19:21. See note Acts 27:24¹.

The plot in vv. 12-15 manifested the falsehood and satanic hatred (John 8:44; Matt. 23:34) in the hypocritical Jewish religionists. See note Acts 23:1^3b.

To put themselves under a curse means that they would keep their vow, and that if they were to break the vow, they were willing to be cursed. (So also in v. 21.)

Lit., We have cursed ourselves with a curse. This means that they were bound under a curse and could not break their vow. It is a very strong expression.

I.e., determine by thorough investigation (see also Acts 24:22).

This too was the Lord's sovereignty exercised to secretly rescue Paul's life.

Or, slingers; lightly armed soldiers.

I.e., 9:00 p.m.

The Roman governor of the province of Judea.

A place about 40 Roman miles from Jerusalem and about 26 from Caesarea.

The palace of the former kings, built by Herod the Great. It became the official residence of the governor of the Roman province of Judea. Paul was guarded there leniently, not confined in the common prison.