translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: ACT

label: NET study note

text: You whitewashed wall. This was an idiom for hypocrisy – just as the wall was painted on the outside but something different on the inside, so this person was not what he appeared or pretended to be (L&N 88.234; see also BDAG 1010 s.v. τοῖχος ). Paul was claiming that the man’s response was two-faced ( Ezek 13:10-16 ; Matt 23:27-28 ). See also Deut 28:22 .


text: A quotation from Exod 22:28 . This text defines a form of blasphemy. Paul, aware of the fact that he came close to crossing the line, backed off out of respect for the law.


text: See the note on Sadducees in 4:1 .


text: See the note on Pharisee in 5:34 .


text: “We find nothing wrong with this man.” Here is another declaration of innocence. These leaders recognized the possibility that Paul might have the right to make his claim.


text: The presence of the Lord indicated the vindicating presence and direction of God.


text: Like Jesus went to Jerusalem, Paul would now go to Rome . This trip forms the concluding backdrop to Acts. This is the second notice about going to Rome (see Acts 19:21 for the first). map For location see JP4-A1 .


text: They went to the chief priests. The fact that the high priest knew of this plot and did nothing shows the Jewish leadership would even become accomplices to murder to stop Paul. They would not allow Roman justice to take its course. Paul’s charge in v. 3 of superficially following the law is thus shown to be true.


text: “We are ready to kill him.” Now those Jews involved in the conspiracy, along with the leaders as accomplices, are going to break one of the ten commandments.


text: See the note on the word centurion in 10:1 .


text: Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1 . This was a journey of about 65 mi (just over 100 km). map For location see Map2-C1 ; Map4-B3 ; Map5-F2 ; Map7-A1 ; JP1-F4 ; JP2-F4 ; JP3-F4 ; JP4-F4 .


text: Felix the governor was Antonius Felix, a freedman of Antonia, mother of the Emperor Claudius. He was the brother of Pallas and became procurator of Palestine in a.d. 52/53. His administration was notorious for its corruption, cynicism, and cruelty. According to the historian Tacitus ( History 5.9) Felix “reveled in cruelty and lust, and wielded the power of a king with the mind of a slave.”


text: Governor Felix. See the note on Felix in v. 24 .


text: Antipatris was a city in Judea about 35 mi (55 km) northwest of Jerusalem (about halfway to Caesarea). It was mentioned several times by Josephus ( Ant. 13.15.1 [13.390]; J. W. 1.4.7 [1.99]).


text: Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1 . It was about 30 mi (50 km) from Antipatris.


text: Governor Felix asked what province he was from to determine whether he had legal jurisdiction over Paul. He could have sent him to his home province for trial, but decided to hear the case himself.


text: Cilicia was a province in northeastern Asia Minor.


text: Herod’s palace ( Grk “Herod’s praetorium”) was the palace built in Caesarea by Herod the Great. See Josephus, Ant. 15.9.6 (15.331). These events belong to the period of a.d. 56-57.