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Acts 23:33

in Acts 23

When the horsemen arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and presented Paul to him.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

and they, when they came to Cæsarea and delivered the letter to the governor, presented Paul also before him.

KJV

Who, when they came to Cesarea, and delivered the epistle to the governor, presented Paul also before him.

This verse in Acts 23

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

brought him by night to Antipatris

on Acts 23:31-33

The soldiers move Paul by night the roughly forty miles to Antipatris, the most dangerous stretch closest to Jerusalem where ambush was likeliest, then the infantry turns back the next day and the horsemen alone finish the safer remaining distance to Caesarea. The staged withdrawal of forces matches exactly what a competent Roman escort commander would do once the risk had passed, another of the chapter's small marks of accurate military procedure. Paul arrives and the epistle is delivered along with the prisoner, precisely as Lysias had planned it.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Acts 50 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

Like some king whom his body-guards escort, so did these convey Paul; in such numbers too, and by night, for fear of the wrath of the people. Now then you will say that they have got him out of the city, they desist from their violence? No indeed. But the tribune would not have sent him off with such care for his safety, but that while he himself had found nothing amiss in him, he knew the murderous disposition of his adversaries.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Now that Paul was brought before them he thought to have faced them down, but could not, such was their wicked impudence. However, now was fulfilled in him what God promised to Ezekiel ( ch. iii.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

Who, when they came to Caesarea,.... The seventy horsemen: and delivered the epistle to the governor; to Felix, governor of Judea, who was now at Caesarea; namely, the letter which Claudius Lysias, the chief captain, sent to him; the form and contents of which are before given: these presented Paul also before him; concerning whom, and whose affairs, the letter was.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Who - That is, the seventy horsemen mentioned above.

The words behind it

16 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Acts 28:16

    When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to stay by himself, with a soldier to guard him.

    it leads to

    • Acts 27:3

      The next day we landed at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul with consideration, allowing him to visit his friends and receive their care.

    • Acts 24:23

      He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard, but to allow him some freedom and permit his friends to minister to his needs.

  • Through

    Acts 8:40

    But Philip appeared at Azotus and traveled through that region, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

    it leads to

    • Acts 21:8

      Leaving the next day, we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven.

    • Acts 25:4

      But Festus replied, “Paul is being held in Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon.

    • Acts 23:23

      Then he called two of his centurions and said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea in the third hour of the night.

  • Through

    Acts 23:26

    Claudius Lysias, To His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings.

    it leads to

    • Acts 15:23

      and sent them with this letter: The apostles and the elders, your brothers, To the brothers among the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.

    • Luke 1:3

      Therefore, having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

    • Acts 24:3

      In every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with all gratitude.

Where this verse is studied

About Acts

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 50; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.