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Acts 23:21

in Acts 23

Do not let them persuade you, because more than forty men are waiting to ambush him. They have bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him; they are ready now, awaiting your consent.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Do not thou therefore yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, who have bound themselves under a curse, neither to eat nor to drink till they have slain him: and now are they ready, looking for the promise from thee.

KJV

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.

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This verse in Acts 23

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Paul's sister's son--(See on Ac 9:30). If he was at this time residing at Jerusalem for his education, like Paul himself, he may have got at the schools those hints of the conspiracy on which he so promptly acted.

This site's exposition

The Jews have agreed to ask

on Acts 23:20-22

The nephew repeats the plot exactly, which gives the commander what he needs to act. His order to tell no one protects the boy from reprisal and shows a competent officer handling a security matter.

This site's exposition

awaiting your consent

Albert Barnes explains that the plotters waited only for the commander's consent to bring Paul down. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown observe that help came at the last moment, when the plot was ready. They add that God often delivers His people this way.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

But do not thou yield unto them,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The chief captain's care of Paul's safety, by which he prevented the execution of the design; he sent him away immediately under a strong guard from Jerusalem to Cæsarea, which was now the residence of Felix, the Roman governor, and there he safely arrived,

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee--Thus, as is so often the case with God's people, not till the last moment, when the plot was all prepared, did deliverance come.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

Looking for a promise from thee - Waiting for your consent to bring him down to them.

The words behind it

33 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.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Acts 23:12When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.13 worksNumbers 30:2If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.4 worksPsalms 119:95The wicked wait to destroy me, but I will ponder Your testimonies.4 worksActs 25:3to grant them a concession against Paul by summoning him to Jerusalem, because they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.3 worksRomans 9:3For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood,3 works2 Corinthians 11:26In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers,3 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Acts 20:19I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, especially in the trials that came upon me through the plots of the Jews.3 worksActs 9:23–24After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him,3 worksActs 14:5–6But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them,3 worksExodus 23:2You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.3 worksPsalms 59:3See how they lie in wait for me. Fierce men conspire against me for no transgression or sin of my own, O LORD.3 works2 Corinthians 11:32–33In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas secured the city of the Damascenes in order to arrest me.2 worksNumbers 35:20Likewise, if anyone maliciously pushes another or intentionally throws an object at him and kills him,2 worksNehemiah 4:11And our enemies said, “Before they know or see a thing, we will come into their midst, kill them, and put an end to the work.”2 worksJoshua 8:4with these orders: “Pay attention. You are to lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it. All of you must be ready.2 worksNehemiah 10:29hereby join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the Law of God given through His servant Moses and to carefully obey all the commandments, ordinances, and statutes of the LORD our Lord.2 worksDeuteronomy 23:23Be careful to follow through on what comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed to the LORD your God with your own mouth.2 worksEphesians 4:14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.2 works

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

    Romans 9:3

    For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood,

    it leads to

    • Exodus 32:32

      Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.”

    • Esther 8:6

      For how could I bear to see the disaster that would befall my people? How could I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?”

    • Romans 11:14

      in the hope that I may provoke my own people to jealousy and save some of them.

  • Through

    Acts 20:19

    I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, especially in the trials that came upon me through the plots of the Jews.

    it leads to

    • Colossians 3:24

      because you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as your reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

    • 2 Corinthians 2:4

      For through many tears I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart, not to grieve you but to let you know how much I love you.

    • Romans 12:11

      Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

    • 2 Corinthians 4:7–11

      Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.

    • Acts 20:3

      where he stayed three months. And when the Jews formed a plot against him as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia.

Where this verse is studied

About Acts

The Pentecost, El Greco, about 1600, Museo del Prado. Public domain.
The Pentecost, El Greco, about 1600, Museo del Prado. Public domain.
Acts: the study guide →Read Acts 23 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Acts 23 →