23:12-15 Paul's adversaries (cf. 21:27-29) evidently agreed together not to taste food or drink again until Paul was dead. Their plan was to have the chief priests and elders of Israel ask the Roman commander to return Paul to the Sanhedrin for further questioning. Assassins planned to kill him somewhere on the streets between the Fortress of Antonia and the hall of the Sanhedrin. These buildings were not far apart. They surely realized that Paul's Roman guards might kill some of their number in the process.
"The oath was not so suicidal as it seems, since provision was made by the rabbis for releasing participants from the consequences of failure to carry out their purpose if external circumstances had made it impossible."884
23:16-17 We know nothing more about Paul's sister than what Luke stated here. She may have lived in Jerusalem, Tarsus, or elsewhere. Obviously her son, Paul's nephew, sided with his uncle rather than with the assassins.885Other writers used the Greek word neanian, translated "young man"(v. 17), of persons in their twenties and thirties as well as younger men (cf. 7:58; 20:9). However, verse 19 suggests that he may have been younger than a teenager. Paul could receive visitors in the barracks where he was a prisoner since he was a Roman citizen in protective custody. He could also summon a centurion to do his bidding, which he did here.
"I find today that there is a group of super-pious folk, very sincere and very well-meaning, which tells me I should not go to a doctor concerning my cancer or other illnesses but that I should trust the Lord to heal me. Well, I certainly do trust the Lord; I have turned my case over to the Great Physician, and I believe He provides doctors. It would have been a simple thing for Paul to have told his nephew, Thanks for telling me the news, but I'm trusting the Lord--so you can go back home.' But we find here that Paul used the privileges of his Roman citizenship which were available to him. Obviously the Lord provides these means and He expects us to use them. This in no way means that we are not trusting Him. Rather, we are trusting God to use the methods and the means to accomplish His purpose."886
23:18-22 The commander took the advice of Paul's nephew seriously. He probably knew Ananias well enough to know that the high priest would go along with this assassination plot.
23:23-24 The commander also realized that Paul's enemies in Jerusalem would stop at nothing to see him dead. As long as Paul was in Jerusalem there was a danger of rioting. Consequently Claudius prepared to send him to the Roman provincial capital with a heavy guard under cover of night. The number of soldiers may have been 270 or 470 depending on the meaning of dexiolaboi, "spearmen."This word may refer to foot soldiers or to led horses.887The third hour of the night was 9:00 p.m. (cf. 9:25; 17:10). Obviously Claudius Lysias did not want the assassination of a Roman citizen on his record, so he took precautions to protect Paul. Paul's guards continued to treat him with the respect due a Roman citizen. The commander even provided horses for him to ride on.
"The size of the escort is not excessive, in view of the troubled times and Jewish fanaticism."888
