Acts 23:12

Acts 23:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
• New International Version (NIV)The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
• English Standard Version (ESV)When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

Context of Acts 23:12

10The two groups argued more and more strongly. The leader of the soldiers thought that the people there might hurt Paul badly. So he said to his soldiers, ‘Go down into the group and take Paul away from them. Take him back with you into our strong building.’ 11The next night, the Lord Jesus came and he stood near Paul. He said to Paul, ‘Do not be afraid! You have told people here in Jerusalem about me. You must also do the same thing in Rome.’ The next morning, a group of Jews talked together about how they might kill Paul. They agreed to make a promise to God. They would not eat or drink anything until they had killed Paul. 13More than 40 men were in the group that decided this. 14They went to the leaders of the priests and the important Jews. They said to them, ‘We have agreed together to make a serious promise to God. We will not eat anything until we have killed Paul.

Acts 23:12 word by word

Γενομένης δὲ ἡμέρας ποιήσαντες συστροφὴν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἀνεθεμάτισαν ἑαυτοὺς λέγοντες μήτε φαγεῖν μήτε πιεῖν ἕως οὗ ἀποκτείνωσιν τὸν Παῦλον.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Andδέde · thenG1161
• when it wasγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
• dayἡμέραhēmera · dayG2250
• certainτιςtis · oneG5100
• of the JewsἸουδαῖοςIoudaios · JewG2453
• bandedποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• togetherσυστροφήsustrophē · commotion/plotG4963
• and boundἀναθεματίζωanathematizō · to take an oathG332
• themselvesἑαυτοῦheautou · themselfG1438
• saying thatλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• they wouldφαγεῖνphagō · to eatG5315
• neitherμήτεmēte · neitherG3383
• drinkπίνωpinō piō poō · to drinkG4095
• tillἕωςheōs · untilG2193
• ·ὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• they had killedἀποκτείνωapokteinō · to killG615
• PaulΠαῦλοςPaulos · PaulG3972

Cross-references for Acts 23:12

• Acts 23:21Do not agree to do what they want. There are more than 40 men who will be hiding somewhere. They are waiting for Paul. They have made a serious promise to God. They will not eat or drink anything until they have killed Paul. They are now ready to do this. They will be waiting to hear your answer.’
• Acts 25:3They said to Festus, ‘Please listen to us. We really want you to bring Paul here to Jerusalem. You can judge him here. Then we would be very happy.’ They wanted to kill Paul while he was travelling to Jerusalem.
• Psalms 2:1Why are nations making plans to turn against the Lord? All their plans will fail!
• Psalms 64:2When evil men think of ways to hurt me, hide me in a safe place. Those people work together as a group to do wicked things.
• Isaiah 8:9You foreign nations must listen to this! Join together to fight. Shout as you go to battle. But you will never win! You people from countries that are far away, get ready for war. But you will be completely destroyed!
• Jeremiah 11:19Before that, I did not know about their plans to kill me. I was like a lamb that men were taking away to kill it. I did not know that they were saying, ‘We should cut down this tree and destroy its fruit! Jeremiah must not continue to live in this world. Then people will forget all about him.’
• Matthew 26:4They wanted to kill Jesus. But they wanted to take hold of him secretly. So they tried to decide how they could do that.
• 1 Kings 19:2So Jezebel sent someone with this message to Elijah: ‘By this time tomorrow, I will make sure that you are dead, the same as Baal's prophets! If I do not do that, I pray that the gods will kill me instead.’
• 2 Kings 6:31He said, ‘I will certainly cut off Elisha's head today! May God punish me with death if Elisha still has his head by the end of the day!’
• Matthew 27:25All the people answered Pilate, ‘Yes, God should punish us and our children, if we have done the wrong thing.’
• Mark 6:23He made a strong promise, ‘I will give you anything that you ask me to give to you. I will even give you half of everything that I rule over.’
• Leviticus 27:29God might decide that a person must die. If he does, nobody can buy the person back. The person must die.
• Joshua 6:26At that time, Joshua made a strong promise. He said, ‘If anyone tries to build Jericho city again, the Lord will punish him as a guilty man. When he starts to build, his oldest son will die. When he puts up the city's gates, his youngest son will die.’
• Joshua 7:1The Israelites did not obey what Joshua had said about the valuable things that belonged to God. Achan took some of these things for himself. He was Carmi's son, who was the son of Zimri, who was the son of Zerah. They were from the tribe of Judah. The Lord was very angry with the Israelites.
• Nehemiah 10:29All these people joined with their leaders and they promised to obey the agreement. They agreed that God should punish them if they did not obey all of God's Law. That was the Law that God had given to his servant Moses. They promised very strongly to obey all the commands, rules and laws of the Lord, our Lord.
• Matthew 26:74Peter said to them very strongly, ‘I tell you that I do not know that man. God will surely punish me if this is not true!’ Immediately after Peter said this, the cockerel sang.

Commentaries on Acts 23:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12That they would neither eat nor drink, etc. - These forty Jews were no doubt of the class of the sicarii mentioned before, (similar to those afterwards called assassins), a class of fierce zealots, who took justice into their own hand; and who thought they had a right to despatch all those who, according to their views, were not orthodox in their religious principles. If these were, in their bad way, conscientious men, must they not all perish through…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12Certain of the Jews - Some of the Jews. They were more than forty in number, Acts 23:13. Banded together - Made an agreement or compact. They conspired to kill him. And bound themselves under a curse - See the margin. The Greek is, “they anathematized themselves”; that is, they bound themselves by a solemn oath. They invoked a curse on themselves, or devoted themselves to destruction, if they did not do it. Lightfoot remarks, however, that they could be…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-24Verses 12-24 False religious principles, adopted by carnal men, urge on to such wickedness, as human nature would hardly be supposed capable of. Yet the Lord readily disappoints the best concerted schemes of iniquity. Paul knew that the Divine providence acts by reasonable and prudent means; and that, if he neglected to use the means in his power, he could not expect God's providence to work on his behalf. He who will not help himself according to his…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12-15The plan to kill Paul was desperate. More than 40 men took an oath (a strong promise) not to eat or drink until they had killed him (compare 1 Samuel 14:24–46; Matthew 14:6–11; see also Deuteronomy 23:21–23; Matthew 5:33–37; James 5:12).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 12-1412-14. bound themselves under a curse ... that they would neither eat ... fill they had killed Paul--Compare 2Sa 3:35; 1Sa 14:24.Read the comment

Topics related to Acts 23:12

• Claudius Lysius
• Conspiracy
• Malice
• Minister, Christian
• Oath
• Paul
• Revenge
• Vows

In the dictionaries

• Paul
• Paul, Saul
• Anathema
• Band
• Conspiracy
• Cry
• James
• Tiller
• Acts of the Apostles
• Felix; Antonius

Commentaries on Acts 23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings