EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Acts 23:5
5Paul replied, ‘My brothers, I did not know that this man is the most important priest. Our Jewish law says, “Do not say bad things against the man who rules your people.” So I should not have said anything bad against him.’
Acts 23:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.
- New International Version (NIV)Paul replied, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And Paul said, "I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, 'You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.'"
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then Paul said, “I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’ ”
Context of Acts 23:5
3Paul said to him, ‘God will certainly hit you! You are a hypocrite! You are sitting there and you are judging me. You are asking if I obey the Law of God. But you yourself do not obey the Law! You should not have said, “Hit that man!” ’ 4The men who were standing near Paul said to him, ‘You must not say bad things against our most important priest!’ Paul replied, ‘My brothers, I did not know that this man is the most important priest. Our Jewish law says, “Do not say bad things against the man who rules your people.” So I should not have said anything bad against him.’ 6Then Paul saw that there were some Sadducees and also some Pharisees in the meeting. So he shouted out to the whole group of Jewish leaders, ‘My brothers, I am a Pharisee! My father was also a Pharisee. I believe that dead people will certainly rise and they will live again. That is the reason why you are judging me today.’ 7As soon as Paul said that, the Pharisees and Sadducees began to argue with each other. People in the group thought different things about Paul.
Read all of Acts 23Acts 23:5 word by word
ἔφη τε ὁ Παῦλος· οὐκ ᾔδειν, ἀδελφοί, ὅτι ἐστὶν ἀρχιερεύς· γέγραπται γὰρ ἄρχοντα τοῦ λαοῦ σου οὐκ ἐρεῖς κακῶς.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Thenτεte · and/bothG5037
- saidφημίphēmi · to assertG5346
- Paulὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- PaulΠαῦλοςPaulos · PaulG3972
- I wistεἴδωeidō · to perceive: knowG1492
- notοὐou · noG3756
- brethrenἀδελφόςadelphos · brotherG80
- thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
- he wasεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- the high priestἀρχιερεύςarchiereus · high-priestG749
- forγάρgar · forG1063
- it is writtenγράφωgraphō · to writeG1125
- Thou shaltἐρῶereō · to sayG2046
- evilκακῶςkakōs · badlyG2560
- of the rulerἄρχωνarchōn · rulerG758
- of thyσύsu · youG4771
- peopleλαόςlaos · a peopleG2992
Cross-references for Acts 23:5
- Acts 24:17I had not been to Jerusalem for several years. Now I returned there with a gift of some money. I brought it to give to poor people who are Jews, like me. I also wanted to offer sacrifices to God.
- Exodus 22:28Never insult God. Never curse anyone who is a leader of your people.
- Ecclesiastes 10:20Do not say bad things about the king. Do not even think about it! Even when you are in your bedroom, do not say bad things about rich people. A little bird might hear you. It might tell people what you have said.
- 2 Peter 2:10God will certainly punish those people who want bad things for themselves. They do the wrong things that their bodies want to do. They do not want to obey anyone's authority. These false teachers are not afraid of what other people think about them. They think that they themselves are very important. They are not afraid to say many bad things against the great angels in heaven.
- Jude 1:8These false teachers who have come among you do the same kind of bad things. Their dreams deceive them so that they use their bodies to do disgusting things. They refuse to obey God's authority. They insult God's powerful angels.
Commentaries on Acts 23:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest - After all the learned labor that has been spent on this subject, the simple meaning appears plainly to be this: - St. Paul did not know that Ananias was high priest; he had been long absent from Jerusalem; political changes were frequent; the high priesthood was no longer in succession, and was frequently bought and sold; the Romans put down one high priest, and raised up another, as political reasons…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Then said Paul, I wist not - I know not; I was ignorant of the fact that he was high priest. Interpreters have been greatly divided on the meaning of this expression. Some have supposed that Paul said it in irony, as if he had said, “Pardon me, brethren, I did not consider that this was the high priest. It did not occur to me that a man who could conduct thus could be God‘s highest. Others have thought (as Grotius) that Paul used these words for the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5It is unclear why Paul did not recognize the high priest. Paul responded by quoting Exodus 22:28, showing respect for the high priest's position.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. I wist not ... that he was the high priest--All sorts of explanations of this have been given. The high priesthood was in a state of great confusion and constant change at this time (as appears from Josephus), and the apostle's long absence from Jerusalem, and perhaps the manner in which he was habited or the seat he occupied, with other circumstances to us unknown, may account for such a speech. But if he was thrown off his guard by an insult which…Read the comment
Topics related to Acts 23:5
In the dictionaries
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
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