King James Version · Under Rome
Acts 23
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And , earnestly beholding , said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all before until this day. And the commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the . Then said unto him, shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after , and commandest me to be smitten contrary to ? 4And they that stood by said, Revilest thou ’s ? Then said , I wist not, brethren, that he was the : for , Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people. But when perceived that the one part were , and the other , he cried out in , Men and brethren, I am a , the son of a : of the and of I am called in question. And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the and the : and was divided. For the say that there is no , neither , nor : but the both. And there arose a great cry: and the that were of the ’ part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a or hath spoken to him, let us not fight against . And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle. And the night following stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, : for as thou hast testified of me in , so must thou bear also at . And when it was day, certain of the banded together, and bound themselves under , saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed . And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy. And they came to the and , and said, We have bound ourselves under a great , that we will eat nothing until we have slain . Now therefore ye with signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would enquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him. And when ’s sister’s son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told . Then called one of the unto him, and said, Bring this young man unto the chief captain: for he hath a certain thing to tell him. So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, the prisoner called me unto him, and me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee. Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and went with him aside privately, and asked him, What is that thou hast to tell me? And he said, The have agreed to thee that thou wouldest bring down to morrow into , as though they would enquire somewhat of him more perfectly. 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 , that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee. So the chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, See thou tell no man that thou hast shewed these things to me. And he called unto him two , saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Cesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night; And provide them , that they may set on, and bring him safe unto the governor. 25And he wrote a letter after this manner: unto the most excellent governor sendeth greeting. This man was taken of the , and should have been killed of them: then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he was a . And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into their council: Whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of or of bonds. And when it was told me how that the laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell. Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took , and brought him by night to Antipatris. On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the castle: Who, when they came to Cesarea, and the epistle to the governor, presented also before him. And when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province he was. And when he understood that he was of ; I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod’s hall.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.