Bible Strands
Acts 23:12
When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative addresses the Jewish conspirators immediately after the Lord’s nighttime encouragement to Paul (Acts 23:11), as daylight breaks.
The words — The text highlights συστροφὴν (sustrophēn) as a coordinated group action and ἀνεθεμάτισαν (anethematisan) to describe the binding oath that restricted their eating and drinking.
The thread — The ambush and oath reappear in Acts 23:21, while Acts 23:30 records the official response to the plot without repeating the vow, and Isaiah 8:9 contrasts their gathering with divine judgment.
Why it lands — The passage records a self-imposed dietary restriction tied to a murder plot, contrasting human coordination with the prior divine assurance that Paul will reach Rome (Acts 23:11). It demands recognition that human schemes operate independently of God’s stated purposes.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Acts 23:30 When I was informed that there was a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also instructed his accusers to present their case against him before you.
- Isaiah 8:9 Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered!
- Acts 23:21 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.”
- Acts 23:14 They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul.
- Psalms 2:1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
- Psalms 31:13 For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side. They conspire against me and plot to take my life.
- Jeremiah 11:19 For I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter; I did not know that they had plotted against me: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.”
- 2 Kings 6:31 He announced, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders through this day!”
- Psalms 64:2 Hide me from the scheming of the wicked, from the mob of workers of iniquity,
- Matthew 26:4 and they conspired to arrest Jesus covertly and kill Him.