Bible Strands
Acts 23:3
Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit here to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the high priest Ananias immediately after Ananias ordered guards to strike him on the mouth.
The words — The Greek term τύπτειν (tuptein) translates literally to strike, directly mirroring the physical blow just commanded. Paul labels the high priest a whitewashed wall to denote a surface appearance that conceals a corrupt interior.
The thread — The charge of hidden corruption matches Jesus’ rebuke of whitewashed tombs in Matthew 23:27. The insistence on lawful procedure before judgment echoes Deuteronomy 25:1 and John 7:51.
Why it lands — The text records Paul pointing out that the judge’s own command to strike him violates the very law he claims to enforce. It requires a reader to acknowledge that official authority loses its legitimacy when the official disobeys the standards they administer.
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
Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 25:1 If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court to be judged, so that the innocent may be acquitted and the guilty condemned.
- John 7:51 “Does our law convict a man without first hearing from him to determine what he has done?”
- Matthew 23:27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.
- Leviticus 19:15 You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.
- Leviticus 19:35 You must not use dishonest measures of length, weight, or volume.
- Psalms 58:1 For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David. Do you indeed speak justly, O rulers? Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?
- Psalms 82:1 A Psalm of Asaph. God presides in the divine assembly; He renders judgment among the gods:
- Psalms 94:20 Can a corrupt throne be Your ally—one devising mischief by decree?
- Ecclesiastes 3:16 Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
- Amos 5:7 There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.