Acts 23 - 24

Death Vow

After Paul's arrest in chapter 22, he is arraigned before the Jewish high council in a kangaroo court that had already decided to charge him as guilty. Paul, in his wisdom, yells out that he is of the sect of the Pharisees and believes in the resurrection, spirits, and angels.  This provokes the Sadducees on the council and a near-riot breaks out.  The commander has Paul remanded to the fortress until he can decide what to do.

At this time, more than forty Jews (23:13) take an oath to "not eat or drink" until they kill Paul.  The irony of this vow is striking.  Because they are inspired of the Devil and are abusive of the Holy Spirit in Paul, their elaborate plans are formulated and undone in a single night.  While plotting with the elders and priests to have Paul transported a specific time and place, they explain they will kill Paul during the transport. While their plan may have been a good one, it was not in concordance with the will of God, and thus doomed to failure.  They even reiterate their supreme sincerity to the elders "to eat nothing until we kill Paul" (v. 14).

Alas, they do not realize that Paul's nephew overhears their plan and relays this information to the commander.  The commander, worried about Paul's Roman citizenship, and his own reputation, spoils the plans of the oath-takers and takes Paul away, under extremely heavy guard, to Governor Felix is Caesarea, where he can be held safely and receive a fair hearing. As we read at the end of chapter 24, Paul is under Felix's command for two years (24:27) and witnesses to him and his wife almost daily about Jesus.

The Bible is silent about the "more than 40 Jews" who took the oath. One can guess that they either starved to death and honored their oath, or broke their oath and lived under the guilt of breaking the Law for the rest of their lives.  Either option was not good.