Acts 23:21

¹⁹ The commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside, and asked, “What do you need to tell me?”

²⁰ He answered, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul to the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of acquiring more information about him.

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.”

²² So the commander dismissed the young man and instructed him, “Do not tell anyone that you have reported this to me.”

²³ Then he called two of his centurions and said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea in the third hour of the night.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: 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.”
KJV: 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 oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee.
WEB: Therefore don’t yield to them, for more than forty men lie in wait for him, who have bound themselves under a curse to neither eat nor drink until they have killed him. Now they are ready, looking for the promise from you.”
ASV: Do not thou therefore yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, who have bound themselves under a curse, neither to eat nor to drink till they have slain him: and now are they ready, looking for the promise from thee.
DARBY: Do not thou then be persuaded by them, for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, who have put themselves under a curse neither to eat nor drink till they kill him; and now they are ready waiting the promise from thee.
BLB: You, therefore, should not be persuaded by them. For more than forty of their men lie in wait for him, who have put themselves under an oath neither to eat nor to drink until they should kill him; and now they are ready, awaiting the promise from you.”

ÅB: du må da ikke la deg overtale av dem; for mere enn førti menn av dem ligger på lur etter ham, og de har forbannet seg på at de hverken vil spise eller drikke før de har drept ham, og nå holder de seg ferdige og venter på at du skal love det.
OTB: Ikke la deg overtale av dem, for mer enn førti av dem ligger i bakhold for å overfalle ham. De har sverget en ed om ikke å spise eller drikke før de har drept ham. De er klare nå og venter på ditt samtykke.»
B1930: du må da ikke la dig overtale av dem; for mere enn firti menn av dem ligger på lur efter ham, og de har forbannet sig på at de hverken vil ete eller drikke før de har drept ham, og nu holder de sig ferdige og venter på at du skal love det.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Acts 23:12–14
When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
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Exodus 23:2
You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.
Read in context
Acts 20:19
I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, especially in the trials that came upon me through the plots of the Jews.
Read in context
Acts 9:23–24
After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him,
Read in context
2 Corinthians 11:26
In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers,
Read in context
Acts 25:3
to grant them a concession against Paul by summoning him to Jerusalem, because they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.
Read in context
Romans 9:3
For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood,
Read in context
Acts 14:5–6
But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them,
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