Acts 23:3
New International Version
Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!”

New Living Translation
But Paul said to him, “God will slap you, you corrupt hypocrite! What kind of judge are you to break the law yourself by ordering me struck like that?”

English Standard Version
Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?”

Berean Standard Bible
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 Literal Bible
Then Paul said to him, "God is about to strike you, whitewashed wall! And you, do you sit judging me according to the Law, and, violating law, command me to be struck?"

King James Bible
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?

New King James Version
Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?”

New American Standard Bible
Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law, order me to be struck?”

NASB 1995
Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?”

NASB 1977
Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! And do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?”

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?”

Amplified Bible
Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you actually sit to judge me according to the Law, and yet in violation of the Law order me to be struck?”

Christian Standard Bible
Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You are sitting there judging me according to the law, and yet in violation of the law are you ordering me to be struck? ”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You are sitting there judging me according to the law, and in violation of the law are you ordering me to be struck?”

American Standard Version
Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: and sittest thou to judge me according to the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Paulus said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitened wall, and are you sitting to judge me according to the law, when you violate the law and command to strike me?

Contemporary English Version
Paul turned to the high priest and said, "You whitewashed wall! God will hit you. You sit there to judge me by the Law of Moses. But at the same time you order men to break the Law by hitting me."

Douay-Rheims Bible
Then Paul said to him: God shall strike thee, thou whited wall. For sittest thou to judge me according to the law, and contrary to the law commandest me to be struck?

English Revised Version
Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: and sittest thou to judge me according to the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you hypocrite! You sit there and judge me by Moses' Teachings and yet you break those teachings by ordering these men to strike me!"

Good News Translation
Paul said to him, "God will certainly strike you--you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the Law, yet you break the Law by ordering them to strike me!"

International Standard Version
At this Paul told him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! How can you sit there and judge me according to the Law, and yet in violation of the Law order me to be struck?"

Literal Standard Version
then Paul said to him, “God is about to strike you, you whitewashed wall, and you sit judging me according to the Law, and violating law, order me to be struck!”

Majority Standard Bible
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.”

New American Bible
Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall. Do you indeed sit in judgment upon me according to the law and yet in violation of the law order me to be struck?”

NET Bible
Then Paul said to him, "God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit there judging me according to the law, and in violation of the law you order me to be struck?"

New Revised Standard Version
At this Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting there to judge me according to the law, and yet in violation of the law you order me to be struck?”

New Heart English Bible
Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall. Do you sit to judge me according to the Law, and command me to be struck contrary to the law?"

Webster's Bible Translation
Then said Paul to him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me according to the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?

Weymouth New Testament
"Before long," exclaimed Paul, "God will strike you, you white-washed wall! Are you sitting there to judge me in accordance with the Law, and do you yourself actually break the Law by ordering me to be struck?"

World English Bible
Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to judge me according to the law, and command me to be struck contrary to the law?”

Young's Literal Translation
then Paul said unto him, 'God is about to smite thee, thou whitewashed wall, and thou -- thou dost sit judging me according to the law, and, violating law, dost order me to be smitten!'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Paul Before the Sanhedrin
2At this, the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. 3Then 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.” 4But those standing nearby said, “How dare you insult the high priest of God!”…

Cross References
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.

Deuteronomy 25:2
If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall have him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime warrants.

1 Kings 22:24
Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah went up, struck Micaiah in the face, and demanded, "Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go when He departed from me to speak with you?"

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.

John 7:51
"Does our law convict a man without first hearing from him to determine what he has done?"

Acts 23:4
But those standing nearby said, "How dare you insult the high priest of God!"


Treasury of Scripture

Then said Paul to him, God shall smite you, you white washed wall: for sit you to judge me after the law, and command me to be smitten contrary to the law?

God.

thou whited.

Matthew 23:27,28
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness…

for.

Leviticus 19:35
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.

Psalm 58:1,2
To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David. Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? …

Psalm 82:1,2
A Psalm of Asaph. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods…

smitten.

Deuteronomy 25:1,2
If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked…

John 7:51
Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?

John 18:24
Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest.

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Accordance Actually Blows Break Command Commandest Commanding Contrary Exclaimed Judge Law Order Orders Paul Sit Sittest Sitting Smite Smitten Strike Struck Violate Violation Wall Whited Whitewashed
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Acts 23
1. As Paul pleads his cause,
2. Ananias commands them to strike him.
7. Dissension among his accusers.
11. God encourages him.
14. The Jews' vow to kill Paul,
20. is declared unto the chief captain.
27. He sends him to Felix the governor.














(3) God shall smite thee, thou whited wall.--The phrase is interesting as showing either that our Lord, in likening the Pharisees to "whitened sepulchers" (see Notes on Matthew 23:27; Luke 11:44), had used a proverbial comparison, or else, as seems equally probable, that it had become proverbial among His disciples as having been so used by Him. The whole utterance must be regarded by St. Paul's own confession as the expression of a hasty indignation, recalled after a moment's reflection; but the words so spoken were actually a prophecy, fulfilled some years after by the death of Ananias by the hands of the sicarii. (Jos. Wars, ii. 17, ?? 2-9).

Verse 3. - And for for, A.V.; according to for after, A.V. God shall smite thee (τύπτειν σε μέλλει). A distinct announcement of something that would happen. (For the incident itself, comp. 1 Kings 22:24, 25; Jeremiah 28:15, 17; and Acts 12:1, 2, 23) Ananias perished by the daggers of the Sicarii (Josephus, 'Bell. Jud,' 2. 17:9), at the beginning of the Jewish war under the procuratorship of Florus, in the year A.D. . He had been previously deposed from the high priesthood by King Agrippa toward the close of the government of Felix ('Ant. Jud.,' 20. 8:8), about A.D. , or early in A.D. , less than two years from the present time. Thou whited wall. This expression is admirably illustrated by the quotations from Seneca in Kuinoel: "These base and sordid spirits are like the walls of their own houses, only beautiful on the outside." "What are our gilt roofs hut lies? for we well know that under the gilding unseemly beams are concealed." "It is not only our walls which are coated with a thin outward ornament; the greatness of those men whom you see strutting in their pride is mere tinsel; look beneath the surface, and you will see all the evil that is hid under that thin crust of dignity" ('De Provid.,' 6, and 'Epist.' 115). Ananias was sitting in his priestly robes of office, presiding over the council in power and dignity, and presumably a righteous judge, but his heart within was polluted with injustice, selfishness, and a corrupt disposition, which made him act unrighteously (comp. Matthew 23:27). Contrary to the Law; or, acting illegally; παρανομῶν, only found here in the New Testament, but common in classical Greek. St. Paul's temper was very excusably roused by the brutality and injustice of Ananias. But we may, perhaps, think that he did not quite attain to "the mind that was in Christ Jesus," who "when he was reviled, reviled not again," but was "led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, he opened not his mouth" (Acts 8:32).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
Then
Τότε (Tote)
Adverb
Strong's 5119: Then, at that time. From ho and hote; the when, i.e. At the time that.

Paul
Παῦλος (Paulos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3972: Paul, Paulus. Of Latin origin; Paulus, the name of a Roman and of an apostle.

said
εἶπεν (eipen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2036: Answer, bid, bring word, command. A primary verb; to speak or say.

to
πρὸς (pros)
Preposition
Strong's 4314: To, towards, with. A strengthened form of pro; a preposition of direction; forward to, i.e. Toward.

him,
αὐτὸν (auton)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

“God
Θεός (Theos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2316: A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.

will
μέλλει (mellei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3195: A strengthened form of melo; to intend, i.e. Be about to be, do, or suffer something.

strike [you],
Τύπτειν (Typtein)
Verb - Present Infinitive Active
Strong's 5180: To beat, strike, wound, inflict punishment.

you
σε (se)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

whitewashed
κεκονιαμένε (kekoniamene)
Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Vocative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2867: To whitewash, plaster over. From konia; to whitewash.

wall!
τοῖχε (toiche)
Noun - Vocative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5109: A wall. Another form of teichos; a wall.

You
σὺ (sy)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

sit [here]
κάθῃ (kathē)
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 2521: To sit, be seated, enthroned; I dwell, reside. From kata; and hemai; to sit down; figuratively, to remain, reside.

to judge
κρίνων (krinōn)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2919: Properly, to distinguish, i.e. Decide; by implication, to try, condemn, punish.

me
με (me)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

according to
κατὰ (kata)
Preposition
Strong's 2596: A primary particle; down, in varied relations (genitive, dative or accusative) with which it is joined).

the
τὸν (ton)
Article - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Law,
νόμον (nomon)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3551: From a primary nemo; law, genitive case, specially, (including the volume); also of the Gospel), or figuratively.

yet
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

you yourself violate the law
παρανομῶν (paranomōn)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3891: To act contrary to law. From a compound of para and nomos; to be opposed to law, i.e. To transgress.

by commanding
κελεύεις (keleueis)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 2753: To command, order, direct, bid. From a primary kello; 'hail'; to incite by word, i.e. Order.

that I
με (me)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

be struck.�
τύπτεσθαι (typtesthai)
Verb - Present Infinitive Middle or Passive
Strong's 5180: To beat, strike, wound, inflict punishment.


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