As also the high priest and all the council of the elders testify, from whom also I received letters to the brothers, and traveled to Damascus to bring them also who were there to Jerusalem in bonds to be punished.
Parallel Translations
-
As also the high priest and all the council of the elders testify, from whom also I received letters to the brothers, and traveled to Damascus to bring them also who were there to Jerusalem in bonds to be punished.
-
as the chefe prest doth beare me witnes and all the elders: of whom also I receaved letters vnto the brethren and wet to Damasco to bringe them which were there bounde vnto Ierusalem for to be punysshed.
-
As also ye chiefe Priest doeth beare me witnes, and al the company of the Elders: of whom also I receiued letters vnto the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring them which were there, bound vnto Hierusalem, that they might be punished.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Acts 22:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Acts 9:1-2 But Saul, still breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
- Luke 22:66 As soon as it was day, the assembly of the elders of the people were gathered together, both chief priests and scribes, and they led him away into their council, saying,
- Acts 5:21 When they heard this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and taught. But the high priest came, and those who were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.
- Acts 4:5 In the morning, their rulers, elders, and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem.
- Acts 9:14 Here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”
- Acts 13:26 Brothers, children of the stock of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, the word of this salvation is sent out to you.
- Acts 22:1 “Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense which I now make to you.”
- Acts 26:10 I also did this in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them.
- Acts 26:12 “Whereupon as I traveled to Damascus with the authority and commission from the chief priests,
- Acts 28:21 They said to him, “We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor did any of the brothers come here and report or speak any evil of you.
- Romans 9:3-4 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers’ sake, my relatives according to the flesh who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises;
- 1 Timothy 4:14 Don’t neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the elders.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 5 As also the high priest doth bear me…
5 As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.
Ver. 5. {See Trapp on "Act 9:2"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The estate of the elders; their sanhedrim or great…
The estate of the elders; their sanhedrim or great council.
Letters; commission or orders.
Read full note →
The brethren; the Jews of Damascus are called brethren, because they descended from the patriarchs as well as he. And still, as Act 22:1, he would overcome that stubborn people with civility, heaping up coals of fire on their heads, Rom 12:20, that they might be melted, and then formed after a more excellent manner.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain As also the high priest doth bear me witness,....…
As also the high priest doth bear me witness,.... Either Annas, or Caiaphas, who was at that time high priest; and it should seem by this, that he was still in being; or else that the apostle had preserved his letter, written with his own hand, which he was able to produce at any time, as a testimony of the truth of what he had said, or was about to say; since he speaks of him (as now) bearing him witness, or as one that could:
and all the estate of the elders; the whole Jewish sanhedrim, for this character respects not men in years, but men in office, and such who were members of the high court of judicature in Jerusalem;
Read full note →
from whom also I received letters unto the brethren; some render it "against the brethren", as if the Christians were meant; whereas the apostle intends the Jews of the synagogue at Damascus, whom the apostle calls brethren; because they were of the same nation, and his kinsmen according to the flesh; and, at that time, of the same religion and principles with him; and this is put out of doubt, by the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, which render it, "the brethren that were at Damascus": and these letters were to recommend him to them, and to empower him to persecute the Christians, and to demand and require their assistance in it; the Ethiopic version calls them, "letters of power"; and it seems from hence, that these letters were received from the whole sanhedrim, as well as from the high priest, and were signed by both:
and went to Damascus to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished: with stripes, or with death, as they should be judged worthy; see Act 9:2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The high priest is my witness - Is able…
The high priest is my witness - Is able to testify. The brethren -- Jews: so this title was not peculiar to the Christians.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. The high priest doth bear me witness,…
Verse 5. The high priest doth bear me witness, c.] He probably referred to the letters of authority which he had received from the high priest, and the whole estate of the elders, παν το πρεσβυτεριον, the whole of the presbytery, that is, the sanhedrin and it is likely, that he had those letters to produce. This zeal of his against Christianity was an ample proof of his sincerity as a Pharisaical Jew.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain As also the high priest ... - See the…
As also the high priest ... - See the notes on Act 9:2.
All the estate of the elders - Greek: all the presbytery; that is, the whole body of the Sanhedrin, or Great Council of the nation.
Read full note →
Unto the brethren - The Jewish brethren who were at Damascus. Paul here speaks as a Jew, and regards his countrymen as his brethren.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain As the high priest doth bear me witness. That…
As the high priest doth bear me witness. That is, as the letters which he gave me, bear witness. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain the high priest--still alive.
the high priest--still alive.
doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders--the whole Sanhedrim.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 5. The high priest—Who may have now been present.
5. The high priest—Who may have now been present.
The estate of the elders—The presbyterium or eldership; the Sanhedrin. So that the intensity of his original Judaism was beyond all question. Why had all this been changed? The narrative of his conversion now answers.
Read full note →
By the vision of Jehovah repeatedly appearing, (as all admitted,) Abraham had been called (Gen_17:1) and Moses commissioned, (Exo_3:1.) So by the repeated vision of Jehovah-Jesus. Saul had been both called and commissioned. This Jesus, like the Jehovah of old, appears in the splendour of the Shekinah; he is Lord, the Just One, the pronouncer of the I will send thee. For the discrepancies between this and the other two narratives, see our note on Act_9:4-8.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 5. the high priest doth bear me witness] The…
5. the high priest doth bear me witness] The Apostle refers not to the high priest at the time when he was speaking, but to him who had held that office when (Act_9:1) in his earnestness against the Christians he had desired a commission from the authorities to carry his persecuting measures as far as Damascus. Josephus (Ant. xviii. 5, 3) tells us that in a.d. 37 Theophilus, son of Ananus, was made high priest in the place of his brother Jonathan. The high priest to whom St Paul here alludes was one of these two brothers, for Theophilus held office till he was removed by Agrippa and his place occupied by Simon, called Kantheras (see Jos. Ant, xix. 6, 2, and cp. Farrar’s St Paul, i. 178). Ananias was high priest at the time of St Paul’s arrest. See Act_23:2.
and all the estate of the elders] Though it was now more than twenty years since St Paul’s conversion, yet it was not improbable that some members of the Sanhedrin which granted him his commission were still alive, and the records of the transaction were doubtless preserved and could be appealed to.
Read full note →
letters unto the brethren] i.e. to the Jewish authorities in Damascus. The Jews spake of all their race as brethren from early times (cp. Deu_18:15).
to bring them which were there, bound unto Jerusalem] The English of the A. V. is not free from ambiguity. The Greek is plain, and the Rev. Ver. gives the sense clearly “to bring them also which were there unto Jerusalem in bonds.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (5) As also the high priest doth bear me…
(5) As also the high priest doth bear me witness.—Annas is named as high priest at the time of St. Paul’s conversion, acting probably with his son-in-law, Caiaphas, as his coadjutor. (See Notes on Luk_3:2; Joh_18:13.) At the time which we have now reached, the office was filled by Ananias, son of Nebedseus, who owed his appointment to Herod Agrippa II., then King of Chalcis, to whom Claudius had conceded the privilege of nominating the high priests (Jos. Ant. xx. 5, § 2). The official acts of his predecessors would of course be known to the high priest for the time being, and St. Paul can therefore appeal to his knowledge as confirming his own statements.
All the estate of the elders.—The word is perhaps used as identical with the Sanhedrin, or Council; perhaps, also, as including the Gerousia, or “Senate,” of Act_5:21—a body, possibly of the nature of a permanent committee, or an Upper Chamber, which was apparently represented in the Sanhedrin, and yet had separate rights, and might hold separate meetings of its own.
Read full note →
I received letters unto the brethren.—The phrase is interesting, as showing that the Jews used this language of each other, and that it passed from them to the Church of Christ. On the general history of St. Paul’s conversion, see Notes on Act_9:1-16. Here it will be sufficient to note points that are more or less distinctive. In Act_9:2 the letters are said to have been addressed to the “synagogues.”
For to be punished.—We must remember that the punishments would include imprisonment, scourging, and brutal violence (Act_9:2; Act_26:10-11); or, as in the case of Stephen, death by stoning.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Journeyed for went, A.V.; them also for them, A.V.;…
Journeyed for went, A.V.; them also for them, A.V.; unto Jerusalem in beads for bound unto Jerusalem, A.V. The high priest. Ananias, the present high priest, who may have been one of St. Paul"s hearers included among the "fathers," and who had probably been already a member of the Sanhedrim at the time of St. Paul"s conversion. (see Act_23:2 Act_24:1) Others, however, understand "the high priest" to mean him who was high priest at the time of St. Paul"s journey to Damascus, viz. Theophilus, who was still alive. The brethren. The Jews at Damascus. St, Paul speaks to his hearers emphatically as a Jew. To be punished (ina timwrhqwsin); whether by rods or by death. The word occurs in the New Testament only here and Act_26:11, but is not infrequent in the LXX and in classical writers; timwrein is common in medical language in the sense of "to treat medically," to "correct" by medical treatment.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain See notes on verse 3
See notes on verse 3
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.