Certain of the Jews - Some of the Jews. They were more than forty in number, Acts 23:13.

Banded together - Made an agreement or compact. They conspired to kill him.

And bound themselves under a curse - See the margin. The Greek is, "they anathematized themselves"; that is, they bound themselves by a solemn oath. They invoked a curse on themselves, or devoted themselves to destruction, if they did not do it. Lightfoot remarks, however, that they could be absolved from this vow by the rabbis if they were unable to execute it. Under various pretences they could easily be freed from such oaths, and it was common to take them; and if there was any difficulty in fulfilling them, they could easily apply to their religious teachers and be absolved.

That they would neither eat nor drink - That is, that they would do it as soon as possible. This was a common form of an oath, or curse, among the Jews. Sometimes they only vowed abstinence from particular things, as from meat, or wine. But in this case, to make the oath more certain and binding, they vowed abstinence from all kinds of food and drink until they had killed him. Who these were - whether they were Sadducees or not - is not mentioned by the sacred writer. It is evident, however, that the minds of the Jews were greatly inflamed against Paul; and as they saw him in the custody of the Roman tribune, and as there was no prospect that he would punish him, they resolved to take the matter into their own hands. Michaelis conjectures that they were of the number of the Sicarii, or cutthroats, with which Judea then abounded. See the notes on Acts 21:38. It is needless to remark that this was a most wicked oath. It was a deliberate purpose to commit murder; and it shows the desperate state of morals among the Jews at that time, and the infuriated malice of the people against the apostle, that such an oath could have been taken.

That they would neither eat nor drink, etc. - These forty Jews were no doubt of the class of the sicarii mentioned before, (similar to those afterwards called assassins), a class of fierce zealots, who took justice into their own hand; and who thought they had a right to despatch all those who, according to their views, were not orthodox in their religious principles. If these were, in their bad way, conscientious men, must they not all perish through hunger, as God put it out of their power to accomplish their vow? No: for the doctrine of sacerdotal absolution was held among the Jews as among the Papists: hence it is said, in Hieros. Avodah Zarah, fol. 40: "He that hath made a vow not to eat any thing, wo to him, if he eat; and wo to him, if he do not eat. If he eat, he sinneth against his vow; and if he do not eat, he sinneth against his life." What must such a man do in this case? Let him go to the wise men, and they will loose him from his vow, as it is written, Proverbs 12:18 : "The tongue of the wise is health." When vows were so easily dispensed with, they might be readily multiplied. See Lightfoot.

And when it was day,.... As soon as it was light, very early in the morning:

certain of the Jews banded together; these very likely were of the sect of the Sadducees, who had been exceedingly irritated and provoked by what Paul had said the day before in the council; these therefore gathered together, entered into a conspiracy to take away Paul's life, and trailed in it, as one man:

and bound themselves under a curse; or "anathematized themselves"; the Hebrew word which answers to "anathema", is sometimes used for an oath, , "Cherem" or "anathema" is "an oath" (a), a vow made to be punished with an anathema if not kept; so these men swore to it, bound themselves with an oath, or wished they might be an anathema, accursed of God, and cut off from his people; they imprecated the most dreadful evils upon themselves:

saying, that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul: it was a common form of a vow or oath with the Jews (b), , "that I will not eat"; sometimes they only vowed abstinence from particular things, and then others were lawful; as for instance, if one vowed that he would not eat boiled meat, he might eat roast, or that he would not eat flesh, he might eat broth, or that he would abstain from milk, then he might drink whey, (c); but this oath and vow here were, that they would neither eat nor drink anything, till they had destroyed Paul: these were a set of zealots, who in imitation of Phinehas, and pretending the glory of God, took upon them to take away the lives of men, without any, judicial procedure, or the authority of the civil magistrate; of whom; see Gill on Matthew 10:4 it may be asked, what became of this vow? or how did they get clear of it, since they did not accomplish the fact? to which it may be answered, that it was a pretty easy thing to be freed from oaths and vows, among the Jews, whose doctors had a power to absolve men from them; and in such cases as this, and such a vow as this, might be loosed upon more accounts than one, as on account of keeping another law, the observing the sabbath and other festivals, when men were obliged to eat and drink: and thus it is said (d),

"if a man swears that he will not drink wine, or that he will not eat flesh, for so many days, then they say to him, if thou hadst known at the time of the oath, that the sabbath or a feast day were within these days, in which thou art obliged to eat flesh and drink wine, as it is said, Isaiah 58:13 "and call the sabbath a delight"; wouldst thou have swore at all? if he says no, they loose his oath:''

and likewise it might be loosed on account of life, which a man is bound to preserve: for so they likewise say (e),

"if a man vows that he will not eat anything, woe be to him if he eats, and woe be to him if he does not eat; if he eats he breaks his vow, if he does not eat he sins against his own soul, or life; what must he do? let him go to the wise men, , "and they will loose his vow for him", as it is written, Proverbs 12:18 but the tongue of the wise is health;''

and no doubt but these men very easily got their vow loosed, since it was made on such a design.

(a) Pirke Eliezer, c. 38. (b) Misna Nedarim, c. 2. sect. 2, 3.((c) Ib. c. 6. sect. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. (d) Maimon. in Misn. Nedarim, c. 9. sect. 6. (e) T. Hieros. Avoda Zara, fol. 40. 1.

Banded together (ποιήσαντες συστροφὴν)

Lit., having made a conspiracy. See on concourse, Acts 19:40.

Bound themselves under a curse (ἀνεθεμάτισαν ἑαυτοὺς).

Lit., anathematized or cursed themselves; invoked God's curse on themselves if they should violate their vow. On the kindred noun ἀνάθεμα, a curse, see note on offerings, Luke 21:5. In case of failure, they could procure absolution from their oath by the Rabbis.

{10} And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves {f} under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

(10) Those who are carried away with a foolish zeal think that they may lie and murder, and do whatever mischief they wish.

(f) Cursing and prohibiting themselves, they promised.

23:12-15 Certain of the Jews banded together. Perhaps these Jews were of the bitter enemies from Asia who had laid hands on him in the temple. They may have belonged to a wild fanatical association of Jewish assassins, who, a few years later, played a prominent part, called Sicarii. The Talmud says that those who took such a vow were released from it, if it was impossible to carry it out. Their purpose was to induce the chief priests, who were Sadducees, to have Paul appear before the Sanhedrin the next day, and then they would murder him.

23:12 Some of the Jews bound themselves - Such execrable vows were not uncommon among the Jews. And if they were prevented from accomplishing what they had vowed, it was an easy matter to obtain absolution from their rabbis.

under a curse: or, with an oath of execration

12-14. bound themselves under a curse . that they would neither eat . fill they had killed Paul-Compare 2Sa 3:35; 1Sa 14:24.

23:12-24 False religious principles, adopted by carnal men, urge on to such wickedness, as human nature would hardly be supposed capable of. Yet the Lord readily disappoints the best concerted schemes of iniquity. Paul knew that the Divine providence acts by reasonable and prudent means; and that, if he neglected to use the means in his power, he could not expect God's providence to work on his behalf. He who will not help himself according to his means and power, has neither reason nor revelation to assure him that he shall receive help from God. Believing in the Lord, we and ours shall be kept from every evil work, and kept to his kingdom. Heavenly Father, give us by thy Holy Spirit, for Christ's sake, this precious faith.