Acts 23:1-3

Amplified Bible

Paul before the Council

23 Then Paul, looking intently at the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), said, “Kinsmen, I have lived my life before God with a perfectly good conscience until this very day.” ²[At this] the high priest ^[a]Ananias ordered those who stood beside him to strike Paul on the mouth. ³Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you ^[b]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?”

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Footnotes

Acts 23:2 Ananias served as high priest from a.d. 47-59. He was a violent man who had close ties to Rome and was assassinated by his own people about a.d. 66.
Acts 23:3 Paul probably is referring to the outside wall of a tomb, which was considered ritually unclean and polluted. Tombs were usually whitewashed on the outside so that passers-by could see them more clearly and avoid contact with them.