Discovery BoxActs 23:3 
Context23:3 Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! 1 Do 2 you sit there judging me according to the law, 3 and in violation of the law 4 you order me to be struck?”
Acts 23:18
Context23:18 So the centurion 5 took him and brought him to the commanding officer 6 and said, “The prisoner Paul called 7 me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”
Acts 26:14
Context26:14 When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 8 ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself 9 by kicking against the goads.’ 10
1 sn You whitewashed wall. This was an idiom for hypocrisy – just as the wall was painted on the outside but something different on the inside, so this person was not what he appeared or pretended to be (L&N 88.234; see also BDAG 1010 s.v. τοῖχος). Paul was claiming that the man’s response was two-faced (Ezek 13:10-16; Matt 23:27-28). See also Deut 28:22.
2 tn Grk “And do.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
3 tn The law refers to the law of Moses.
4 tn BDAG 769 s.v. παρανομέω has “παρανομῶν κελεύεις in violation of the law you order Ac 23:3.”
sn In violation of the law. Paul was claiming that punishment was given before the examination was complete (m. Sanhedrin 3:6-8). Luke’s noting of this detail shows how quickly the leadership moved to react against Paul.
5 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the centurion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 10.
7 tn Grk “calling.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
8 tn Grk “in the Hebrew language.” See Acts 22:7 and 9:4.
9 tn Grk “It is hard for you.”
10 tn “Goads” are pointed sticks used to direct a draft animal (an idiom for stubborn resistance). See BDAG 539-40 s.v. κέντρον 2.
sn Sayings which contain the imagery used here (kicking against the goads) were also found in Greek writings; see Pindar, Pythians 2.94-96; Euripides, Bacchae 795.
