SEV Biblia, Chapter 23:12
¶ Y venido el día, algunos de los judíos se juntaron, e hicieron voto bajo maldicin, diciendo que ni comerían ni beberían hasta que hubiesen matado a Pablo.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Acts 23:12
Verse 12. That they would neither eat nor drink, &c.] 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, Prov. xii. 18: "The tongue of the wise is health." When vows were so easily dispensed with, they might be readily multiplied. See Lightfoot.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 12. And when it was day , etc.] 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 Pauls life, and trailed in it, as one man: and bound themselves under a curse ; or anathematized themselves; the Hebrew word rj , which answers to anathema, is sometimes used for an oath, h[wb ayh rj , Cherem or anathema is an oath f1153 , 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 f1154 , lkwa al , 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, f1155 ; 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 f1156 , 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 f1157 , ``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, wrdn ta wl wrytyw , 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.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 12-24 - False religious principles, adopted by carnal men, urge on to suc wickedness, as human nature would hardly be supposed capable of. Ye the Lord readily disappoints the best concerted schemes of iniquity Paul knew that the Divine providence acts by reasonable and pruden 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 wil not help himself according to his means and power, has neither reaso 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.
Greek Textus Receptus
γενομενης 1096 5637 V-2ADP-GSF δε 1161 CONJ ημερας 2250 N-GSF ποιησαντες 4160 5660 V-AAP-NPM τινες 5100 X-NPM των 3588 T-GPM ιουδαιων 2453 A-GPM συστροφην 4963 N-ASF ανεθεματισαν 332 5656 V-AAI-3P εαυτους 1438 F-3APM λεγοντες 3004 5723 V-PAP-NPM μητε 3383 CONJ φαγειν 5315 5629 V-2AAN μητε 3383 CONJ πιειν 4095 5629 V-2AAN εως 2193 CONJ ου 3739 R-GSM αποκτεινωσιν 615 5725 V-PAS-3P τον 3588 T-ASM παυλον 3972 N-ASM
Vincent's NT Word Studies
12. Banded together (poihsantev sustrofhn). Lit., having made a conspiracy. See on concourse, ch. xix. 40.Bound themselves under a curse (aneqematisan eautouv). Lit., anathematized or cursed themselves; invoked God's curse on themselves if they should violate their vow. On the kindred noun ajnaqema, a curse, see note on offerings, Luke xxi. 5. In case of failure, they could procure absolution from their oath by the Rabbis.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
23:12 {Banded together} (poiesantes sustrofen). See on #19:40 (riot), but here conspiracy, secret combination, binding together like twisted cords. {Bound themselves under a curse} (aneqematisan heautous). First aorist active indicative of anaqematizw, a late word, said by Cremer and Thayer to be wholly Biblical or ecclesiastical. But Deissmann (_Light from the Ancient East_, p. 95) quotes several examples of the verb in an Attic cursing tablet from Megara of the first or second century A.D. this proof shows that the word, as well as anaqema (substantive) from which the verb is derived, was employed by pagans as well as by Jews. Deissmann suggests that Greek Jews like the seven sons of Sceva may have been the first to coin it. It occurs in the LXX as well as #Mr 14:71 (which see and #Luke 21:5); #Ac 23:12,14,21. They placed themselves under an anaqema or curse, devoted themselves to God (cf. #Le 27:28f.; 1Co 16:22). {Drink} (pein=piein). Second aorist active infinitive of pinw. For this shortened form see Robertson, _Grammar_, p. 343. {Till they had killed} (hews hou apokteinwsin). First aorist active subjunctive of apokteinw, common verb. No reason to translate "had killed," simply "till they should kill," the aorist merely punctiliar action, the subjunctive retained instead of the optative for vividness as usual in the _Koin_ (Robertson, _Grammar_, pp. 974-6). Same construction in verse #14. King Saul took an "anaqema" that imperilled Jonathan (#1Sa 14:24). Perhaps the forty felt that the rabbis could find some way to absolve the curse if they failed. See this verse repeated in verse #21.
