Acts 23:14

14 They went to the chief priests and leaders [of the people] and said, "We've asked God to curse us if we taste any food before we've killed Paul.

Acts 23:14 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 23:14

And they came to the chief priests, and elders
Who were members of the sanhedrim, to acquaint them with their designs:

and said, we have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will
eat nothing until we have slain Paul:
these chief priests and elders, had they acted according to the character they bore, on such an information, would have taken up those men, and punished them, at least would have dissuaded them from so vile an action; but they knew the men to whom they applied, and very likely they were all of them of the sect of the Sadducees, whom Paul had so much offended the day before; and therefore were pleased with what they had done, approved of their scheme, and readily fell in with the following proposal.

Acts 23:14 In-Context

12 In the morning the Jews formed a conspiracy. They asked God to curse them if they ate or drank anything before they had killed Paul.

13 More than forty men took part in this plot.

14 They went to the chief priests and leaders [of the people] and said, "We've asked God to curse us if we taste any food before we've killed Paul.

15 Here's our plan: You and the council must go to the Roman officer on the pretext that you need more information from Paul. You have to make it look as though you want to get more accurate information about him. We'll be ready to kill him before he gets to you."

16 But Paul's nephew heard about the ambush. He entered the barracks and told Paul.