Acts 23:20

20 And he said, "The Jews have agreed to request thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul tomorrow into the council, as though they wished to inquire of him somewhat more thoroughly.

Acts 23:20 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 23:20

And he said, the Jews have agreed to desire thee
By the Jews are meant, the Jewish sanhedrim, for the young man had not only intelligence of the conspiracy, and lying in wait of the forty men or more; but also of the agreement which the sanhedrim at the motion of these men were come into, to make the following request to the chief captain; which seems to confirm the above conjecture, that this young man might be a student under the president of the council, or one of the doctors, whereby he came at the knowledge of these things:

that thou wouldst bring down Paul tomorrow into the council
(See Gill on Acts 23:15).

Acts 23:20 In-Context

18 So he took him and brought him to the chief captain and said, "Paul, the prisoner, called me unto him and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, as he hath something to say unto thee."

19 Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and going aside with him privately, asked him, "What is it that thou hast to tell me?

20 And he said, "The Jews have agreed to request thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul tomorrow into the council, as though they wished to inquire of him somewhat more thoroughly.

21 But do not thou yield unto them, for there lie in wait for him more than forty of their men, who have bound themselves with an oath that they will neither eat nor drink until they have killed him. And now they are ready, looking for consent from thee.

22 So the chief captain then let the young man depart and charged him, "See thou tell no man that thou hast revealed these things to me."