Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?
Parallel translations
- WEB Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to judge me according to the law, and command me to be struck contrary to the law?”
- BSB Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit here to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck.”
- NKJV Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?”
- NASB Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law, order me to be struck?”
- NLT But Paul said to him, “God will slap you, you corrupt hypocrite! What kind of judge are you to break the law yourself by ordering me struck like that?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul rebukes Ananias as a 'whitewashed wall' for judging him while breaking the law himself. He exposes the hypocrisy of the high priest's unjust command.
Overview
'Whitewashed wall' pictures a structure made to look sound but inwardly corrupt (compare Matthew 23:27). Paul's warning that God will strike him proved prophetic, as Ananias was later killed by assassins. The verse shows righteous indignation against hypocrisy, yet Paul's next words also reveal his readiness to submit to lawful authority.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Deut 25:1–2If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.
- John 7:51Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?
- Matt 23:27–28Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
- Lev 19:15Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
- Ps 82:1–2God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
- Amos 5:7Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,
- Mic 3:8–11But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
- Ps 58:1–2Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
- Ps 94:20Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
- Eccl 3:16And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
- Lev 19:35Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.
- John 18:24Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest.
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Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
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Original language
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