Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 23:15

"Now therefore do ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you, as though ye would judge of his case more exactly: and we, before he comes near, are ready to slay him." — Acts 23:15 (ASV)

Now therefore ye with the council . . .—The plot was necessary, either:

1. because the Sanhedrin had lost, under Roman rule, its power to inflict capital punishment (see Notes on Acts 7:59; John 18:31);
2. or because, even if they possessed that power, the chiliarch was not likely to allow its exercise in the case of a Roman citizen;
3. or because the experience of the previous day had shown that the violent party were not likely to obtain a majority in the Council.

The plot was, so far, skillfully laid. Even those who had said, “We find no evil in this man,” could hardly oppose a proposal for a further investigation.

We, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him.—The first word stands in the Greek with a kind of ferocious emphasis: “You may safely leave us to do our part.”