Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 23:10

"And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should be torn in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the castle." — Acts 23:10 (ASV)

Paul’s declaration served to divide the council, with Sadducees on the one side (cf. comment on 4:1) and Pharisees on the other (cf. comment on 5:34). Some of the Pharisees saw in the inquisition of Paul an attempt by the Sadducees to discredit Pharisaism and its theology, and they rose to his defense. The Sadducees, however, kept pressing their objections, and the debate soon got out of hand. So violent, in fact, did it become that the commander had to bring in soldiers and rescue Paul. Once more the commander was frustrated in his effort to learn exactly why the Jews were so adamantly opposed to his prisoner.