Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 24:16

"Herein I also exercise myself to have a conscience void of offence toward God and men always." — Acts 24:16 (ASV)

The real reason Ananias and the Jewish elders opposed him, Paul insisted, was religious. He was “a follower of the Way,” aJewish group that agreed with the basic doctrines of Judaism. And while he differed from Ananias and the elders in his acceptance of “the Way,” his conscience in the matter was “clear before God and man” (cf. 23:1). Paul’s statements about having “the same hope in God as these men” and accepting “a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked” have led to much comment since Ananias himself would not have accepted the doctrine of a resurrection (cf. comment on 4:1 regarding Sadducean beliefs) and Paul in his letters speaks only of a resurrection of the righteous (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:12–58; 1 Thessalonians 4:5–13:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12). But evidently some Pharisees were among the elders who had come down to Caesarea with Ananias (cf. v.1).

And though Sadducees did not accept the hope of a resurrection, Paul as a Pharisee was probably sufficiently self-confident to believe that it was the Pharisaic hope that characterized—or, at least, should characterize—all true representations of the Jewish faith. Furthermore, while Paul in his letters speaks only of a resurrection of the righteous (as also did our Lord in Lk 14:14; 20:35–36), this is probably because such treatment is pastoral in nature and deals only with the righteous.