Gevurot 22-24

Orthodox Jewish Bible

22 Rav Sha’ul said, "Anashim, Achim, Avot, listen now to my hitstaddekut (defense)."

² And when they heard that Rav Sha’ul was addressing them in the language of the Hebrews, they were even more quiet. And Rav Sha’ul said,

³ "I am an ish Yehudi, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but having been brought up in a yeshiva in this city of Yerushalayim at the feet of Rabban Gamliel, having learned with irreproachable frumkeit according to all machmir chumra strictness the Torah of Avoteinu, and I have a kinat Hashem just as all of you do today; [MELACHIM ALEF 19:10]

⁴ "I brought redifah on this ‘Derech,’ even to the point of mavet, binding and delivering both anashim and nashim over to the beis hasohar,

⁵ "As even the Kohen Gadol and all the Zekenim of the Sanhedrin could give solemn eidus for me. For from them I also was authorized with iggrot to the Achim in Damascus, and I was going there to lead away also the ones who were there in order to bring them bound back to Yerushalayim to have them punished.

⁶ "And it happened to me while traveling and drawing near to Damascus, lav davka (approximately) noon, suddenly from Shomayim, a very bright ohr (light) shone around me;

⁷ "And I fell to the ground. Then I heard a bat kol saying to me, ‘Sha’ul, Sha’ul, why are you bringing redifah on me?'’

⁸ "And I answered, ‘Who are you, Adoni?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Yehoshua of Natzeret, upon whom you are bringing redifah.’

⁹ "And the ones with me saw the ohr (light) but they did not have real hearing (understanding) of the voice speaking to me.

¹⁰ "And I said, ‘What shall I do, Adoni?'’ And HaAdon said to me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything which has been appointed for you to do.'’

¹¹ "And because I had been blinded from the kavod (glory) of that ohr (light), I was led by the hand by the ones who were with me and who led me into Damascus.

¹² "A certain man, Chananyah by name, an ehrliche Yid (a truly pious Jew), charedi according to the Torah and with a shem tov with all the Yehudim living in Damascus,

¹³ "Came to me and stood next to me, saying, ‘Ach b’Moshiach Sha’ul, receive your sight.’ And at that moment I looked up at him.

¹⁴ "And he said, ‘Elohei Avoteinu has chosen and appointed you to have da’as of His ratzon (will) and to see the Tzaddik [Moshiach] and to hear the kol (voice) from His mouth.

¹⁵ ‘For you will be an eidus (witness) to him to all anashim of what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶ ‘And now what do you intend to do? Get up and receive Moshiach’s tevilah of teshuva and wash away your averos (sins) by calling upon SHMO.' [VAYIKRA 8:6; TEHILLIM 51:2; YECHEZKEL 36:25; YOEL 3:5(2:32) ZECHARYAH 6:12]

¹⁷ "And it happened that after I had returned to Yerushalayim and as I was davening in the Beis Hamikdash, that I fell into a trance,

¹⁸ "And saw Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out quickly from Yerushalayim, because they will not receive your edut (testimony) concerning me.'

¹⁹ "And I said ‘Adoni, they themselves have da’as that in every shul I was imprisoning and beating the ones with emunah in you.

²⁰ ‘And when in al kiddush ha-Shem, the dahm of your eidus (witness) Stefanos was being poured out, I myself also had been standing by and agreeing and protecting the kaftans of the ones killing him.'

²¹ "And Moshiach said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you out, far away to the Goyim.’'"

²² And they were listening to Rav Sha’ul up to the word "Goyim;" and then they lifted up their kol, saying, "Away with such a one from ha’aretz! He should not be allowed to live!"

²³ And while they were crying out, while they were throwing off their kaftans and tossing dust into the air, [SHMUEL BAIS 16:13]

²⁴ the Roman tribune directed him to be brought into the barracks, and ordered him to be examined by the flagellum’s scourge, that the tribune might have da’as of the reason for the mob’s shouting thus keneged (against, in opposition to) Rav Sha’ul.

²⁵ And when the Roman soldiers stretched Rav Sha’ul out with the straps, he said to the centurion who was standing by, "If a man is a Roman citizen and uncondemned, it is lawful for you to scourge him?"

²⁶ And having heard this, the centurion approached the tribune and reported, saying, "What are you about to do? For this man has Roman citizenship."

²⁷ And having approached, the tribune said to Rav Sha’ul, "Tell me, are you a Roman?" And Rav Sha’ul said, "Etiam." [T.N. Latin: "Yes, certainly."]

²⁸ And the tribune answered, "It cost me a large sum of money for me to acquire my Roman citizenship. " And Rav Sha’ul said, "But indeed I have been born a Roman citizen."

²⁹ Ofen ort, then, the ones about to examine him drew back from Rav Sha’ul. Also the tribune did the same. For he was afraid, learning that Rav Sha’ul is a Roman and that he had bound him.

³⁰ And on the next day, desiring to know something definite about why Rav Sha’ul was accused by the Yehudim, the tribune released him and ordered the Rashei Hakohanim and all the Sanhedrin to be assembled. Then, having brought down Rav Sha’ul, the tribune had him set before them.

23 And as he gazed at the Sanhedrin, Rav Sha’ul said, “Anashim, Achim, I have lived before Hashem until this day with a lev tahor.”

² And the Kohen Gadol Chananyah ordered the ones standing by Rav Sha’ul to strike his mouth.

³ Then Rav Sha’ul said to him, “Hashem is about to strike you, you white-washed wall! You sit judging me according to Torah and yet in violation of the Torah you command me to be struck?” [Lv 19:15; Dt 25:1,2]

⁴ And the ones standing by said, “Do you revile the Kohen Gadol of Hashem?”

⁵ And Rav Sha’ul said, “I was without da’as, Achim, that he is the Kohen Gadol, for it has been written, NASI V’AMMECHA LO TA’OR (“A ruler of your people you will not speak evil of, curse,” Ex 22:27(28)

⁶ And Rav Sha’ul, having da’as that one kat is of Tzedukim (Sadducees) and the other of Perushim (Pharisees), was crying out in the Sanhedrin, “Anashim, Achim, I am a Parush ben Parush and it is for the tikvah of the Techiyas HaMesim that I am being judged.”

⁷ Now when Rav Sha’ul said this, there came about a machlochet (controversy) between the Perushim and Tzedukim, and the multitude was divided.

⁸ Loit (according to) the Tzedukim, there is no Techiyas HaMesim nor a malach nor ruchot, but Perushim acknowledge all these things.

⁹ And there was a kol gadol and some of the Sofrim of the kat of the Perushim were arguing vigorously, saying, “Nothing rah do we find keneged this ish, and what if a ruach did speak to him or a malach?”

¹⁰ And fearing much more machloket was coming, the Roman tribune ordered the troops to go down to take Rav Sha’ul away from the midst of them and to bring him into the barracks lest he be torn to pieces by them.

¹¹ And on the following lailah, HaAdon stood by Rav Sha’ul and said, “Chazak! For as you gave solemn edut about me in Yerushalayim, thus it is necessary for you also to bear solemn eidus in Rome.”

¹² In the boker, the Judeans joined in a kesher and bound themselves with a shevu’ah that none of them would eat or drink until they had carried out their plot of retzichah b’seter of Rav Sha’ul.

¹³ Now there were more than arba’im anashim (forty men) who joined in this kesher.

¹⁴ After they approached the Rashei HaKohanim (Chief Priests) and the Zekenim (Elders), they said, "We have bound ourselves with a shevu’ah (oath) to eat nothing until we have killed Rav Sha’ul.

¹⁵ "Now, therefore, you with the Sanhedrin notify the tribune so that he may bring Rav Sha’ul down to you as if intending to determine more accurately the things concerning him, and, before he draws near, we are ready to kill him."

¹⁶ Now when Rav Sha’ul’s achyon (nephew) heard about the ma’arav (ambush), he went and gained entrance into the barracks and reported this to Rav Sha’ul.

¹⁷ And Rav Sha’ul summoned one of the centurions and said, "Bring this bochur to the tribune for he has something to report to him."

¹⁸ So the centurion took the bochur and brought him to the tribune and says, "The prisoner Rav Sha’ul has summoned me and asked me to bring this bochur to you; he has something to say to you."

¹⁹ The tribune grasped the bochur’s hand and drew him aside privately, inquiring, "What is it you have to report to me?"

²⁰ And the bochur said, "The Judeans agreed to ask you to bring Rav Sha’ul down machar (tomorrow) to the Sanhedrin as if intending to inquire something more accurate concerning him.

²¹ "Therefore, you should not be persuaded by them, for more than arba’im anashim are lying in wait for him and these took a shevu’ah upon themselves neither to eat nor to drink until they have assassinated him, and now they are ready, waiting for your consent."

²² Therefore, the tribune dismissed the bochur, ordering him, "Tell no one that you reported these things to me."

²³ And having summoned two of the centurions, the tribune said, "Prepare to leave for Caesarea by nine o’clock tonight the following: two hundred chaiyalim, seventy horsemen, and two hundred bowmen.

²⁴ "And also provide mounts for Rav Sha’ul to ride, that he may be given safe passage to Felix the Moshel."

²⁵ Then the tribune wrote an iggeret to this effect:

²⁶ "Claudius Lysias to the most excellent Moshel, Felix. Greetings.

²⁷ "This man was seized by the Judeans and was about to be killed by them, but when I learned that he is a Roman citizen, I came with the chaiyalim and rescued him.

²⁸ "Desiring to have da’as of the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their Sanhedrin.

²⁹ "I found he was being accused about issues of their Torah and the charge was nothing worthy of mavet or of imprisonment.

³⁰ "And when I received information of a kesher (plot) keneged (against) the man, I sent him immediately to you, having given orders also to his accusers to state their case against Rav Sha’ul before your excellency."

³¹ Therefore, as they were ordered, the chaiyalim took Rav Sha’ul along and brought him under cover of lailah to Antipatris.

³² And on the next day, having allowed the horsemen to go on with Rav Sha’ul, they returned to the barracks.

³³ When the horsemen entered into Caesarea, they delivered the iggeret to the Moshel and also presented Rav Sha’ul to him.

³⁴ And having read it, and having asked from what province Rav Sha’ul hailed, the Moshel learned that he was from Cilicia.

³⁵ "I will give you a hearing," Felix said, "when also your accusers arrive." Then the Moshel commanded Rav Sha’ul to be watched by shomrim in the Praetorium of Herod.

24 And after chamash yamim, the Kohen Gadol Chananyah came down with some Zekenim and an orator, a certain Tertullus, who explained to the Moshel the charges keneged (against) Rav Sha’ul.

² And when Rav Sha’ul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, "Your Excellency, much shalom has been attained through you, and reforms have come to this nation by your foresight.

³ "This in every way and everywhere, we acknowledge, most excellent Felix, with todah rabbah.

⁴ "But in order that I may not detain you any longer, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly.

⁵ "For having found this man a troublemaker and an inciter of riots among all the Yehudim throughout kol ha’aretz, a manhig of the kat [of Judaism], the Natzrati Kat.

⁶ "He even tried to desecrate the Beis Hamikdash! And so we apprehended him, [and would have tried him according to our own law;]

⁷ ["But the sar haelef Lysias came, and with great ko’ach took him away out of our hands, and ordered his adversaries to come unto you.]

⁸ "When you examine him, you will be able to find out yourself regarding all these things of which we accuse him."

⁹ And the rest of the Judeans joined in the attack, saying that these things were so.

¹⁰ And when the Moshel nodded to him to speak, Rav Sha’ul answered, "Knowing that for many years you have been a shofet (judge) to this nation, I cheerfully make my hitstaddekut.

¹¹ "You will be able to learn that not more than twelve days have elapsed since I made an aliyah to worship in Yerushalayim.

¹² "And neither in the Beis Hamikdash did they find me conversing with anyone nor did they find me stirring up the multitude either in the shuls or anywhere in Yerushalayim.

¹³ "Nor are they able to prove to you concerning the things of which now they are accusing me.

¹⁴ "For Ani modeh (I confess) this to you, that according to the Derech Hashem, which they call a ‘kat’ [of Judaism], I serve the Elohei Avoteinu, having emunah in everything written according to the Torah and the Nevi’im.

¹⁵ "I have a tikvah (hope) in Hashem, which also these ones themselves anticipate, the coming Techiyas HaMesim of both the Tzaddikim and the Resha’im.

¹⁶ "In view of this, I always do my best to keep a matzpun naki (clear conscience) before Hashem and before anashim.

¹⁷ "Now after many years, I came bringing nedavot (donations) to my people and also to make korbanot (sacrifices).

¹⁸ "And this is how they found me, having undergone purification in the Beis Hamikdash, not with rioters nor with any disturbance.

¹⁹ "But there were some Yehudim from the Province of Asia who ought to be present before you to make accusation, if they might have something against me.

²⁰ "Or let these themselves say what crime they found in me when they stood me before the Sanhedrin,

²¹ "unless it is about this one statement, which I stood and cried out among them, and that statement was concerning the Techiyas HaMesim, and it is for this that I am being judged today by you."

²² But Felix, who was already rather well informed about the Derech Hashem, adjourned the meeting, saying, "When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case."

²³ Then Felix gave orders to the centurion to guard Rav Sha’ul, but to grant him considerable liberty and not to prevent his chaverim from ministering to his needs.

²⁴ And after some yamim, Felix came with Drusilla, his wife, who was Jewish. He summoned Rav Sha’ul and listened to him concerning his emunah (faith) in Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua.

²⁵ And as Rav Sha’ul was conversing about tzedek [DANIEL 9:24] and kibush hayetzer (self-control) and about the Yom HaDin coming, Felix suddenly became afraid, and said, "That will do for the moment. Go now. When I find time, I’ll send for you."

²⁶ At the same time Felix was also hoping that bribe money would be given to him by Rav Sha’ul. Therefore, Felix used to frequently send for Rav Sha’ul to converse with him.

²⁷ When two years passed, Felix received a successor, Porcius Festus, and, wanting to grant a favor to the Judeans, Felix left Rav Sha’ul in custody.