“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?”
King James Version (KJV)
23:3 Then said Paul - Being carried away by a sudden and prophetic impulse. God is about to smite thee, thou whited wall - Fair without; full of dirt and rubbish within. And he might well be so termed, not only as he committed this outrage, while gravely sitting on the tribunal of justice but also as, at the same time that he stood high in the esteem of the citizens, he cruelly defrauded the priests of their legal subsistence, so that some of them even perished for want. And God did remarkably smite him; for about five years after this, his house being reduced to ashes, in a tumult begun by his own son, he was besieged in the royal palace; where having hid himself in an old aqueduct, he was dragged out and miserably slain.
Ac 23:3 God shall smite thee, etc. These words, spoken by the prisoner, indignant at the mockery of justice, were rather a prediction than an imprecation. I have just stated that this violent man came to an untimely death. The insult to Paul reminds us of a similar one to his Master before the same body (Joh 18:22). [Thou] white wall. By "whited wall" Paul means a hypocrite. See PNT "Mt 23:27".
Then saith Paul vnto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to iudge mee after the Law, and commandest mee to be smitten contrary to the Law?
- King James Version (1611) - View 1611 Bible Scan
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?"
- New American Standard Version (1995)
Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: and sittest thou to judge me according to the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?
- American Standard Version (1901)
Then Paul said to him, God will give blows to you, you whitewashed wall: are you here to be my judge by law, and by your orders am I given blows against the law?
- Basic English Bible
Then Paul said to him, God will smite thee, whited wall. And *thou*, dost thou sit judging me according to the law, and breaking the law commandest me to be smitten?
- Darby Bible
Then said Paul to him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me according to the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?
- Webster's Bible
Before long, exclaimed Paul, "God will strike you, you white-washed wall! Are you sitting there to judge me in accordance with the Law, and do you yourself actually break the Law by ordering me to be struck?"
- Weymouth Bible
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?"
- World English Bible
Thanne Poul seide to hym, Thou whitid wal, God smyte thee; thou sittist, and demest me bi the lawe, and ayens the law thou comaundist me to be smytun.
- Wycliffe Bible
then Paul said unto him, `God is about to smite thee, thou whitewashed wall, and thou -- thou dost sit judging me according to the law, and, violating law, dost order me to be smitten!'
- Youngs Literal Bible