What does Acts 23:30 mean?
Claudius Lysias is a young Roman army officer in command of the barracks in Jerusalem. His job is to keep the peace on behalf of the governor who lives on the coast in Caesarea Maritima. A few days prior, he was notified of a near-riot on the temple mount. A mob was beating a man but didn't seem to know why (Acts 21:27–34). The tribune arrested the man and took him to the Sanhedrin to try to discover what he had done that was so egregious. While discussing it, factions within the Sanhedrin started fighting (Acts 23:1–10). The next day, the Sanhedrin conspired with forty other Jews to have the man assassinated (Acts 23:12–15).The tribune is sending the man to the governor with a letter, requesting the governor take over the investigation (Acts 23:23–25). To that end, the tribune has ordered representatives of the Sanhedrin to present their case.
The "man" is Paul. The mob attacked him because Jews from Asia—a district in modern-day Turkey—thought he took a Gentile into the temple. When Paul is before the Sanhedrin, however, he disrupts their unity by declaring he is a Pharisee who is on trial because he believes in the resurrection of the dead. The Pharisees flock to his aid while the Sadducees violently disagree.
We don't know who the "Jews" are that initiate the assassination attempt (Acts 23:12). The term "Jews" usually mean religions leaders, but they may be the men from Asia—they may even be religious leaders from Asia. It's unlikely their problem with Paul is that he believes in the resurrection of the dead—so do the Pharisees, and although Pharisees are the minority in the Sanhedrin, they're very popular with the people.
When Paul's accusers, and their lawyer, present their case before Governor Felix, they claim, "For we have found this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him" (Acts 24:5–6). This charge is more in line with the Asians at the temple.
Paul, however, dismisses the charge of rioting, says his "sect" is fully in line with the prophets, and points out that the Asians who made the false accusation should be there themselves to accuse him. He then challenges the Sanhedrin representatives to reveal why they really want him arrested, as their charges so far have been spurious (Acts 24:10–21).
With this letter, the tribune is rid of Paul. He sends him to Caesarea with a significant escort (Acts 23:23) and conveniently neglects to go to the governor to present his own evidence (Acts 24:22). Paul stays under house arrest for two years until Felix is replaced by Festus (Acts 24:27). In a moment of frustration, Paul appeals his stalled case to Caesar, and Festus grants his request (Acts 25:11–12).
