Now therefore ye with the council... — The plot was necessary, either (1) because the Sanhedrin had lost, under Roman rule, its power to inflict capital punishment (see Notes on Acts 7:59; John 18:31); or (2) because, even if they possessed that power, the chiliarch was not likely to allow its exercise in the case of a Roman citizen; or (3) because the experience of the previous day had shown that the violent party were not likely to obtain a majority in the Council. The plot was, so far, skilfully laid. Even those who had said, “We find no evil in this man,” could hardly oppose a proposal for a further investigation.
We, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him. — The first word stands in the Greek with a kind of ferocious emphasis “You may safely leave us to do our part.”