But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.
But when Paul perceived - from the discussion which plainly had by this time arisen between the parties,
That the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out - raising his voice above both parties,
I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee - `a son of Pharisees' is the best attested reading; in which case the meaning is, belonging to a family who from father to son had long been such.
Of the hope and resurrection of the dead - that is (as good critics take it), 'of the hope of a resurrection of the dead;' or (with others), 'of the Messianic hope in general, as Acts 28:20 . The former suits the apostle's object better, as the resurrection was the one point to which he sought to direct attention.
I am called in question. This was not the vague hope of immortality-the utmost to which the pagan could rise-but the definite hope of a resurrection-state. By this adroit stroke Paul engages the whole Pharisaic section of the council in his favour; the doctrine of a resurrection being common to both, though they would totally differ in their application of it. This was of course quite warrantable, and the more so as it was already evident that no impartiality in trying his cause was to be looked for from such an assembly.