How to read this page

An Intertextuality Pair — one connection between two passages, shown as linked verse cards: the Later text and the Earlier text it quotes, alludes to or echoes. The Significance essay explains why the link matters and where it points in Christ.

Reference Type— how explicit the link is: Quotation, Allusion, or Echo
Connection Method(s)— how it carries meaning: e.g. Typology, Promise-Fulfillment, Analogy, Longitudinal Theme
Found via— where the connection was identified, e.g. the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge or an Anchor-Text Network

Graph View — tap the constellation icon in the top bar to see this page's connections as a web of light: gold points are passages, and the coloured threads are the connection types. Click any type in the graph's own legend to filter it in or out, and use the expand control for the full-screen night sky.

New to a term? The Glossary explains every abbreviation and term on the site in plain words.

Intertextuality Pair

Acts 23:4-5 → Exodus 22:28

Quotation

Later text

Acts 23:4-5BSB

But those standing nearby said, “How dare you insult the high priest of God!” “Brothers,” Paul replied, “I was not aware that he was the high priest, for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’”

Earlier text

Exodus 22:28BSB

You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.

Walk the Square · a single-voice walk of this pair around the Clowney square8:23

Significance

Rebuked for reviling the high priest, Paul submits at once to Scripture: "I was not aware that he was the high priest, for it is written: 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people'" (Acts 23:4-5, citing Exodus 22:28). He cites the very law forbidding contempt for God-appointed authority, retracting his sharp word the moment he sees it collides with the written command. The episode displays the apostle's genuine submission to the Law as God's word even before a corrupt tribunal — he will expose injustice, but not by transgressing Scripture. Such reverence for God's ordering of authority reflects the mind of Christ, who honored even the office of those who condemned him, and who teaches his people to render what is owed to rulers (Romans 13:1-7) while reserving ultimate allegiance for God alone.

Found via: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s): Analogy