Rejection of Paul

[Acts 23:2] And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.
The high priesthood was in a state of great confusion and constant change at this time (as appears from Josephus), and the missionary's long absence from Jerusalem, and perhaps the manner in which he was habited or the seat he occupied, with other circumstances to us unknown, may account for such a speech. But if he was thrown off his guard by an insult which touched him to the quick, "what can surpass the grace with which he recovered his self-possession, and the frankness with which he acknowledged his error?
When Paul perceived from the discussion which plainly had by this time arisen between the parties, he raised his voice above both parties trying to justify himself.
I am a Pharisee; the son of a Pharisee, the true reading seems to be, "the son of Pharisees," that is, belonging to a family who from father to son had long been such.
Of the hope and resurrection of the dead that is, not the vague hope of immortality, but the definite expectation of the resurrection.
I am called in question, by this clever stroke, perceiving the assembly to consist of Sadducees and Pharisees, he thought it best thus to divide the council, by introducing a question on which they different and were at issue. Paul engages the whole Pharisaic section of the council in his favor; 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.
‘Let us not fight against G-d,’ seem not to belong to the original text. In this case, either the meaning is, "If he has had some divine communication, what of that?" or, the conclusion of the sentence may have been drowned in the hubbub.
The Sanhedrim trying the cause, the proceedings quickly consisted in the one politic party attempting to seize the prisoner, and the other to protect him.
The Jewish political party hated Paul that they said: we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul. What will not unscrupulous and hypocritical religionists do under the mask of religion?
If the Paul’s sisters young son was at this time residing at Jerusalem for his education, like Paul himself, he may have got at the schools those hints of the conspiracy on which he so promptly acted. Thus, as is so often the case with G-d's people, not till the last moment, when the plot was all prepared, did deliverance come. An alarming guard for such an occasion; but Roman officials felt their honor concerned in the preservation of the public peace, and the danger of an attempted rescue would seem to require it. The force at Jerusalem was large enough to spare this convoy, at midnight.
Claudius was the Roman name Paul would take on purchasing his citizenship. And Lysias was his Greek family name.
Amidst all the governors difficulty in getting at the charges laid against Paul, enough, no doubt, come out to satisfy him that the whole was a question of religion, and that there was no case for a civil tribunal. They took Paul to Antipatris that was nearly forty miles from Jerusalem, on the way to Cæsarea; so named by Herod in honor of his father, Antipater. Paul's father was Roman, making Paul a citizen of that city. He lived in Tarsus which is southeast of Asia Minor in what is now modern-day Turkey. He was Jewish (2 Cor 11:22) of the tribe of Benjamin (Phil 3:5) and educated as a Pharisee by the well-known Gamaliel, so he was familiar with Hebrew and Greek languages. Paul being a half-breed, his father Roman and his mother Jewish, could contribute to his sway to the Gentile side. The Jews accepted Paul as a missionary but never as an apostle. Could also be why the gentiles preach more from Paul’s letters than any where else.
Unlike the original 12 apostles of the New Testament who had first-hand knowledge of Y’Shua, Paul's faith rests primarily on the resurrected L-rd. Spiritual renewal by grace and understanding forgiveness are imperative to the success of Paul's ministry and Christian walk.