To strike him on the mouth. This is not the Annas of Acts 4:7, but the son of Nebedaeus, whom Herod had appointed to be high priest. He served from 47 - 59 A.D. He flares up in anger when Paul claims to have a clear conscience about all that' he had done. God will certainly strike you. Paul is indignant at this mockery of justice. "Whitewashed wall" means hypocrite (compare note on Matthew 23:27). What Paul says is a prediction, and this man Ananias was dragged from a sewer where he had hidden himself and killed by armed terrorists [Zealots] in 66 A.D. I did not know. Since the high priest would only wear his distinctive robes in the temple service, nothing would here identify him. Paul may never have seen this high priest before.

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Old Testament