Acts 23:5

Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.

Ver. 5. I wist not, brethren] Whether he spake seriously or ironically it is doubtful. He might not know him, as having been long absent from Jerusalem. Or his present heat might so darken his judgment, that he might not for present acknowledge the high priest's authority. It was certainly some disadvantage to Paul, that (although provoked and unjustly smitten) he called the high priest whited wall; he was glad to excuse it by his ignorance. We may not be too bold or too forward to speak in a good matter, lest we overshoot. Luther confessed before the emperor at Worms, that in his books against private and singular persons he had been more vehement than his religion and profession required. And he cried to our Henry VIII for mercy for his uncivil handling of him.