Paul answered, “I did not know, brothers, that he is the high priest. It is written: ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”
In context
3Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me by the law, and you break the law by ordering me to be struck?” 4Those standing nearby said, “Do you dare insult the high priest of God?” 5Paul answered, “I did not know, brothers, that he is the high priest. It is written: ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’” 6Then Paul, knowing that one part of them were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, cried out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees. It is over the hope of the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” 7The moment he said this, an argument broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was split.
