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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Act_23:6-10
6But perceiving that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in the Council, "Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!" 7As he said this, there occurred a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9And there occurred a great uproar; and some of the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to argue heatedly, saying, "We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?" 10And as a great dissension was developing, the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them and ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.
Act_23:6 "perceiving" Paul may have realized that he could not get a fair hearing from this Sadducean high priest.
▣ "Sadducees" See Special Topic at Act_4:1.
▣ "Pharisees" Paul had been a Pharisee (cf. Act_26:5; Php_3:5-6) from a family of Pharisees. See Special Topic at Act_5:34.
▣ "I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead" Paul threw out a theological issue that the Sadducees and Pharisees disagreed about. The Sadducees denied the afterlife, while the Pharisees affirmed it (cf. Job_14:14; Job_19:23-27; Isa_25:8; Isa_26:19; Dan_12:2). This set the two factions of the council against each other (cf. Act_23:7-10).
Act_23:7 "the assembly was divided" This term's basic meaning is "to tear" (cf. Luk_5:36; Luk_23:45). It came to be used metaphorically of division within groups (cf. Act_14:4; Act_23:7). The division between these two Jewish sects was always just under the surface. Paul fanned the flames.
Act_23:8 "nor an angel, nor a spirit" Act_23:8 is a comment by Luke on his source. Does this phrase imply there are two categories of spiritual beings or one? The origin of both is biblically ambiguous, but Heb_1:5; Heb_1:13-14 imply they are the same.
What the Sadducees denied was the dualism of good and evil spiritual beings (Zoroastrian dualism). The Pharisees had elaborated the OT concept into rigid Persian dualism and even developed a hierarchy of angelic and demonic (seven leaders of each). The best source I have found for first century Jewish angelology is Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Appendix XIII.
Act_23:9
NASB "there arose a great uproar"
NKJV "there arose a loud outcry"
NRSV "then a great clamor arose"
NJB "the shouting grew louder"
This same phrase is found in the Septuagint of Exo_12:30 (also note Exo_3:7; Exo_11:6; Est_4:3; Isa_58:4; Isa_65:19). The word "cry" (kraugç) is also in Mat_25:6; Luk_1:42; Eph_4:31; Heb_5:7; Rev_21:4. Only context can determine the kind of loud "cry" (i.e., positive or negative).
Another emotional word "to argue heatedly" (diamachomai) is also used in the LXX in Dan_10:20. Paul's comment caused a loud, emotional confrontation, which is exactly what he wanted!
▣ "the scribes" These were the legal experts in both the oral (Talmud) and written law (OT). Most of them were Pharisees.
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▣ "this man" The use of this noun phrase in this context shows it is not automatically a negative phrase.
▣ "suppose" This is a partial or incomplete first class conditional sentence. These scribes were asserting that Paul had seen something from the spiritual realm, but exactly what they were not sure. Their immediate and forceful defense of Paul shows how biased they were for their own group. Apparently they disliked Sadducees more than a supposedly renegade Pharisee.
Because this is an incomplete grammatical structure, the Textus Receptus, following the uncial Greek manuscripts H, L, and P, adds, "Let us not fight against God," which is taken from Act_5:39.
Act_23:10 "ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force" Twice now the Roman government had saved Paul's life in Jerusalem. No wonder Paul saw the government as a minister of God (cf. Romans 13). This may relate to "the one who restrains" in 2Th_2:6-7.