John Chrysostom

"We have bound ourselves," they say, "under a curse, that we will not eat nor drink." What is all this zeal? "That he may bring him down," it says, "unto you, as though ye would enquire into his case more perfectly." Has he not twice made a speech unto you? has he not said that he is a Pharisee? What would ye have over and above this? So reckless were they and afraid of nothing, not tribunals, not laws: such their hardihood which shrunk from nothing. They both declare their purpose, and announce the way of carrying it into effect.

Homily on Acts 49 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

They say that they "bound themselves with an oath," meaning that they would renounce their faith in God if they did not carry out what they had planned. Thus, if they made a false promise, they were under an oath as deceivers; if they had succeeded in killing Paul, they would again have subjected themselves to a curse as murderers, or God would have anathematized them.

Commentary on Acts ↗