What does Acts 22:5 mean?

Persons unknown accused Paul of telling Jews they should forsake the Mosaic law (Acts 21:20–21). Jews from Asia, a province in modern-day Turkey, accuse him of bringing a Gentile into the temple (Act 21:27–29). Paul tries to defend himself. Teaching against the Mosaic law was a capital offense in Judaism, but the Jews had largely lost their right to execution (John 18:31). Defacing a religious structure, however, was a capital offense against the Roman law.

Paul starts his defense by recounting his earlier intense devotion to the Mosaic law. He had been trained by the Pharisee Gamaliel, a very influential rabbi. Gamaliel taught Paul not only the Law, but the extra-biblical regulations Pharisees devoutly follow. When the church started growing in Jerusalem, Paul fought fervently against it. He not only looked on with approval as a vicious mob murdered the evangelist Stephen (Acts 7:54–60; 22:20), he tracked down Jesus-followers in Jerusalem so violently they fled to Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1–3; 26:10–11). When he had done all he could in Judea, he requested and received permission from the Sanhedrin to hunt Christians in Damascus (Acts 9:1–2).

The "council" is the Sanhedrin—the group of elders, scribes, and priests responsible for enforcing the Mosaic law. The Mosaic law designates qualified descendants of Aaron as priests and one single man as high priest, but in the time between the Old and New Testaments, the priesthood became corrupt and then politicized. By this time, it was ruled largely by a single family. "High priest" was a title not only for the single ruling priest but also those who held the position before as well as others with influence. Elders were typically businessmen who acted as judges for their cities. It is likely that at least some of these men are present. It is the council who authorized Paul's earlier attacks against Christians.