What does Acts 23:22 mean?

Paul's nephew, likely a late teenager, has reported a conspiracy to the tribune of Jerusalem. The Sanhedrin is about to invite the tribune and Paul to a meeting to uncover why a mob in the temple tried to kill Paul (Acts 21:27–31). The young man has learned the invitation is a ruse. The intent is to get Paul out of the Roman barracks and out into the open. There, forty men who have sworn an oath could kill Paul (Acts 23:12–15).

The tribune, Lysias, has spent three days trying to determine why the mob beat Paul and if Paul committed a crime. Now, he's learned the entire ruling Jewish council is involved in a plot to kill his suspect. He realizes he's not going to get any further with his investigation. This tribune is most likely a young man in his mid-to-late 20s. Many such men took a one-year career-broadening assignment with the army before learning how to be a senator in Rome. The governor, however, is well-versed in the culture of the Jews and even knows a good amount about Paul's religious beliefs (Acts 24:22).

Lysias decides to transfer Paul and the entire case to the governor in Caesarea Maritima. He orders an escort of two centurions, two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to protect Paul from the forty assassins (Acts 23:23–24). Paul gets to the governor safely, but Lysias doesn't show up for the trial, and the governor refuses to rule without his testimony. Paul winds up spending two years under house arrest before he's sent—as a prisoner—to Rome (Acts 24:22, 27).