Acts 24 Bible study: Which they call a sect

When Tertullus speaks before Felix, he calls Paul "a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes" (24:5) (tap sect and Nazarenes). When Paul answers, the word comes again: "But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, so I serve the God of our fathers" (24:14) (tap Way). Here is what almost everyone misses: in the Greek, sect is the same noun both times, and Acts uses it of others too. It is "the sect of the Sadducees" (5:17) and the sect of the Pharisees (15:5), and Paul uses it of the Pharisees before King Agrippa (26:5). In Rome Paul will hear, "as concerning this sect, it is known to us that everywhere it is spoken against" (28:22). Tertullus speaks of "the sect of the Nazarenes" (24:5); Paul speaks of "the Way, which they call a sect" (24:14). These are each speaker's words, and these notes pass no verdict on Tertullus, on Paul or on anyone.

αἵρεσιςhairesissay HAH-ee-res-is

Strong's: "properly, a choice, i.e. (specially) a party or (abstractly) disunion". Thayer lists 24:5 and 24:14, with the verses on the Sadducees and the Pharisees, under "a body of men separating themselves from others and following their own tenets (a sect or party)". Tertullus calls Paul "a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes" (24:5), and Paul says, "according to the Way, which they call a sect" (24:14): the same noun. Acts has it six times (counted in RP2018), and the WEB gives it as sect each time: of the Sadducees (5:17), of the Pharisees (15:5, 26:5), twice in this chapter, and in Rome, "as concerning this sect, it is known to us that everywhere it is spoken against" (28:22).