Acts 23:7
And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided. And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided.
Paul's declaration that he was on trial concerning the resurrection brought the long-standing disagreement between the Pharisees and the Sadducees into the open and split both the council and the multitude. The dividing issue was belief in the resurrection and in angels and spirits, which the Pharisees affirmed and the Sadducees denied. Once the Pharisee and Sadducee members of the Sanhedrin began disputing over that teaching, their united opposition against Paul was weakened. Scribes of the Pharisees' party began defending him, while the Sadducees sought to kill him.
The council descended into confusion as the two parties contended. The chief captain then ordered soldiers to take Paul from among the crowd. The Jewish leaders opposed him because presenting truth before the people would expose the difference between truth and error, so they used subtle means to silence him rather than answer his arguments. That same denial of the resurrection by the Sadducees had helped leave even the disciples uncertain about what rising from the dead meant.