Actschapter 24
27 verses · Luke · about AD 62 · Acts
and I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.
Introduction
Luke, Acts, Acts Overview.
Luke wrote this chapter as a record of a Roman trial, with the charge, the defence and the governor's decision set out in order. He writes for readers who needed to see how a Roman court handled the case against the Christians. The chapter sets a professional orator beside an apostle speaking for himself. Listen for how each charge is met with facts a court could check. Listen also for the private talks that follow the trial, and for what makes the governor afraid. Read it as a lesson in speaking the truth to power without flattery.
Context
- Who
- Theophilus and Gentile readers, seeing a Roman court examine the Christian message and find no crime in it.
- What
- The trial of Paul before the governor Felix, with the orator Tertullus for the prosecution, Paul's defence, the adjourned verdict, and his private hearings with Felix and Drusilla.
- Where
- Caesarea on the coast of Judea, in the governor's court and in the palace Herod the Great had built, where Paul was kept under guard.
- When
- Five days after Paul's arrival in Caesarea in AD 57, and then the two years that followed until Felix was replaced by Festus in about AD 59.
- Why
- To show that the charges against Paul could not be proved before a Roman judge, and that Paul spoke of righteousness and judgment even to the man who held his life.
Historical context
Roman provincial trials worked by accusation: someone had to bring the charge and argue it. The high priest travels down with elders and hires Tertullus, a professional orator, whose opening flattery of the governor was standard courtroom technique, and, in Felix's case, close to satire.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
Felix was a former slave who had risen through the imperial household to govern a province, which Roman aristocrats found scandalous. The historian Tacitus says he wielded the power of a king with the mind of a slave. Josephus records his brutality in suppressing unrest.
Drusilla, sitting with him, was a Jewish princess, daughter of the Herod Agrippa who died in Acts 12, and Felix had taken her from her husband. That background explains why a discussion of righteousness, self-control, and coming judgment left him alarmed enough to end the conversation.
Felix hoping for a bribe was not unusual; provincial justice was widely purchasable, though extortion by officials was itself illegal. Keeping Paul for two years without verdict, then leaving him bound as a favour to the Jewish leaders when recalled, is exactly the behaviour a governor with a shaky record would show.
Significance
The charge is worth noticing: ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, a stirrer of riots, a temple-defiler. Paul answers by admitting the one thing they call a sect and denying the crimes, he worships the God of his fathers, believes everything in the Law and the Prophets, and came to Jerusalem bringing alms to his nation.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
For readers weighing whether this faith was subversive, two years of Roman scrutiny producing no verdict was the point. And for believers waiting on God's timing, so was the picture of an apostle spending two years in a cell while the governor stalled.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Tertullus Accuses Paul Before Felix
Acts 24:1-2
a lawyer named Tertullus: Ananias came down with some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, because a Roman court heard cases in the forms of Roman rhetoric. Tertullus opens with the flattery the forensic handbooks called the exordium, praising Felix for a lasting peace.
Acts 24:1
“And after five days - This time was occupied, doubtless, in their receiving the command to go to Caesarea, and in making the necessary arrangements. This was the twelfth day after Paul’s arrival at Jerusalem. See Act 24:11. Ananias, the high priest - See the notes on Act 23:2. Descended - Came down from Jerusalem. This was the usual language when a departure from Jerusalem was spoken of. See the notes on Act 15:1. With a certain orator named Tertullus - Appointed to accuse Paul. This is a Roman name, and this man was doubtless a Roman.”
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Acts 24:1
“Therefore some other man was highest priest at that time; and Ananias being one of the chief priests, forasmuch as he was in great authority, and was withal a stout man, did take this embassage upon him. He bringeth with him a train, and that of the worshipful company of elders, that the governor might be moved with their very pomp to condemn Paul.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
Tertullus opened the prosecution: The word for foresight was one Romans used of an emperor's care for his people, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown point out. Albert Barnes grants the praise a grain of truth, since Felix had broken up bands of robbers, Eleazar's among them. Tertullus built his flattery on that fact.
Acts 24:2
"To you… we owe much peace." You see how from the very first he predisposes the judge in his favor with praises, and how he tries to portray Paul as an innovator and troublemaker.
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on Actspatristic
3 more voices on this verse
Acts 24:2
“Tertullus began to accuse him - There are three parts in this oration of Tertullus: - 1. The exordium. 2. The proposition. 3. The conclusion. The exordium contains the praise of Felix and his administration, merely for the purpose of conciliating his esteem, Act 24:2-4; The proposition is contained in Act 24:5. The narration and conclusion, in Act 24:6-8. By thee we enjoy great quietness - As bad a governor as Felix most certainly was, he rendered some services to Judea.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Acts 24:2
“Tertullus began - A speech how different from St. Paul's; which is true, modest, solid, and without paint. Felix was a man of the most infamous character, and a plague to all the provinces over which he presided.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 24:2
“Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, &c.--In this fulsome flattery there was a semblance of truth: nothing more. Felix acted with a degree of vigor and success in suppressing lawless violence [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 20.8.4; confirmed by TACITUS, Annals, 12.54]. by thy providence--a phrase applied to the administration of the emperors.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Acts 24:3-4
we acknowledge this with all gratitude: Tertullus acknowledges Felix in every way and everywhere, with all gratitude, the conventional flattery of a Roman forensic opening. He promises brevity in another stock courtroom phrase, not to burden you any further.
Acts 24:3
“We accept it always - We admit that it is owing to your vigilance, and we accept your interposition to promote peace with gratitude. Always, and in all places - Not merely in your presence, but we always acknowledge that it is owing to your vigilance that the land is secure. “What we now do in your presence, we do also in your absence; we do not commend you merely when you are present” (Wetstein). Most noble Felix - This was the title of office.”
hear us briefly: This verse is the hinge between the praise and the charges. Wesley judged the speech weak at every joint, calling its opening, its turn to business and its close all lame.
Acts 24:4
“That I be not farther tedious unto thee - That I may neither trespass on thy time, by dwelling longer on this subject, nor on thy modesty, by thus enumerating thy beneficent deeds. Hear us of thy clemency - Give us this farther proof of thy kindness, by hearkening to our present complaint. The whole of this exordium was artful enough, though it was lame. The orator had certainly a very bad cause, of which he endeavored to make the best. Felix was a bad man and bad governor; and yet he must praise him, to conciliate his esteem.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 24:4
“But that I may not trouble thee any further - By trespassing either on thy patience or modesty. The eloquence of Tertullus was as bad as his cause: a lame introduction, a lame transition, and a lame conclusion.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 24:5-6
this man to be a pestilence: Tertullus brings three charges, stirring up dissension among the Jews, leading the sect of the Nazarenes, and trying to desecrate the temple. Only the last could carry a death sentence, under the standing Roman permission for Jews to execute temple violators (compare 21:28-29).
Acts 24:5
“We have found this man a pestilent fellow - λοιμὸν loimon This word is commonly applied to a plague or pestilence, and then to a man who corrupts the morals of others, or who is turbulent, and an exciter of sedition. Our translation somewhat weakens the force of the original expression. Tertullus did not say that he was a pestilent fellow, but that he was the very pestilence itself. In this he referred to their belief that he had been the cause of extensive disturbances everywhere among the Jews. And a mover of sedition - An exciter of tumult.”
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 24:5
“For we have found this man a pestilent fellow,.... Pointing to Paul, the prisoner at the bar; the word here used signifies the "pest" or "plague" itself; and it was usual with orators among the Romans, when they would represent a man as a very wicked man, as dangerous to the state, and unworthy to live in it, to call him the pest of the city, or of the country, or of the empire, as may be observed in several places in Cicero's Orations.”
Acts 24:5
“When Cyprian was condemned to die for being a Christian, this was inserted in hi sentence, that he was auctor iniqui nominis et signifer--The author and standard-bearer of a wicked cause. Now it was true that Paul was an active leading man in propagating Christianity.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
desecrate the temple: Barnes traces the temple charge to the false report that Paul brought Greeks inside (21:28). Paul answers it at verse 18.
Acts 24:6
“Hath gone about to profane the temple - This was a heavy charge, if it could have been substantiated, because the Jews were permitted by the Romans to put any person to death who profaned their temple. This charge was founded on the gross calumny mentioned, Act 21:28, Act 21:29; for, as they had seen Trophimus, an Ephesian, with Paul in the city, they pretended that he had brought him into the temple.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 24:6
“Their proof of this failed; for that they alleged as matter of act was utterly false, and they knew it, ch. xxi. (2.) That the course of justice against Paul was obstructed by the chief captain. [1.] They pleaded that they took him, and would have judged him according to their law.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Acts 24:7-9
The received text behind the King James Version adds a verse 7 here, saying that Lysias took Paul from the Jews by force. The oldest surviving manuscripts lack it, and modern critical editions print it only in a footnote, as with 8:37.
Acts 24:7
“But the chief captain Lysias came upon us,.... Suddenly, and at unawares, immediately, and with great haste, before they could execute their designs; which were not to judge Paul according to law, but to kill him, in the manner the zealots did: and with great violence took him away out of our hands; for he came with an army, and rescued him, Act 23:27 Some copies add, "and sent him to thee"; and so the Syriac version reads.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 24:7
“But the chief captain ... - Tertullus pretends that they would have judged Paul righteously if Lysias had not interposed; but the truth was, that, without regard to law or justice, they would have murdered him on the spot.”
By examining him yourself: Tertullus closes by inviting Felix to test the charges himself. Barnes observes that Luke gives only an outline, since a hired Roman orator would hardly have spoken so briefly on such an occasion.
Acts 24:8
“Commanding his accusers ... - Act 23:30. By examining of whom - That is, the Jews who were then present. Tertullus offered them as his witnesses of the truth of what he had said. It is evident that we have here only the summary or outline of the speech which he made It is incredible that a Roman rhetorician would have on such an occasion delivered an address so brief, so meagre, and so destitute of display as this. But it is doubtless a correct summary of his address, and contains the leading points of the accusation.”
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 24:8
“By examining of whom thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things, where of we accuse him. And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so. See, as witnesses also of the things spoken, the accusers, the same persons themselves both witnesses and accusers.”
John Chrysostom · written before 407 · Homily on Acts 50patristic
Acts 24:8
“Commanding his accusers to come, etc. - Here Tertullus closes his opening and statement of the case; and now he proceeds to call and examine his witnesses; and they were no doubt examined one by one, though St. Luke sums the whole up in one word - The Jews also assented, saying, that these things were so. Whoever considers the plan of Tertullus’s speech, will perceive that it was both judicious and artful. Let us take a view of the whole: - 1. He praises Felix to conciliate his favor. 2. He generally states the great blessings of his administration.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The Jews concurred: John Gill identifies the Jews who concurred as the high priest Ananias and the elders who had come down with him. John Chrysostom notes that the same men served as both accusers and witnesses, and Luke names no other witness.
Acts 24:9
“And the Jews also assented,.... That is, Ananias the high priest, and the elders that were with him, agreed to what Tertullus said, and confirmed the same. Saying, that these things were so; that Paul was such a person, and was guilty of the crimes he had set forth; and that the chief captain had taken the steps, and done the things he had related.”
Paul's Answer: After the Way They Call a Sect
Acts 24:10-11
you have been a judge: Paul opens with courtesy before a man who has been a judge over this nation for many years. His first point is narrow and open to checking, that no more than twelve days ago he went up to Jerusalem to worship.
Acts 24:10
“Then Paul - answered - The apostle’s defense consists of two parts: - 1. The exordium, which has for its object the praise of his judge, whose qualifications to discern and decide on a question of this nature he fully allows; and expects, from this circumstance, to have a favorable hearing. 2. The tractation, which consists of two parts: I. Refutation: 1. of the charge of polluting the temple; 2. of stirring up sedition; 3. of being a leader of any sect who had a different worship from the God of their fathers. II.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
no more than twelve days ago: Henry counts the twelve days as the seven of Paul's purification and the five since, which Jamieson, Fausset and Brown tie to verse 1. Barnes notes that Felix could check this by witnesses.
Acts 24:11
“Because that thou mayest understand - Greek: “Thou being able to know.” That is, he could understand or know by taking the proper evidence. Paul does not mean to say that Felix could understand the case because he had been many years a judge of that nation. That fact would qualify him to judge correctly, or to understand the customs of the Jews. But the fact that he himself had been but twelve days in Jerusalem, and had been orderly and peaceable there, Felix could ascertain only by the proper testimony.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 24:11
“The remaining period referred to (Ac 24:1) [MEYER]. This short period is mentioned to show how unlikely it was that he should have had time to do what was charged against him. for to worship--a very different purpose from that imputed to him.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Acts 24:12-13
did not find me debating: Paul denies that his accusers found him debating in the temple or riling up a crowd in the synagogues or in the city. A charge of sedition needs evidence of some act of insurrection, which the accusers never name.
Acts 24:12
“And they neither found me ... - The first charge of Tertullus against Paul was Act 24:5 that he was “a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition.” The charge of his being a Test was so general that Paul did not think it necessary to attempt to refute it. To the specification that he was a mover of sedition, he replies by a firm denial, and by a solemn declaration that they had not found him in any synagogue, or in the city, or in the temple, either disputing or exciting a tumult.”
Nor can they prove: The burden of proof lay on the accusers. Gill reads the sentence as a challenge, since the charges had to be shown true by testimony or the prisoner went free. Barnes notes that no one answered by naming a single act of disorder.
Acts 24:13
“Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. As that he was a pestilent fellow, a mover of sedition, and a profaner of the temple these things they could not set forth in any clear light, and bring testimonies, or give demonstration of; they could not make them appear to be true, which it lay upon them to do, or otherwise in course he ought be acquitted: this was challenging and defying them to make good their assertions.”
Way, which they call a sect: Paul takes up his accusers' insult, the Way, which they call a sect, as a claim of continuity with the God of our fathers. He believes everything that is laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets.
Acts 24:14
“That after the way which they call heresy - See the explanation of this word in the note on Act 5:17 (note), and see before, Act 24:5 (note), where what is here translated heresy, is there rendered sect. At this time the word had no bad acceptation, in reference to religious opinions. The Pharisees themselves, the most respectable body among the Jews, are called a sect; for Paul, defending himself before Agrippa, says that he lived a Pharisee according to the strictest αἱρεσιν, sect, or heresy of their religion.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
Acts 24:14
“If so, they might justly call his way heresy, a drawing of them aside into a by-path, and a dangerous one; but he worships the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not only the God whom they worshipped, but the God who took them into covenant with himself, and was and would be called their God. Paul adheres to that covenant, and sets up no other in opposition to it.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Acts 24:14
"I truly serve the God of my fathers, believing." When, after being called to be Christ's apostle, Paul says that he serves the God of his fathers, he shows by this that the God of the Old and New Testaments is One and the Same.
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on Actspatristic
Acts 24:14
“After the way which they call heresy - This appellation St. Paul corrects. Not that it was then an odious word; but it was not honourable enough. A party or sect (so that word signifies) is formed by men.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 24:15-16
both the righteous and the wicked: Paul grounds his hope in God on a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked, a hope he says they themselves cherish. It is the fullest single statement of the doctrine's scope in Paul's recorded speeches.
Acts 24:15
“And have hope toward God - Having a hope of the resurrection of the dead, which arises from the promises of God. Which they themselves ... - That is, the Pharisees. Perhaps he designated in this remark the Pharisees who were present. He held nothing in this great cardinal point which they did not also hold. For the reasons why he introduced this point so prominently, and the success of thus introducing it, see the notes on Act 23:1-9. Both of the just and unjust - Of the righteous and the wicked; that is, of all the race.”
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 24:15
“And have hope . . . as they themselves . . . allow, that there shall be a resurrection, &c.--This appeal to the faith of his accusers shows that they were chiefly of the Pharisees, and that the favor of that party, to which he owed in some measure his safety at the recent council (Ac 23:6-9), had been quite momentary.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Acts 24:15
“THE heathen had, somehow or other, spelled out the Truth of God that the soul of man is immortal. Almost all their religions implied this and some of their sages plainly taught it. But never had they imagined that this immortality might belong also to the body! The Doctrine of the Resurrection from the Dead was peculiar to Christianity. It was so novel and it seemed, at first, to be so absurd that when men heard the Apostles speak of such a resurrection they mocked and laughed them to scorn as fools. They called Paul, "a babbler," because of this.”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3346: “Resurrection for the Just and the Unjust” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
a clear conscience: The verb Paul uses means to train or practise, and Barnes explains it as his constant aim. Clarke ties it to the coming judgment, since a man who expects to answer for his deeds guards them.
Acts 24:16
“And herein do I exercise myself - And this very tenet is a pledge for my good behavior; for as I believe there will be a resurrection, both of the just and unjust, and that every man shall be judged for the deeds done in the body, so I exercise myself day and night, that I may have a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men. Toward God - In entertaining no opinion contrary to his truth; and in offering no worship contrary to his dignity, purity, and excellence.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 24:16
“We show perfect virtue when we both give people no occasion for stumbling and strive to be blameless before God.”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on Actspatristic
Acts 24:16
“Sins of infirmity are uneasy to conscience, but they do not wound it, and waste it, as presumptuous sins do; and, though offence may be given to conscience, yet care must be taken that it be not an abiding offence, but that by the renewed acts of faith and repentance the matter may be taken up again quickly.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Acts 24:17-19
to bring alms to my people: Paul returned to Jerusalem to bring alms to his people, the collection of the Gentile congregations in Macedonia and Achaia (Romans 15:25-27). His accusers, some Jews from the province of Asia, are absent, though Roman procedure required accusers to face the accused.
Acts 24:17
“Now after many years - After many years’ absence. Paul here commences a reply to the charge of Tentullus, that he had endeavored to profane the temple, Act 24:6. He begins by saying that his design in coming up to Jerusalem was to bring to his countrymen needed aid in a time of distress. It would be absurd to suppose, therefore, that his object in coming was to violate the customs of the temple, and to defile it. I came to bring - See Act 11:29-30; compare the notes on Rom 15:25-26. Alms - Charities; the gift of the churches.”
ceremonially clean: Being ceremonially clean answers the charge of desecration directly, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown observe. A man in a state of purity was keeping the temple's law. Barnes places Paul at the close of his vow (21:26-27).
Acts 24:18
“Found me purified in the temple - And the Jews of Asia, who stirred up the persecution against me in Jerusalem, found me purified in the temple, regularly performing the religious vow into which I had entered; giving no cause for suspicion; for I made no tumult, nor had I any number of people with me, by whom I could have accomplished any seditious purpose.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
ought to appear before you: The Jews from Asia were the only eyewitnesses to what happened in the temple, as Albert Barnes and John Gill both note. Gill adds that their outcry raised the mob, which acted on hearsay from them. Barnes takes their absence as a sign they feared close examination.
Acts 24:19
“Who ought to have been here before thee,.... For they were the only persons who saw him in the temple, and what he was doing; and who by an hideous outcry raised a mob upon him, who took things upon hearsay from them: and object, if they had ought against me; either with respect to sedition, or blasphemy, error or heresy, if they were capable of proving anything.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 24:19
“Who ought to have been here ... - They were the proper witnesses, and as they had staid away it showed that they were not prepared to undergo a strict examination. They alone could testify as to anything that occurred in the temple; and as they were not present, that charge ought to be dismissed.”
Acts 24:20-21
any crime they found in me: Paul narrows the case to one cry before the Sanhedrin, concerning the resurrection of the dead. That was the doctrine the Sadducees rejected and the Pharisees shared with him, so Felix is left with a religious dispute to judge.
Acts 24:20
“Or else let these . . . here say--"Or, passing from all that preceded my trial, let those of the Sanhedrim here present say if I was guilty of aught there." No doubt his hasty speech to the high priest might occur to them, but the provocation to it on his own part was more than they would be willing to recall.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
the resurrection of the dead: Paul names only his confession of faith. John Chrysostom notes that he passes over the plot and the violence against him, leaving those to the commander's report. Theophylact of Ohrid explains that the resurrection offended because from it the step to Christ risen was an easy one.
Acts 24:21
“Except it be for this one voice,.... Sentence or expression following, which declares his faith about the resurrection; not that he thought or owned that this was an evil in him, but that it was the only one, that any of them, the Jews, a part among them, namely, the Sadducees, could condemn, or judge to be evil in him: that I cried, standing among them; whereby they were thrown into confusion and division among themselves: and it was this, touching the resurrection of the dead I am called in question by you this day; see Act 23:6.”
Felix Trembles, Then Leaves Him Bound Two Years
Acts 24:22-23
well informed about the Way: Felix, who was well informed about the Way, adjourns the hearing until Lysias comes. The delay also spares him a decision that would displease one side.
Acts 24:22
“And when Felix heard these things - There is considerable difficulty in this verse. Translators greatly vary concerning the sense; and the MSS. themselves read variously. Mr. Wakefield’s translation appears to be as proper as most: Now Felix, upon hearing these things, put them off by saying, When Lysias the captain is come down, after I have gained a more exact knowledge of this doctrine, I will inquire fully into your business.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 24:22
“He understood something of the Christian religion; for, living at Cæsarea, where Cornelius, a Roman centurion, was, who was a Christian, from him and others he had got a notion of Christianity, that it was not such an evil thing as it was represented.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
allow him some freedom: Clarke reads the freedom as release from the chain that bound Paul to a soldier. He and Chrysostom both take it as a sign that Felix found him innocent.
Acts 24:23
“He also gave orders that none of his friends should be hindered from coming to him; the centurion must not forbid any of his acquaintances from ministering to him; and a man's prison is as it were his own house if he has but his friends about him.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 24:23
“And he commanded ... - It is evident from this verse that Felix was disposed to show Paul all the favors that were consistent with his safe keeping. He esteemed him to be a persecuted man, and doubtless regarded the charges against him as entirely malicious. What was Felix’s motive in this cannot be certainly known. It is not improbable, however, that he detained him: (1) To gratify the Jews by keeping him in custody as if he were guilty, and, (2) That he hoped the friends of Paul would give him money to release him.”
Acts 24:23
“He commanded the centurion to let him have liberty - To be only a prisoner at large. Hereby the Gospel was spread more and more; not to the satisfaction of the Jews.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess: Drusilla, Felix's third wife, was the youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa the First. Josephus records that Felix persuaded her to leave her first husband to marry him. The setting frames the confrontation of verse 25.
Acts 24:24
“His wife Drusilla - We have already seen that Felix was thrice married: two of his wives were named Drusilla; one was a Roman, the niece or grand-daughter of Antony and Cleopatra, mentioned by Tacitus, lib. v. cap. 9. The other, the person in the text, was a Jewess, daughter to Herod Agrippa the Great.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 24:24
“Being a Jewess, Drusilla, contrary to the law, married a Greek; or, perhaps, although she was a Jewess, upon marrying she became a Greek. Therefore, wishing to convert her husband, she communicated her faith to him.”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on Actspatristic
Acts 24:24
“Felix persuaded her to forsake her husband, Azizus, king of Emessa, and to be married to himself, though a heathen. She was afterward, with a son she had by Felix, consumed in an eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Concerning the faith in Christ - That is, the doctrine of Christ.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Felix became frightened: As Paul expounded on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, each subject met the life Felix and Drusilla shared. Felix became frightened, the strongest recorded response to gospel preaching in Acts, and he put off his answer.
Acts 24:25
“Go thy way for this time; and when I have a convenient season I will call for thee--Alas for Felix! This was his golden opportunity, but--like multitudes still--he missed it. Convenient seasons in abundance he found to call for Paul, but never again to "hear him concerning the faith in Christ," and writhe under the terrors of the wrath to come.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 24:25
“For though he heard again, he was terrified no more. In the meantime we do not find Drusilla, though a Jewess, was thus alarmed. She had been used to hear of a future judgment: perhaps too she trusted to the being a daughter of Abraham, or to the expiation of the law, and so was proof against the convictions which seized on her husband, though a heathen.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 24:25
“And as he reasoned - Greek: “And he discoursing” - διαλεγομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ dialegomenou de autou. No argument should be drawn from the word that is used here to prove that Paul particularly appealed to reason, or that his discourse was argumentative. That it was so is, indeed, not improbable, from all that we know of the man, and from the topics on which he discoursed.”
Paul would offer him a bribe: Felix hoped for a bribe, which Roman law forbade a governor to accept but which ancient sources describe as ordinary provincial corruption. He sends for Paul often, prolonging a custody Paul's case did not require.
Acts 24:26
“He hoped also that money should have been given him - Bp. Pearce asks, “How could St. Luke know this?” To which I answer: From the report of St. Paul, with whom Felix had frequent conferences, and to whom he undoubtedly expressed this wish. We may see, here, the most unprincipled avarice, in Felix, united to injustice. Paul had proved before him his innocence of the charges brought against him by the Jews. They had retired in confusion when he had finished his defense.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 24:26
“When did Onesimus, or Aquila, or Stephen, give them aid of this kind when they were persecuted? Paul indeed, when Felix the governor hoped that he should receive money for him from the disciples, about which matter he also dealt with the apostle in private, certainly neither paid it himself, nor did the disciples for him.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On Flight in Persecutionpatristic
Acts 24:26
“He hoped also - An evil hope: so when he heard his eye was not single. No marvel then that he profited nothing by all St. Paul's discourses: that money would be given - By the Christians for the liberty of so able a minister. And waiting for this, unhappy Felix fell short of the treasure of the Gospel.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus: After two years Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and Tacitus also records the change, dating Felix's recall to Rome. Wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison, a prisoner he knew to be innocent.
Acts 24:27
“But after two years - Paul was unjustly detained during all this time. The hope of Felix seems to have been to weary his patience, and induce him to purchase his freedom. Came into Felix’ room - As governor. And Felix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure - Desirous of pleasing them, even at the expense of justice, This shows the principle on which he acted. Left Paul bound - Left him in custody to the charge of his successor.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 24:27
“That Luke wrote his Gospel during this period, under the apostle's superintendence, is the not unlikely conjecture of able critics. Porcius Festus--Little is known of him.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
How this psalm is built
The form: A Roman trial set out in order, the charge by Tertullus at 24:1 to 9, Paul's defence at 24:10 to 21 and the adjourned verdict at 24:22 to 23, followed by the private hearings and the two years' delay at 24:24 to 27, as the text of Acts 24, counted classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Three charges met one by one | Tertullus accuses Paul of stirring unrest among the Jews, of leading the sect of the Nazarenes and of trying to profane the temple. Paul answers in the same order. He was in Jerusalem twelve days and stirred up no crowd, he serves the God of his fathers by the Way, and he was found purified in the temple.the text of Acts 24, counted, Acts 24:5 to 6 set beside Acts 24:11 to 18. | Acts 24:5, Acts 24:6, Acts 24:12, Acts 24:14, Acts 24:18 |
The structure
3 more paragraphs on the patterns
Chapter 23 left Paul under guard in Herod's palace at Caesarea until his accusers came. This chapter gives the trial they came for in the order of a Roman court. The charge and the defence stand side by side, and each has its opening address to the governor, its account of the facts and its close. After the verdict is put off, the chapter moves to private hearings and to two years of delay. It hands to chapter 25 a new governor and a prisoner left in chains to please the Jews.
The debate
Some manuscripts carry longer words from Tertullus in 24:6 to 8, in which he blames the commander for taking Paul out of Jewish hands by force. Bede, in his Commentary on Acts, notes that some Greek copies carry these verses, and modern critical editions print them in a footnote. John Calvin allows that a pleader may rightly praise a judge, and he faults the praise Tertullus gives as false.
Keep studying
Words12
Subjects1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
the text of Acts 24, counted, Acts 24:2, 24:10 and 24:22, where the charge, the defence and the verdict begin.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Charles Spurgeon, Felix Trembling; J. A. Alexander, The Acts of the Apostles Explained; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom; John Gill; John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.