Actschapter 25
27 verses · Luke · about AD 62 · Acts
If, however, I am guilty of anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die. But if there is no truth to their accusations against me, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”
Introduction
Luke, Acts, Acts Overview.
Luke wrote this chapter from the record of the hearings at Caesarea and from what passed between the officials who held Paul. He writes for readers who wanted to know how a Roman citizen came to be sent to the emperor. The chapter sets a new governor, an old accusation and a visiting king side by side. Listen for the right Paul claims and for why he claims it at that moment. Listen also for the governor's own account of the case when he speaks among his peers. Read it as the turn that sets Paul's course toward Rome.
Context
- Who
- Theophilus and Gentile readers, seeing exactly how a prisoner ended up sailing to Rome.
- What
- Festus's first hearing of Paul's case, Paul's appeal to Caesar, and the arrival of King Agrippa and Bernice, to whom Festus explains the case.
- Where
- Jerusalem, where Festus met the chief priests, and Caesarea, in the governor's court and the audience hall.
- When
- About AD 59, in the first weeks after Porcius Festus arrived to replace Felix as governor of Judea.
- Why
- To show that a second Roman governor found no crime in Paul, and that Paul's appeal to the emperor opened the road to Rome.
Historical context
Porcius Festus replaced Felix and, by the accounts we have, was a more competent and fairer administrator, though he died in office within a couple of years. A new governor traditionally toured his province and cleared inherited cases, which is why Paul's file surfaces within days of his arrival.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The request to move the trial to Jerusalem was a trap, an ambush was planned on the road, but Festus's refusal rests on procedure: a Roman citizen is tried where the governor's court sits, and it is not Roman custom to hand a man over before he has faced his accusers.
The appeal to Caesar was a right attached to citizenship. Once a citizen invoked it, the local court lost jurisdiction and the case had to go to Rome. It was not a plea for mercy but a transfer of venue, and Festus's terse "to Caesar you shall go" reflects that he no longer had a choice.
Agrippa II was the last of the Herods, ruler of territories north and east of Galilee, and Rome had given him oversight of the temple and the right to appoint high priests. Bernice was his sister; their relationship was the subject of ugly gossip in Rome. Festus consults him because he needs to write charges he cannot articulate, and Agrippa was the nearest expert on Jewish religion with Roman standing.
Significance
For the first readers, Festus's private admission was the heart of it: the dispute was about a dead man named Jesus whom Paul asserted to be alive. A Roman governor could not name a crime in that, only a puzzle.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The appeal also answered a nagging question, why did Paul reach Rome as a prisoner? Not because Rome condemned him, but because he used a citizen's right to escape a rigged venue. The promise that he would testify in Rome comes true through ordinary legal machinery.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
I Appeal Unto Caesar
Acts 25:1-2
went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem: Three days after his arrival in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. There the chief priests and Jewish leaders presented their case against Paul, the charge unchanged in the roughly two years since chapter 24 closed.
presented their case against Paul: The high priest by this date was Ishmael son of Phabi, whom Agrippa had appointed, as Barnes notes from Josephus. The Berean text follows manuscripts that read chief priests. Clarke reads their hope: Felix had left Paul bound to please them, and a new governor might do the same.
Acts 25:2
“The high priest - informed him against Paul - They supposed that as Felix, to please them, on the resignation of his government, had left Paul bound, so Festus, on the assumption of it, would, to please them, deliver him into their hand; but, as they wished this to be done under the color of justice, they exhibited a number of charges against Paul, which they hoped would appear to Festus a sufficient reason why a new trial should be granted; and he be sent to Jerusalem to take this trial. Their motive is mentioned in the succeeding verse.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Acts 25:2
“Then the high priest and the chief of the Jews appeared against Paul - In so long a time their rage was not cooled. So much louder a call had Paul to the Gentiles.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 25:2
“These inhuman hellish methods, which all the world profess at least to abhor, have these persecutors recourse to, to gratify their malice against the gospel of Christ, and this too under colour of zeal for Moses. Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum--Such was their dire religious zeal. See how specious the pretence was.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
preparing an ambush to kill him: The request to summon Paul to Jerusalem revives the ambush of 23:12-15, the plot Lysias's night escort had foiled two years before. Luke repeats the plot's exact shape, a request framed as routine legal process that hides a planned murder.
Acts 25:3
“And desired favour against him - Desired the favor of Festus, that they might accomplish their wicked purpose on Paul. Would send for him to Jerusalem - Probably under a pretence that he might be tried by the Sanhedrin; or perhaps they wished Festus to hear the cause there, and to decide it while he was at Jerusalem. Their real motive is immediately stated. Laying wait in the way to kill him - That is, they would lie in wait, or they would employ a band of Sicarii, or assassins, to take his life on the journey.”
Acts 25:4-5
Festus refuses the transfer and keeps Paul at Caesarea, a decision that unknowingly saves Paul's life a second time. He invites the accusers to come down instead, offering the face-to-face process Roman law required and the plotters had tried to bypass.
Acts 25:4
“Festus answered, that Paul should be kept at Caesarea - It is truly astonishing that Festus should refuse this favor to the heads of the Jewish nation, which, to those who were not in the secret, must appear so very reasonable; and especially as, on his coming to the government, it might be considered an act that was likely to make him popular; and he could have no interest in denying their request.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 25:4
“But Festus answered - So Festus's care to preserve the imperial privileges was the means of preserving Paul's life. By what invisible springs does God govern the world!”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 25:4
“Paul's trial before Festus. Festus staid at Jerusalem about ten days, and then went down to Cæsarea, and the prosecutors, it is likely, in his retinue; for he said they should go down with him; and, since they are so eager in the prosecution, he is willing this cause should be first called; and, that they may hasten home, he will despatch it the next day.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
let some of your leaders come down: The word the Berean renders leaders means those who are able. Clarke takes it as men of standing and authority, while Calvin reads it as those who could conveniently travel down. Either way, Festus wanted accusers who would answer for their words.
Acts 25:5
“It is in the Greek word for word, [literally] Those who are mighty or able; yet he meaneth those who can conveniently.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 25:5
“Let those of you who are able - Who are best able to undertake the journey, and to manage the cause. If there be any wickedness in him - So he does not pass sentence before he hears the cause.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 25:6-7
he sat on the judgment seat: Festus went down to Caesarea after no more than eight or ten days, and the Jerusalem accusers followed to renew their case. They brought many serious charges that they could not prove, the outcome Lysias had reported at 23:29 and Paul had answered at 24:12-13.
Acts 25:6
When he had tarried - more than ten days - The strangeness of this mode of expression suggests the thought that our printed text is not quite correct in this place; and this suspicion is confirmed by an examination of MSS. and versions: ἡμερας ου πλειους οκτω η δεκα, Not more than Eight Or ten days, is the reading of ABC, several others of great respectability, with the Coptic, Armenian, and Vulgate. Griesbach admits this reading into the text: and of it Professor White says, Lectio indubie genuina: “This is doubtless the genuine reading.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
many serious charges: The accusers stood around Paul, as Gill notes witnesses and accusers did in such a court. Chrysostom infers from Paul's reply in verse 8 that they raised a charge touching Caesar, the same move made at the trial of Jesus. Clarke names sedition and treason as the likely new charges.
Acts 25:7
“Grievous complaints - Heavy accusations. Doubtless the same with which they had charged him before Felix, Act 24:5-6. Compare Act 25:19. Which they could not prove - Act 24:13, Act 24:19.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 25:7
“Either the fact was not as they opened it, or there was no fault in it; they laid to his charge things that he knew not, nor they neither. It is no new thing for the most excellent ones of the earth to have all manner of evil said against them falsely, not only in the song of the drunkards, and upon the seat of the scornful, but even before the judgment-seat.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
against the law of the Jews: Paul's defense collapses to one sentence covering the law of the Jews, the temple, and Caesar. The threefold denial answers point for point the three charges Tertullus brought at 24:5-6: sedition, temple profanation, and by implication treason against Rome.
Acts 25:8
“While he answered for himself - In this instance St. Luke gives only a general account, both of the accusations and of St. Paul’s defense. But, from the words in this verse, the charges appear to have been threefold: 1. That he had broken the law. 2. That he had defiled the temple. 3. That he dealt in treasonable practices: to all of which he no doubt answered particularly; though we have nothing farther here than this, Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any thing at all.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 25:8
“No, he established the law. Preaching Christ, the end of the law, was no offence against the law. (2.) He had not profaned the temple, nor put any contempt at all upon the temple-service; his helping to set up the gospel temple did not at all offend against that temple which was a type of it.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
to do the Jews a favor: Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, proposes the transfer to Jerusalem he had just refused the accusers. The phrase repeats Felix's motive at 24:27 word for word, the same political calculation in a different governor.
Acts 25:9
“Paul's reply, not given in full, was probably little more than a challenge to prove any of their charges, whether political or religious. Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure--to ingratiate himself with them. said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and . . . be judged . . . before me--or, "under my protection." If this was meant in earnest, it was temporizing and vacillating.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 25:9
“The court being held in Cæsar's name, and by his authority and commission, before one that was delegated by him, it might well be said to be his judgment seat, as, with us, all writs run in the name of the sovereign, in whose name all courts are held.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Acts 25:9
“But Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure - Desirous of securing their favor, as he had just entered on his administration. Compare Act 24:27. In this he evinced rather a desire of popularity than an inclination to do justice. Had he been disposed to do right at once, he would have immediately discharged Paul.”
the judgment seat of Caesar: Paul names the court where he already stands, the judgment seat of Caesar, and refuses a venue beyond Roman protection. He stands on the rights his citizenship grants him, the same appeal to due process he has made since his arrest (22:25-29).
Acts 25:10
“I stand at Caesar’s judgment seat - Every procurator represented the person of the emperor in the province over which he presided; and, as the seat of government was at Caesarea, and Paul was now before the tribunal on which the emperor’s representative sat, he could say, with the strictest propriety, that he stood before Caesar’s judgment seat, where, as a freeman of Rome, he should be tried.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 25:10
“I am standing at Caesar's judgment seat - For all the courts of the Roman governors were held in the name of the emperor, and by commission from him. No man can give me up - He expresses it modestly: the meaning is, Thou canst not. I appeal to Caesar - Which any Roman citizen might do before sentence was passed.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 25:10
“Then said Paul, I stand at Cæsar's judgment seat--that is, I am already before the proper tribunal. This seems to imply that he understood Festus to propose handing him over to the Sanhedrim for judgment (and see on Ac 25:11), with a mere promise of protection from him.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Paul's appeal to Caesar invokes provocatio, a Roman citizen's right to move his case from a provincial governor to the emperor's court. No governor could refuse it once claimed. It sets in motion the voyage to Rome, fulfilling the word spoken over him at 23:11.
Acts 25:11
“For if I be an offender - If I have injured the Jews so as to deserve death. If it can be proved that I have done injury to anyone. I refuse not to die - I have no wish to escape justice. I do not wish to evade the laws, or to take advantage of any circumstances to screen me from just punishment. Paul’s whole course showed that this was the noble spirit which actuated him. No true Christian wishes to escape from the laws. He will honor them, and not seek to evade them.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 25:11
“But when the only other alternative offered him was to give his own consent to be transferred to the great hotbed of plots against his life, and to a tribunal of unscrupulous and bloodthirsty ecclesiastics whose vociferous cries for his death had scarcely subsided, no other course was open to him.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Festus conferred with his council, likely a body of legal assessors, before confirming the appeal. His answer acknowledges the appeal without ruling on guilt, and the case now belongs to a court above the provincial governor.
Acts 25:12
“Conferred with the council - From this circumstance, we may learn that the appeal of Paul to Caesar was conditional; else Festus could not have deliberated with his council whether it should be granted; for he had no power to refuse to admit such an appeal.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 25:12
“The council - It was customary for a considerable number of persons of distinction to attend the Roman governors. These constituted a kind of council, with whom they frequently advised.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 25:12
“Festus--little expecting such an appeal, but bound to respect it. having conferred with the council--his assessors in judgment, as to the admissibility of the appeal. said, Hast thou--for "thou hast." to Cæsar shalt thou go--as if he would add perhaps "and see if thou fare better." Ac 25:13-27.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Festus Lays the Case Before King Agrippa
King Agrippa and Bernice came down: Agrippa is Herod Agrippa the Second, great-grandson of Herod the Great and the last Herodian to hold a royal title, and Bernice was his sister. Their courtesy call on the new governor sets the stage for Paul's most public hearing in Acts.
Acts 25:13
“After certain days, king Agrippa - This Agrippa was the son of Herod Agrippa Act 12:1, and great-grandson of Herod the Great. His mother’s name was Cypros (Josephus, Jewish Wars, book 2, chapter 11, section 6). When his father died he was at Rome with the Emperor Claudius. Josephus says that the emperor was inclined to bestow upon him all his father’s dominions, but was dissuaded by his ministers. The reason of this was, that it was thought imprudent to bestow so large a kingdom on so young a man, and one so inexperienced.”
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 25:13
“Agrippa - The son of Herod Agrippa, chap. xii, 1; and Bernice - His sister, with whom he lived in a scandalous familiarity. This was the person whom Titus Vespasian so passionately loved, that he would have made her empress, had not the clamours of the Roman prevented it.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 25:13
“On his father's awful death (Ac 12:23), being thought too young (seventeen) to succeed, Judea, was attached to the province of Syria. Four years after, on the death of his uncle Herod, he was made king of the northern principalities of Chalcis, and afterwards got Batanea, Iturea, Trachonitis, Abilene, Galilee, and Perea, with the title of king.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Acts 25:14-16
whom Felix left in prison: Festus tells the king of a man Felix left in prison. He states the Roman custom that an accused man faces his accusers before he is handed over. That principle stands in some tension with his own proposal at verse 9.
Acts 25:14
“Declared Paul’s cause unto the king - Festus knew that Agrippa was better acquainted with such matters than he was; and he wished, in some sort, to make him a party in this business.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
requested a judgment against him: Festus here retells the request of 25:2-3. Adam Clarke notes that several ancient manuscripts read condemnation here in place of judgment, and he holds that either word means a sentence of death. Albert Barnes glosses the phrase as a request to have Paul condemned.
Acts 25:15
“Desiring to have judgment against him - Instead of δικην, judgment, καταδικην, condemnation, sentence of death, is the reading of ABC, and several others, which is probably genuine. This is evidently the meaning of the place, whichever reading we prefer. Nothing could satisfy these men but the death of the apostle. It was not justice they wanted, but his destruction.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
face his accusers: The verb behind hand over means to give a man away as a favor, which the chief priests had asked of Festus, as Clarke explains. Barnes and Clarke cite Appian, who wrote the same of Roman custom. Henry applies the rule to private judgment of others.
Acts 25:16
“It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die - Χαριζεσθαι τινα ανθρωπον, To Make a Present of any man; gratuitously to give up the life of any man, through favor or caprice. Here is a reference to the subject discussed on Act 25:11. Before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, etc. - For this righteous procedure the Roman laws were celebrated over the civilized world. Appian, in his Hist. Roman., says: ου πατριον σφισιν ακριτους καταδικαζεσθαι. It is not their custom to condemn men before they have been heard.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 25:16
“It is not the custom of the Roman - How excellent a rule, to condemn no one unheard! A rule, which as it is common to all nations, (courts of inquisition only excepted,) so it ought to direct our proceedings in all affairs, not only in public, but private life.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 25:17-19
I did not delay: Festus found no crime he expected, only a dispute about their religion and a certain Jesus who had died, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. A Roman official with no stake in Christian doctrine thus states the resurrection to Agrippa before Paul speaks.
Acts 25:17
“He had likewise tried him in the most solemn manner: He sat on the judgment-seat, as they used to do in weightier causes, while those that were of small moment they judged de plano--upon even ground.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
the crimes I had expected: Albert Barnes explains why Festus expected a serious crime, since Paul had been two years in custody and the Jews pursued him with such violence. John Gill adds that his long bonds pointed the same way. John Chrysostom values the admission, because a Roman governor was a witness beyond suspicion.
Acts 25:18
"Having surrounded him, the accusers did not present a single one of their charges." The slanderers brought accusations against him, but did not prove them, because their slander and audacity seemed suspicious, and the examination of the case confirmed nothing.
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on Actspatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 25:18
“FESTUS is giving to King Agrippa a brief account of the matter between Paul and the Jews. It may not be a very accurate account. For Festus did not profess to understand the business. He was a Roman governor newly come to Judea. He had no acquaintance whatever with Jewish Scriptures nor with Jewish laws. He is, therefore, merely giving to King Agrippa a rough and ready outline of the affair as it struck him.”
Acts 25:18
“They brought none accusation of such things as I supposed - It was natural for Festus, at the first view of things, to suppose that Paul must be guilty of some very atrocious crime.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
a certain Jesus who had died: Chrysostom hears in a certain Jesus the careless phrase of an official who paid the matter little mind. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the verb for affirmed means Paul said it again and again. The risen Christ had been the burden of his defense.
Acts 25:19
“But the great question, it seems, was concerning one Jesus that was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. Some think the superstition he speaks of was the Christian religion, which Paul preached, and that he had the same notion of it that the Athenians had, that it was the introducing of a new demon, even Jesus.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
3 more voices on this verse
Acts 25:19
“It cannot be supposed that Festus would use the word in any discourteous sense in addressing his Jewish guest. one Jesus--"Thus speaks this miserable Festus of Him to whom every knee shall bow" [BENGEL]. whom Paul affirmed--"kept affirming." to be alive--showing that the resurrection of the Crucified One had been the burden, as usual, of Paul's pleading.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Acts 25:19
“But had certain questions - Certain inquiries, or litigated and disputed subjects; certain points of dispute in which they differed - ζητήματα τινα zētēmata tina. Of their own superstition - δεισιδαιμονίας deisidaimonias. This word properly denotes “the worship or fear of demons”; but it was applied by the Greeks and Romans to the worship of their gods. It is the same word which is used in Act 17:22, where it is used in a good sense. See the notes on that place.”
Acts 25:19
“But why, O Festus, didst thou doubt concerning it? Only because thou didst not search into the evidence of it. Otherwise that evidence might have opened to thee, till it had grown up into full conviction; and thy illustrious prisoner have led thee into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 25:20-21
I was at a loss: Festus was at a loss how to investigate these matters, so he offered a trial in Jerusalem, which Paul had refused at verse 9. Paul's appeal to the Emperor, an honorific title in place of a birth name, kept him in Festus's custody for Rome.
Acts 25:20
“And because I doubted of such manner of questions,.... Or was ignorant of them, and knew not what to make of them, or to say to them, and was at an entire loss what to do in this affair: I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters; before the Jewish sanhedrim, who best understood them.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 25:20
“I doubted of such manner of questions - Such as, whether he had broken their law, defiled their temple; or whether this Jesus, who was dead, was again raised to life.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
the decision of the Emperor: The emperor at this time was Nero, as Albert Barnes notes, and the title rendered Emperor here is Sebastos, the Greek form of Augustus. Barnes explains that it means one worthy of reverence and was first given to Octavian. Matthew Henry thinks Festus was glad of the appeal.
Acts 25:21
“But when he had appealed - Act 25:11. To be reserved - To be kept; not to be tried at Jerusalem, but to be sent to Rome for trial. Unto the hearing - Margin, “the judgment.” That Augustus might hear and decide the cause. Of Augustus - The reigning emperor at this time was Nero. The name Augustus Σεβαστός Sebastos properly denotes “what is venerable, or worthy of honor and reverence.” It was first applied to Caesar Octavianus, who was the Roman emperor in the time when our Saviour was born, and who is usually nailed Augustus Caesar.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 25:21
"On the review of Augustus." He calls the emperor Augustus, as well as Caesar; he also calls him lord (sovereign).
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on Actspatristic
Agrippa's request to hear this man himself comes from interest, since the appeal to Caesar has already settled Paul's immediate fate. As a Herodian with some jurisdiction over Jewish religious matters, he is the judge best placed to understand the charges.
Acts 25:22
“I would also hear--"should like to hear." the man myself--No doubt Paul was fight when he said, "The king knoweth of these things . . . for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner" (Ac 26:26).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 25:22
“Felix heard him in private concerning the faith of Christ. But Agrippa and Festus agree he shall be heard in public. And we have reason to think that his sermon in the next chapter, though it might not be so instrumental as some other of his sermons for the conversion of souls, redounded as much to the honour of Christ and Christianity as any sermon he ever preached in his life.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
with great pomp: Agrippa and Bernice entered with great pomp, joined by the commanders and leading men of the city, the largest audience Paul addresses in Acts. Nothing said here can change Paul's status after his appeal, so the hearing serves Agrippa's curiosity and Festus's report.
Acts 25:23
“With great pomp - Greek: “with much phantasy” φαντασίας phantasias; with much show, parade, and splendor. It was an occasion on which he could exhibit much of the splendor of royalty, and he chose to do it. Into the place of hearing - The court-room, or the place where the judges heard and tried causes. With the chief captains - Greek: the chiliarchs; the commanders of 1,000 men. It means here that the military officers were assembled. “The principal men of the city.” The civil officers, or the men of reputation and influence.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 25:23
“When Agrippa and Bernice had come with great pomp, etc. For "pomp," in Greek it is written φαντασία, by which term is designated a great display and royal pomp, with which he, being surrounded on all sides, was encircled.”
Bede · written before 735 · Retractions on Actspatristic
Acts 25:24-25
he ought not to live any longer: Festus reports that the whole Jewish community, both here and in Jerusalem, cried out that Paul ought not to live any longer. His own finding was that Paul had done nothing worthy of death, the conclusion Lysias reached at 23:29.
Acts 25:24
“Have dealt with me - Have appeared before me, desiring me to try him. They have urged me to condemn him. Crying ... - Compare Act 22:22. They had sought that he should be put to death.”
nothing worthy of death: Henry notes that Festus leaned toward the prosecutors, yet his own conscience returned a verdict of not guilty. Chrysostom reads the finding as proof that Paul was right to appeal, for the hatred in Jerusalem ran far beyond any charge. Theophylact sees the Lord's hand in the appeal.
Acts 25:25
“But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death,.... Which was a public testimony of the apostle's innocence, to the great mortification of his enemies, some of whom might be present; a like testimony was given of him by Lysias, Act 23:29. And that he himself hath appealed unto Augustus; the Emperor Nero; see Act 25:21. I have determined to send him; having had the opinion of his council upon it.”
Acts 25:26-27
I have nothing definite to write: Festus must send Paul on with a formal charge, yet he has nothing definite to write to our sovereign, the honorific used for Caesar. He brings Paul before Agrippa, hoping the king's familiarity with Jewish law will give him something to write.
Acts 25:26
“I have no certain thing to write - Nothing alleged against him has been substantiated. Unto my Lord - The title Κυριος, Dominus, Lord, both Augustus and Tiberius had absolutely refused; and forbade, even by public edicts, the application of it to themselves. Tiberius himself was accustomed to say that he was lord only of his slaves, emperor or general of the troops, and prince of the senate. See Suetonius, in his life of this prince. The succeeding emperors were not so modest; they affected the title.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
without specifying the charges: Barnes calls this an embarrassing position for Festus. He had tried the case himself and still could not name an offense. As Clarke reads it, he hoped Agrippa would guide the letters that had to travel with the prisoner to Nero.
Acts 25:27
“For it seemeth to me unreasonable - Festus felt that he was placed in an embarrassing situation. He was about to send a prisoner to Rome who had been tried by himself, and who had appealed from his jurisdiction, and yet he was ignorant of the charges against him, and of the nature of his offences, if any had been committed.”
How this psalm is built
The form: A hearing before Festus and Paul's appeal at 25:1 to 12, Festus's private account of the case to Agrippa at 25:13 to 22, and his public presentation of the prisoner at 25:23 to 27, as the text of Acts 25, counted classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The governor's retelling | Festus tells the case twice, to Agrippa in private and to the court in public. Both accounts present him as a fair judge following Roman custom. His offer to try Paul in Jerusalem as a favour to the Jews, told by Luke in 25:9, appears in neither account.the text of Acts 25, compared, Acts 25:1 to 12 set beside Acts 25:14 to 21 and 25:24 to 27. | Acts 25:9, Acts 25:20, Acts 25:25 |
The structure
3 more paragraphs on the patterns
Chapter 24 closed with Felix leaving Paul in prison for his successor. This chapter follows the new governor through a visit to Jerusalem, a hearing at Caesarea, Paul's appeal and the arrival of King Agrippa. The second half is taken up with Festus explaining the case, first in private to the king and then in public before the court. The chapter hands to chapter 26 a full hearing before Agrippa, called so that Festus has something to write to the emperor.
The debate
Readers have asked why Festus offered Paul a trial in Jerusalem after he had refused the accusers, and Luke gives the motive in 25:9, a wish to do the Jews a favour. Matthew Henry and John Wesley explain Paul's reply, that he already stood at Caesar's judgment seat, by the rule that a governor's court sat in the emperor's name. Bede reads Paul's appeal as his wish to reach Rome and preach there longer, and John Calvin reads the new danger as a fresh trial of Paul's faith in the promise of 23:11.
Keep studying
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 25, counted, Acts 25:1, 25:13 and 25:23, where each part begins.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2016: “Jesus Affirmed To Be Alive” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); J. A. Alexander, The Acts of the Apostles Explained; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin; John Chrysostom; John Gill; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.