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Acts 24:24

in Acts 24

After several days, Felix returned with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

But after certain days, Felix came with Drusilla, his wife, who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ Jesus.

KJV

And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.

This verse in Acts 24

Commentary

9 notes on this verse

A commentator

Cassiodorus

Complexiones on the Acts of the Apostles · Written before 585.

"And after some days, Drusilla, Felix's wife, who was a Jew." After some days, Felix, at the request of his wife Drusilla, had Paul brought before her. As Paul discussed much about faith in the Lord and about justice, and chastity, and about the judgement …

This site's exposition

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.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Acts 51 · Written before 407.

proposed

And his wife also hears, together with the governor. This seems to me to show great honor. For he would not have brought his wife to be present with him at the hearing, but that he thought great things of him. It seems to me that she also longed for this. And observe how Paul immediately discourses not only about faith, nor about remission of sins, but also about practical points of duty.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Acts · Written before 1107.

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.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

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.
And after certain days,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

With what design Felix sent for Paul. He had a mind to have some talk with him concerning the faith in Christ, the Chri
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

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.
Felix came with his wife Drusilla - Drusilla was the daughter of Herod Agrippa the elder, and was engaged to be married to Epiphanes, the son of King Antiochus, on condition that he would embrace the Jewish religion; but as he afterward refused to do that, the contract was broken off. Afterward she was given in marriage, by her brother Agrippa the younger, to Azizus, king of Emesa, upon his consent to be circumcised. When Felix was governor of Judea, he saw Drusilla and fell in love with her, and sent to her Simon, one of his friends, a Jew, by birth a Cyprian, who pretended to be a magician, to endearour to persuade her to forsake her husband and to marry Felix. Accordingly, in order to avoid the envy of her sister Bernice, who treated her ill on account of her beauty, “she was prevailed on,” says Josephus, “to transgress the laws of her forefathers, and to marry Felix” (Josephus, Antiq., book 20, chapter 7, sections 1 and 2). She was, therefore, living in adultery with him, and this was probably the reason why Paul dwelt in his discourse before Felix particularly on “temperance,” or chastity. See the notes on Act 24:25. He sent for Paul, and heard him - Perhaps he did this in order to be more fully acquainted with the case which was submitted to him. It is possible, also, that it might have been to gratify his wife, who was a Jewess, and who doubtless had a desire to be acquainted with the principles of this new sect. It is certain, also, that one object which Felix had in this was to let Paul see how dependent he was on him, and to induce him to purchase his liberty. Concerning the faith in Christ - Concerning the Christian religion. Faith in Christ is often used to denote the whole of Christianity, as it is the leading and characteristic feature of the religion of the gospel.

The words behind it

26 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Galatians 2:16

    know that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in…

    it leads to

    • Philippians 3:9

      and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.

    • Psalms 143:2

      Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous before You.

    • Romans 3:19–28

      Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

    • 1 Peter 1:18–21

      For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,

    • Romans 9:30

      What then will we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;

  • Through

    Acts 20:21

    testifying to Jews and Greeks alike about repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

    it leads to

    • Acts 2:38

      Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

    • 1 John 5:11–13

      And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

    • Acts 11:18

      When they heard this, their objections were put to rest, and they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”

Where this verse is studied

On this page

What the record shows

1 entry
  • Drusilla — attested outside the Biblewell-supported

    Josephus Ant. 20.7.1-2

    Biblical figure (Wife of Felix, 1st c. AD) identified in extra-biblical epigraphy.

    Counterpoint: No inscription naming Drusilla has been found — the evidence for her is literary, from Josephus (Antiquities 20.7.1-2). Tacitus adds a complication: in Histories 5.9 he calls Felix's wife Drusilla a granddaughter of Antony and Cleopatra, a different woman entirely, and Suetonius says Felix married three queens. Historians therefore have to sort out which Drusilla belongs where.

About Acts

This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cassiodorus, Complexiones on the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 51; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); 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.