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Acts 25:21

in Acts 25

But when Paul appealed to be held over for the decision of the Emperor, I ordered that he be held until I could send him to Caesar.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

But when Paul had appealed to be kept for the decision of the emperor, I commanded him to be kept till I should send him to Cæsar.

KJV

But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Cesar.

This verse in Acts 25

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Acts · Written before 1107.

"On the review of Augustus." He calls the emperor Augustus, as well as Caesar; he also calls him lord (sovereign).

This site's exposition

I was at a loss

on Acts 25:20-21

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.

This site's exposition

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.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

(1.) He found him a prisoner when he came into the government of this province; and therefore could not of his own knowledge give an account of his cause from the beginning: There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix; and therefore, if there were any thing amiss in the first taking of him into custody, Festus is not to answer for that, for he found him in bonds.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

), having no other way to stop proceedings here in this inferior court; and therefore I commanded him to be kept a close prisoner till I might send him to Cæsar, for I did not see cause to refuse his appeal, but rather was pleased with it." III.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes

But when Paul had appealed to be reserved,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

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.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Unto the hearing of Augustus - Εις την του ΣεβαϚου διαγνωσιν; To the discrimination of the emperor. For, although σεβαϚος is usually translated Augustus, and the Roman emperors generally assumed this epithet, which signifies no more than the venerable, the august, get here it seems to be used merely to express the emperor, without any reference to any of his attributes or titles.

The words behind it

20 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

    2 Timothy 4:16

    At my first defense, no one stood with me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be charged against them.

    it leads to

    • Acts 7:60

      Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

    • John 16:32

      “Look, an hour is coming and has already come when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and you will leave Me all alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father…

    • Mark 14:50

      Then everyone deserted Him and fled.

    • Psalms 31:11–13

      Among all my enemies I am a disgrace, and among my neighbors even more. I am dreaded by my friends— they flee when they see me on the street.

  • Through

    Luke 2:1

    Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole empire.

    it leads to

    • Luke 3:1

      In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

    • Matthew 24:14

      And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

  • Through

    Acts 26:32

    And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

    it leads to

    • Acts 28:18

      They examined me and wanted to release me, because there was no basis for a death sentence against me.

    • Acts 25:11–12

      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…

Where this verse is studied

About Acts

The Pentecost, El Greco, about 1600, Museo del Prado. Public domain.
The Pentecost, El Greco, about 1600, Museo del Prado. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.