490
XXV. 1. ΦΗΣΤΟΣ οὖν, émPds! τῇ ἐπαρχία, μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας
ἀνέβη eis ἹἹεροσόλυμα ἀπὸ Καισαρείας.
2. ἐνεφάνισαν δὲ” αὐτῷ
A c ~ a > , ~ ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς καὶ οἱ πρῶτοι τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων κατὰ τοῦ Παύλου, καὶ
παρεκάλουν αὐτόν, 3. αἰτούμενοι χάριν κατ’ αὐτοῦ, ὅπως µεταπέµψη-
ται αὐτὸν εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ. ἐνέδραν ποιοῦντες ἀνελεῖν αὐτὸν κατὰ τὴν
1 επαρχιᾳ, so also Lach., Hilgenfeld, Blass, W.H. text. επαρχειᾳ, so B; but Tisch., Weiss, and W.H. marg. (so Wendt probably) following ὃν Α have επαρχειω. Weiss regards επαρχια (-εια) as a thoughtless emendation in accordance with xxiii.
34.
See also Winer-Schmiedel, p. 44, and note below.
2 For δε SABC, Vulg., Syr. Pesh., Aeth. read τε, so Tisch., W.H., Weiss, R.V.,
Wendt, Blass. and authorities above.
the Jews,” R.V., literally to lay down or deposit a favour with the Jews as a deposit for which a due return might be expected, cf. 1 Macc. x. 23 R.; Jos., Ant., xi., 6, 5, so too in classical Greek, Thus, ιτ. ας, τοῦ. Πετοά avi.g4 To ος. The policy of Felix was to gain popu- larity with the Jews in view of the accu-
sations which followed him on his return ;
ο αρχ., but instead of the sing. SABCEL read the plural, so Tisch. For T.R. cf. xxiv. I.
execution of Jesus, is constrained to admit that conduct such as that of the two procurators is too natural for its repetition to be surprising; unscrupu- lous officials are always ready by com- plaisance at the expense of others to appease those to whom they have given just cause for complaint.
'“Ὅμλρτεεκ XXV.—Ver. 1. éwiPas:
to Rome, Jos., Ant., xx., 8,9. That the | ‘“‘having come into the province,” A.
pursuit of such a policy was not alien to’
the character of Roman officials see Jos., Ant., xx., 9, 5, where we learn that Albinus, desiring to gain the gratitude of the Jews, took money of all those in prison for some trifling fault, by which means the prisons indeed were emptied, but the country was full of robbers. In B.F., ii., 14, I, we learn that the same system was pursued by Albinus, the suc- cessor of Festus,until no one was left in the prisons but those who gave him nothing. According to B text Felix leaves Paul in prison to please his wife, but, as Blass points out, both reasons may be true.— χάριτα (W.H., R.V.) only (in N.T.) in Jude, ver. 4, cf. xxv. 9 A; found in classics, though rarer than χάριν, Winer- Schmiedel, p. 88; in LXX, Zech. vi. 14. ---δεδεµ.: this does not at all imply that Paul had been quite free, and was now rebound, cf. νετ. 23. ἄνεσις did not mean perfect freedom, and the custodia militaris might still continue. Ndsgen thinks that the word in its position at the end of the verse indicates a severer form of custody, but this is by no means necessary, although as the last word of the episode, and as the result of all the intercourse with Felix, it has a dramatic force and pathos. Zeller, Acts, ii., p. 83, E.T., although he thinks it remarkable that Felix and Festus are represented as acting from the same motive, as Pilate for a similar reason had consented to the
and R.V., or, ‘“‘ having entered upon his province,” R.V. margin. If we read τῇ ἐπαρχείῳ with Weiss and W.H. margin, the word is an adjective of two termina- tions, sc. ἐξουσίᾳ, 1.ε., having entered on his duties as governor of the province (see Weiss, Afostelgeschichte, p. 8), and cf. xxiii. 34. For the adjective in in- scriptions see Blass, in loco.—era τρεῖς. ἡμ.: ‘sat cito,” Bengel.—aveBn: went up to Jerusalem officially as the capital; the visit had nothing necessarily to do with St. Paul, but the close-connecting τε may indicate that the action of the priests in again bringing up their case was to be expected.