Acts 25:17
Ver. 17. Therefore when they were come hither,.... To Caesarea, namely the chief priests and elders of the Jews:
without any delay on the morrow, I sat on the judgment seat: that is, the next day after they came down, Festus went into the judgment hall, and took his place there, in order to hear this cause; which circumstance he mentions, to show how expeditious he was:and I commanded the man to be brought forth: from his place of confinement, to the hall, to answer for himself. Acts 25:18Ver. 18. Against whom when the accusers stood up,.... As they were obliged to do, whilst they were exhibiting their charges, bearing their testimonies, and producing their proofs; Ac 25:7.They brought none accusation of such things as I supposed: for by his being left in bonds, and by the information of the chief priests and elders, and their violence against him, he imagined he must be chargeable with some notorious capital crime. Acts 25:19Ver. 19. But had certain questions against him of their own superstition,.... Or religion; as about their law, which they said Paul had spoke against; and about their temple, which they pretended he had polluted; and about the resurrection of the dead, which he asserted, and some denied:and of one Jesus which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive; for it seems more was said on each side, than is recorded by Luke: the Jews objected to him among other things, his belief in Jesus of Nazareth, whom they traduced as an impostor and deceiver; Paul on the other hand argued, that he was the true Messiah; and in proof of it, affirmed that though they had put him to death, he was risen from the dead, and so was declared to be the Son of God with power: Festus, it is very likely, had never heard of Jesus before, and therefore speaks of him in this manner; or if he had, he had entertained a contemptible opinion of him, as well as of the Jewish religion; and which he expresses, even in the presence of the king, who had outwardly at least embraced it. Acts 25:20Ver. 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. Acts 25:21Ver. 21. But when Paul had appealed to be reserved,.... In custody at Caesarea:unto the hearing of Augustus; to have his cause heard, tried, and judged of, by the Roman Emperor Nero, here called Augustus; for as it was usual for a Roman emperor to be called Caesar, from Julius Caesar, the first of them, so to be called Augustus, from Octavius Augustus, the second emperor: his original surname was Thurinus, but this being objected to him as a reproachful one, he afterwards took the name of Caesar, and then of Augustus; the one by the will of his great uncle, the other by the advice of Munatius Plancus; when some thought he ought to be called Romulus, as if he was the founder of the city, it prevailed that he should rather be called Augustus; not only this surname being new, but more grand, seeing religious places, and in which anything was consecrated by soothsaying, were called "Augusta, ab auctu, vel ab avium gestu, gustuve", according to Ennius {t}: in the Greek text the name is Sebastos, which signifies venerable and worshipful.I commanded him to be kept; in Caesarea, by a centurion, and not sent to Jerusalem:till I might send him to Caesar: till he could have an opportunity of sending him to Rome, to take his trial before the emperor.{t} Suetonius in Vit. Octav. c. 7. Acts 25:22Ver. 22. Then Agrippa said to Festus,.... After he had given him the above account:I would also hear the man myself; Agrippa being a Jew by profession, and knowing more of these things than Festus did, and very likely had heard much concerning Jesus Christ; and if not of the apostle, yet however of the Christian religion; and therefore he was very desirous, not only out of curiosity to see the man, but to hear him; and get some further information and knowledge about the things in dispute, between the Jews and Christians, in which Festus was very ready to gratify him:tomorrow, said he, thou shall hear him: and sooner things could not well be prepared for an affair of this kind, and for so grand a meeting. Acts 25:23Ver. 23. And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come,.... Into the hall, or court of judicature:and Bernice; his sister, along with him:with great pomp: in rich dress, with the "regalia", or ensigns of royalty carried before them, and attended with a large train and retinue of servants:and was entered into the place of hearing; the causes that were tried in court, that particular part of the hall, which was assigned for that purpose; for as there were the proper places for the judge and council, and for the plaintiffs and defendants, so for those that came to hear:with the chief captains; or tribunes, who had the command of the Roman soldiers; and who had each of them a thousand men under them, as their title signifies:and principal men of the city; that is, of Caesarea; the magistrates, and chief inhabitants of the place:at Festus's commandment Paul was brought forth; and became a spectacle to a vast number of men, as he himself says; and which in part fulfilled what Christ had foretold to his disciples, that they should be brought before kings and governors for his sake; see 1Co 4:9. Acts 25:24Ver. 24. And Festus said, King Agrippa,.... He addressed himself to him in the first place, as being the principal person, and of great dignity, as well as knowledge:and all men which are here present with us; the chief captains, and principal inhabitants of the city:ye see this man the prisoner at the bar, meaning Paul:about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me: applied unto him, interceded with him, and very importunately pressed and desired him to give judgment against him:both at Jerusalem and also here; at Caesarea, whither they came from Jerusalem to accuse him:crying: in a very noisy and clamorous way:that he ought not to live any longer; as they did before Lysias the chief captain, Ac 22:22 and so in the hearing of Festus; for it was his death they sought, and nothing else would satisfy them. Acts 25:25Ver. 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, Ac 23:29.And that he himself hath appealed unto Augustus; the Emperor Nero; see Ac 25:21.I have determined to send him; having had the opinion of his council upon it. Acts 25:26Ver. 26. Of whom I have no certain thing,.... No certain crime, charge, or accusation; nothing of any moment or consequence, no particular thing, nothing but a heap of confused notions, of I know not who or what:to write unto my lord; meaning the Roman emperor, under whom he served as governor of Judea:wherefore I have brought him before you; the whole company then present:and especially before thee, O King Agrippa; as being not only a man of eminence, dignity, and authority, but of knowledge in such matters, which the Jews accused Paul of; see Ac 26:2.That after examination had; of Paul, and his case;I might have somewhat to write; concerning him, and the charges exhibited against him to the emperor. Acts 25:27Ver. 27. For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner,.... A man bound as if he was a malefactor, and guilty of some heinous crimes, to Rome, to be tried before Caesar:and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him; for which he is a prisoner, and for which he is sent to the emperor: it seemed to Festus an absurd thing, and what might be justly looked upon by his master, a foolish, silly, and stupid piece of conduct, and void of common sense and reason, mere madness and folly; to send him a prisoner, and not signify in his letter to him, what was laid to his charge; and yet this was so dark and obscure, that he could not tell what to make of it, nor what to write to his lord about it; and hoped therefore, upon this re-examination of Paul before Agrippa, he should come to a more certain knowledge of this affair, and be better furnished to give Nero an account of it, to whom the apostle had appealed.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.