a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes--the second charge; and true enough.
9. the Jews assented, &c.--See on [Ac 23:15].
10. thou hast been many years a judge to this nation--He had been in this province for six or seven years, and in Galilee for a longer period. Paul uses no flattery, but simply expresses his satisfaction at having to plead before one whose long official experience of Jewish matters would enable him the better to understand and appreciate what he had to say.
11. thou mayest understand--canst easily learn.
that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem--namely, 1. The day of his arrival in Jerusalem ([Ac 21:15-17); 2]. The interview with James (Ac 21:18-26); 3. The assumption of the vow ([Ac 21:26]); [4, 5], . Continuance of the vow, interrupted by the arrest ([Ac 21:27], &c.); 7. Arrest of Paul ([Ac 21:27]); . Paul before the Sanhedrim ([Ac 22:30]; [23:1-10]); 9. Conspiracy of the Jews and defeat of it ([Ac 23:12-24]), and despatch of Paul from Jerusalem on the evening of the same day ([Ac 23:23], ); [10, 11], [12, 13]. The remaining period referred to ([Ac 24:1]) [Meyer]. This short period is mentioned to show how unlikely it was that he should have had time to do what was charged against him.
for to worship--a very different purpose from that imputed to him.
12-13. they neither found me ... Neither can they prove the things, &c.--After specifying several particulars, he challenges proof of any one of the charges brought against him. So much for the charge of sedition.
14-15. But this I confess to thee--in which Felix would see no crime.
that after the way they call heresy--literally, and better, "a sect."
so worship I the God of my fathers--the ancestral God. Two arguments are contained here: (1) Our nation is divided into what they call sects--the sect of the Pharisees, and that of the Sadducees--all the difference between them and me is, that I belong to neither of these, but to another sect, or religious section of the nation, which from its Head they call Nazarenes: for this reason, and this alone, am I hated. (2) The Roman law allows every nation to worship its own deities; I claim protection under that law, worshipping the God of my ancestors, even as they, only of a different sect of the common religion.
believing all, &c.--Here, disowning all opinions at variance with the Old Testament Scriptures, he challenges for the Gospel which he preached the authority of the God of their fathers. So much for the charge of heresy.
16. And herein--On this account, accordingly; that is, looking forward to that awful day (compare [2Co 5:10]).
I exercise myself--The "I" here is emphatic; "Whatever they do, this is my study."
to have always a conscience void of offence, &c.--See [Ac 23:1]; [2Co 1:12]; 2:17, &c.; that is, "These are the great principles of my life and conduct--how different from turbulence and sectarianism!"
17. Now after many--several
years absence from Jerusalem--I came to bring alms to my of Macedonia and Greece, which he had taken such pains to gather. This only allusion in the Acts to what is dwelt upon so frequently in his own Epistles ([Ro 15:25], ; [1Co 16:1-4]; [2Co 8:1-4]), throws a beautiful light on the truth of this History. (See Paley's Horæ Paulinæ).
and offerings--connected with his Jewish vow: see [Ac 24:18].
18-21. found me purified in the temple--not polluting it, therefore, by my own presence, and neither gathering a crowd nor raising a stir: If then these Asiatic Jews have any charge to bring against me in justification of their arrest of me, why are they not here to substantiate it?
22-23. having more perfect knowledge of that--"the"
way--(See on [Ac 19:23]; and [Ac 24:14]).
When Lysias ... shall come ... I will how, &c.--Felix might have dismissed the case as a tissue of unsupported charges. But if from his interest in the matter he really wished to have the presence of Lysias and others involved, a brief delay was not unworthy of him as a judge. Certainly, so far as recorded, neither Lysias nor any other parties appeared again in the case. [Ac 24:23], however, seems to show that at that time his prepossessions in favor of Paul were strong.
24-25. Felix ... with his wife Drusilla ... a Jewess--This beautiful but infamous woman was the third daughter of Herod Agrippa I, who was eaten of worms (see on [Ac 12:1]), and a sister of Agrippa II, before whom Paul pleaded, [Ac 26:1], &c. She was "given in marriage to Azizus, king of the Emesenes, who had consented to be circumcised for the sake of the alliance. But this marriage was soon dissolved, after this manner: When Festus was procurator of Judea, he saw her, and being captivated with her beauty, persuaded her to desert her husband, transgress the laws of her country, and marry himself" [Josephus, Antiquities, 20.7.1,2]. Such was this "wife" of Felix.
he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ--Perceiving from what he had heard on the trial that the new sect which was creating such a stir was represented by its own advocates as but a particular development of the Jewish faith, he probably wished to gratify the curiosity of his Jewish wife, as well as his own, by a more particular account of it from this distinguished champion. And no doubt Paul would so far humor this desire as to present to them the great leading features of the Gospel. But from [Ac 24:25] it is evident that his discourse took an entirely practical turn, suited to the life which his two auditors were notoriously leading.
26. He hoped ... that money should have been given him ... wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him--Bribery in a judge was punishable by the Roman law, but the spirit of a slave (to use the words of Tacitus) was in all his acts, and his communing with Paul"--as if he cared for either him or his message--simply added hypocrisy to meanness. The position in life of Paul's Christian visitors might beget the hope of extracting something from them for the release of their champion; but the apostle would rather lie in prison than stoop to this!
27. after two years--What a trial to this burning missionary of Christ, to suffer such a tedious period of inaction! How mysterious it would seem! But this repose would be medicine to his spirit; he would not, and could not, be entirely inactive, so long as he was able by pen and message to communicate with the churches; and he would doubtless learn the salutary truth that even he was not essential to his Master's cause. That Luke wrote his Gospel during this period, under the apostle's superintendence, is the not unlikely conjecture of able critics.
Porcius Festus--Little is known of him. He died a few years after this [Josephus, Antiquities, 20.8.9-9.1].
came into Felix' room--He was recalled, on accusations against him by the Jews of Cæsarea, and only acquitted through the intercession of his brother at court [Josephus, Antiquities, 20.8,10].
Felix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure--"to earn the thanks of the Jews," which he did not.
left Paul bound--([Ac 26:29])--which does not seem to have been till then.
Chapter 25
Ac 25:1-12. Festus, Coming to Jerusalem, Declines to Have Paul Brought Thither for Judgment, but Gives the Parties a Hearing on His Return to Cæsarea--On Festus Asking the Apostle if He Would Go to Jerusalem for Another Hearing before Him, He Is Constrained in Justice to His Cause to Appeal to the Emperor
1-3. Festus ... after three days ... ascended ... to Jerusalem--to make himself acquainted with the great central city of his government without delay.
4-6. answered that Paul should be kept--rather, "is in custody."
at Cæsarea, and ... himself would depart shortly thither.
7. the Jews ... from Jerusalem--clamorously, as at Jerusalem; see [Ac 25:24].
many and grievous complaints against Paul--From his reply, and Festus' statement of the case before Agrippa, these charges seem to have been a jumble of political and religious matter which they were unable to substantiate, and vociferous cries that he was unfit to live. Paul's reply, not given in full, was probably little more than a challenge to prove any of their charges, whether political or religious.
9-10. 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. But, possibly, anticipating Paul's refusal, he wished merely to avoid the odium of refusing to remove the trial to Jerusalem.
11. I appeal to Cæsar--The right of appeal to the supreme power, in case of life and death, was secured by an ancient law to every Roman citizen, and continued under the empire. Had Festus shown any disposition to pronounce final judgment, Paul, strong in the consciousness of his innocence and the justice of a Roman tribunal, would not have made this appeal. 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.
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. Herod Agrippa II ON A Visit to Festus, Being Consulted by Him on Paul's Case, Desires to Hear the Apostle, Who Is Accordingly Brought Forth
13. King Agrippa--great-grandson of Herod the Great, and Drusilla's brother (see on [Ac 24:24]). 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. He died A.D. 100, after reigning fifty-one years.