Acts 25:26

25:26 But I have nothing definite 1  to write to my lord 2  about him. 3  Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, 4  so that after this preliminary hearing 5  I may have something to write.

1 sn There is irony here. How can Festus write anything definite about Paul, if he is guilty of nothing.

2 sn To my lord means “to His Majesty the Emperor.”

3 tn Grk “about whom I have nothing definite…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced with a personal pronoun (“him”) and a new sentence begun in the translation at the beginning of v. 26.

4 sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

5 tn Or “investigation.” BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνάκρισις has “a judicial hearing, investigation, hearing, esp. preliminary hearing…τῆς ἀ. γενομένης Ac 25:26.” This is technical legal language.