Acts 26:31-32

26:31 and as they were leaving they said to one another, ¹  “This man is not doing anything deserving ²  death or imprisonment.” 26:32 Agrippa ³  said to Festus, ⁴  “This man could have been released ⁵  if he had not appealed to Caesar.” ⁶ 

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¹ tn Grk “they spoke to one another saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

² tn BDAG 93 s.v. ἄξιος 1.b has “θανάτου ἢ δεσμῶν ἄ. nothing deserving death or imprisonment 23:29; 26:31.”

sn Not doing anything deserving death… Here is yet another declaration of Paul’s innocence, but still no release. The portrayal shows how unjust Paul’s confinement was.

³ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

⁴ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

⁵ tn Or “set free.”

⁶ tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

sn If he had not appealed to Caesar. Ultimately Agrippa and Festus blamed what Paul himself had done in appealing to Caesar for his own continued custody. In terms of Luke’s narrative, this still appears unjust and a denial of responsibility.