Discovery BoxActs 24:26-27 
Context24:26 At the same time he was also hoping that Paul would give him money, 1 and for this reason he sent for Paul 2 as often as possible 3 and talked 4 with him. 24:27 After two years 5 had passed, Porcius Festus 6 succeeded Felix, 7 and because he wanted to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. 8
1 tn Grk “he was hoping that money would be given to him by Paul.” To simplify the translation, the passive construction has been converted to an active one.
sn Would give him money. That is, would offer him a bribe in exchange for his release. Such practices were fairly common among Roman officials of the period (Josephus, Ant. 2.12.3 [2.272-274]).
2 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn “As often as possible” reflects the comparative form of the adjective πυκνός (puknos); see BDAG 897 s.v. πυκνός, which has “Neut. of the comp. πυκνότερον as adv. more often, more frequently and in an elative sense very often, quite frequently…also as often as possible…Ac 24:26.”
4 tn On this term, which could mean “conferred with him,” see BDAG 705 s.v. ὁμιλέω.
5 tn Grk “After a two-year period.”
6 sn Porcius Festus was the procurator of Palestine who succeeded Felix; neither the beginning nor the end of his rule (at his death) can be determined with certainty, although he appears to have died in office after about two years. Nero recalled Felix in
7 tn Grk “Felix received as successor Porcius Festus.”
sn See the note on Felix in 23:26.
8 tn Grk “left Paul imprisoned.”
sn Felix left Paul in prison. Luke makes the point that politics got in the way of justice here; keeping Paul in prison was a political favor to the Jews.
