Discovery BoxActs 25:1-2 
Context25:1 Now 1 three days after Festus 2 arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem 3 from Caesarea. 4 25:2 So the chief priests and the most prominent men 5 of the Jews brought formal charges 6 against Paul to him.
Acts 25:11-12
Context25:11 If then I am in the wrong 7 and have done anything that deserves death, I am not trying to escape dying, 8 but if not one of their charges against me is true, 9 no one can hand me over to them. 10 I appeal to Caesar!” 11 25:12 Then, after conferring with his council, 12 Festus 13 replied, “You have appealed to Caesar; 14 to Caesar 15 you will go!” 16
Acts 25:22-25
Context25:22 Agrippa 17 said to Festus, 18 “I would also like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he replied, 19 “you will hear him.”
25:23 So the next day Agrippa 20 and Bernice came with great pomp 21 and entered the audience hall, 22 along with the senior military officers 23 and the prominent men of the city. When Festus 24 gave the order, 25 Paul was brought in. 25:24 Then Festus 26 said, “King Agrippa, 27 and all you who are present here with us, you see this man about whom the entire Jewish populace 28 petitioned 29 me both in Jerusalem 30 and here, 31 shouting loudly 32 that he ought not to live any longer. 25:25 But I found that he had done nothing that deserved death, 33 and when he appealed 34 to His Majesty the Emperor, 35 I decided to send him. 36
1 tn BDAG 736-37 s.v. οὖν 2.b states, “οὖν serves to indicate a transition to someth. new…now, then, well…Ac 25:1.”
2 sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.
3 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
4 sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1. This was a journey of 65 mi (just over 100 km).
map For location see Map2 C1; Map4 B3; Map5 F2; Map7 A1; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
5 tn BDAG 893-94 s.v. πρῶτος 2.a.β has “οἱ πρῶτοι the most prominent men, the leading men w. gen. of the place…or of a group…οἱ πρ. τοῦ λαοῦ…Lk 19:47; cp. Ac 25:2; 28:17.”
6 tn BDAG 326 s.v. ἐμφανίζω 3 has “ἐ. τινὶ κατά τινος bring formal charges against someone…Ac 24:1; 25:2.”
sn Note how quickly the Jewish leadership went after Paul: They brought formal charges against him within three days of Festus’ arrival in the province.
7 tn BDAG 20 s.v. ἀδικέω 1.b has “intr. be in the wrong (Ex 2:13) εἰ ἀδικῶ Ac 25:11.”
8 tn BDAG 764 s.v. παραιτέομαι 2.b.β, “οὐ παραιτοῦμαι τὸ ἀποθανεῖν I am not trying to escape death Ac 25:11 (cp. Jos., Vi. 141).” To avoid redundancy in the translation, the English gerund “dying” is used to translate the Greek infinitive ἀποθανεῖν (apoqanein).
9 tn Or “but if there is nothing to their charges against me.” Both “if” clauses in this verse are first class conditions. Paul stated the options without prejudice, assuming in turn the reality of each for the sake of the argument.
10 sn That is, no one can hand me over to them lawfully. Paul was aware of the dangers of a return to Jerusalem.
11 tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).
sn The appeal to Caesar was known as the provocatio ad Caesarem. It was a Roman citizen’s right to ask for a direct judgment by the emperor (Pliny the Younger, Letters 10.96). It was one of the oldest rights of Roman citizens.
12 tn That is, with his advisers.
13 sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.
14 tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).
15 tn Or “to the emperor.”
16 sn “To Caesar you will go!” In all probability Festus was pleased to send Paul on to Rome and get this political problem out of his court.
17 sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.
18 sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.
19 tn Grk “said.”
20 sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.
21 tn Or “great pageantry” (BDAG 1049 s.v. φαντασία; the term is a NT hapax legomenon).
sn Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp. The “royals” were getting their look at Paul. Everyone who was anyone would have been there.
22 tn Or “auditorium.” “Auditorium” may suggest to the modern English reader a theater where performances are held. Here it is the large hall where a king or governor would hold audiences. Paul once spoke of himself as a “spectacle” to the world (1 Cor 4:8-13).
23 tn Grk “the chiliarchs” (officers in command of a thousand soldiers). In Greek the term χιλίαρχος (ciliarco") literally described the “commander of a thousand,” but it was used as the standard translation for the Latin tribunus militum or tribunus militare, the military tribune who commanded a cohort of 600 men.
24 sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.
25 tn Grk “and Festus ordering, Paul was brought in.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation, and καί (kai) has not been translated. The participle κελεύσαντος (keleusanto") has been taken temporally.
26 sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.
27 sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.
28 tn Probably best understood as rhetorical hyperbole. BDAG 825 s.v. πλῆθος 2.b.γ states, “people, populace, population…τὸ πλῆθος the populace…ἅπαν τὸ πλ. τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων Ac 25:24.” However, the actions of the leadership are seen by Luke as representing the actions of the entire nation, so the remark is not inaccurate.
29 tn Or “appealed to” (BDAG 341 s.v. ἐντυγχάνω 1.a).
30 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
31 sn Here means “here in Caesarea.”
32 tn Or “screaming.”
33 sn He had done nothing that deserved death. Festus’ opinion of Paul’s guilt is like Pilate’s of Jesus (Luke 23:4, 14, 22).
34 tn The participle ἐπικαλεσαμένου (epikalesamenou) has been taken temporally. It could also be translated as causal: “and because he appealed…”
35 tn A designation of the Roman emperor (in this case, Nero). BDAG 917 s.v. σεβαστός states, “ὁ Σεβαστός His Majesty the Emperor Ac 25:21, 25 (of Nero).”
36 tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
