Discovery BoxActs 25:10 
Context25:10 Paul replied, 1 “I am standing before Caesar’s 2 judgment seat, 3 where I should be tried. 4 I have done nothing wrong 5 to the Jews, as you also know very well. 6
Acts 25:21
Context25:21 But when Paul appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of His Majesty the Emperor, 7 I ordered him to be kept under guard until I could send him to Caesar.” 8
1 tn Grk “said.”
2 tn Or “before the emperor’s” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).
3 tn Although BDAG 175 s.v. βῆμα 3 gives the meaning “tribunal” for this verse, and a number of modern translations use similar terms (“court,” NIV; “tribunal,” NRSV), since the bema was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time, there is no need for an alternative translation here. Here of course Paul’s reference to “Caesar’s judgment seat” is a form of metonymy; since Festus is Caesar’s representative, Festus’ judgment seat represents Caesar’s own.
sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bhma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and sometimes furnished with a seat, used by officials in addressing an assembly or making pronouncements, often on judicial matters. The judgment seat was a familiar item in Greco-Roman culture, often located in the agora, the public square or marketplace in the center of a city.
4 tn That is, tried by an imperial representative and subject to Roman law.
5 sn “I have done nothing wrong.” Here is yet another declaration of total innocence on Paul’s part.
6 tn BDAG 506 s.v. καλῶς 7 states, “comp. κάλλιον (for the superl., as Galen, Protr. 8 p. 24, 19J.=p. 10, 31 Kaibel; s. B-D-F §244, 2) ὡς καί σὺ κ. ἐπιγινώσκεις as also you know very well Ac 25:10.”
7 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).” It was a translation into Greek of the Latin “Augustus.”
8 tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).
