Acts 25:6

After Festus ¹  had stayed ²  not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea, ³  and the next day he sat ⁴  on the judgment seat ⁵  and ordered Paul to be brought.

Mt 27:19; Joh 19:13; Ac 18:12-17; Ac 25:10,17; 2Co 5:10; Jas 2:6

¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Festus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Grk “Having stayed.” The participle διατρίψας (diatriya") has been taken temporally.

³ 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.

map For location see Map2 C1; Map4 B3; Map5 F2; Map7 A1; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

⁴ tn Grk “sitting down…he ordered.” The participle καθίσας (kaqisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

⁵ 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 bhma was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time, there is no need for an alternative translation here.

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.