[The posts which follow make extensive use of The Acts of the Apostles, by Madame Cecilia, (Religious of St Andrew's Convent, Streatham), with an Imprimi potest dated 16 October 1907 (Westminster); Burns, Oates & Washbourne Ltd. (London). With grateful prayers for the author and her team:
REQUIEM æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.ETERNAL rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.]
Acts XXIV : 1-9
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| St Paul. J-J Tissot |
[2] And Paul being called for, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying: Whereas through thee we live in much peace, and many things are rectified by thy providence,
[3] We accept it always and in all places, most excellent Felix, with all thanksgiving.
[4] But that I be no further tedious to thee, I desire thee of thy clemency to hear us in few words.
[5] We have found this to be a pestilent man, and raising seditions among all the Jews throughout the world, and author of the sedition of the sect of the Nazarenes.
[6] Who also hath gone about to profane the temple: whom, we having apprehended, would also have judged according to our law.
[7] But Lysias the tribune coming upon us, with great violence took him away out of our hands;
[8] Commanding his accusers to come to thee: of whom thou mayest thyself, by examination, have knowledge of all these things, whereof we accuse him.
[9] And the Jews also added, and said that these things were so.
[1] Post quinque autem dies descendit princeps sacerdotum, Ananias, cum senioribus quibusdam, et Tertullo quodam oratore, qui adierunt praesidem adversus Paulum. [2] Et citato Paulo coepit accusare Tertullus, dicens : Cum in multa pace agamus per te, et multa corrigantur per tuam providentiam, [3] semper et ubique suscipimus, optime Felix, cum omni gratiarum actione. [4] Ne diutius autem te protraham, oro, breviter audias nos pro tua clementia. [5] Invenimus hunc hominem pestiferum, et concitantem seditiones omnibus Judaeis in universo orbe, et auctorem seditionis sectae Nazarenorum :
[6] qui etiam templum violare conatus est, quem et apprehensum voluimus secundum legem nostram judicare. [7] Superveniens autem tribunus Lysias, cum vi magna eripuit eum de manibus nostris, [8] jubens accusatores ejus ad te venire : a quo poteris ipse judicans, de omnibus istis cognoscere, de quibus nos accusamus eum. [9] Adjecerunt autem et Judaei, dicentes haec ita se habere.
Notes
1. after five days. This may mean five days since St Paul left Jerusalem, or five days after his arrival in Cesarea.
the high-priest Ananias. See Annot. on xxiii. 2. His enmity against St Paul had probably increased since the apostle had applied to him the epithet of “whited wall.”
some of the ancients. Only a deijutation of the ancients went toCesarea, and they were probably mostly of the Sadducean party.
one Tertullus. The name is a diminutive of Tertius, as Catullus is of Catius, and Lucullus of Lucius.
an orator. Provincials, when accusing or defending before a Roman tribunal, were accustomed to engage the services of one skilled in the Roman law. Tertullus was what we should call a barrister (Latin, “ caussidicus ”). At this period trials in Roman law courts were conducted in Latin or Greek. It is uncertain which language Tertullus spoke, but many commentators lean to Latin.
“ The Gospel, in the person of St Paul, has to contend with Jewish prejudices allied to Roman rhetoric, at the bar of imperial power, represented by Felix ” (Wordsworth),
went to. Lit. “informed” (ἐνεφανισαν), a legal term for a formal accusation. Not only Tertullus, but the high-priest and the ancients, accused St Paul.
2. Paul being called for. St Paul having been summoned by the appointed official, was brought into court by his gaoler. The trial was legally conducted in the usual order. It began with the accusation of the plaintifffs, which the accused was summoned to hear and answer.
Tertullus began to accuse him. The orator’s accusations were based on both political and religious grounds ; he accused St Paul of being —
1. a pestilent man, raising seditions ;
2. a leader of the Nazarenes;
3. a profaner of the Temple.
St Luke, as usual, gives only a summary of the discourse.
through thee we live in much peace. Tertullus begins, like all Roman orators, by flattering the judge, but the exordium by no means states the whole truth. From Tacitus (Annal., xii. 54) we learn that Felix was an unscrupulous man, who committed injustice with audacity, trusting in his brother’s iuflueuce with Claudius to shield him from punishment. Josephus also condemns him for his tyranny and cruelty. Felix had certainly maintained peace to a certain extent by putting down rebels and suppressing the sect of the Sicarii (Ant., xx. 8. 6 ; Bell. Jud., ii. 13. 3), but his own injustice and misgovernment were far greater evils than the insurrections which he quelled.
many things are rectified. This is the reading of א A, B, E, of several cursives, and of the Vulgate and Syriac Versions. There is a variant reading, “ many worthy deeds are done ” (κατορθωματων). The first reading is the best supported.
by thy providence. The word “providence” was originally applied to the gods ; then it was given to the emperors, and coins are extant bearing the words “Providentia Caesaris.”
3. always and in all places. Commentators are not agreed as to the sense of this passage. Some join it on to what precedes, and read “ many things are rectified always and in all places.” Others, following the Vulgate, join it with what follows.
most excellent Felix. See Annot. on xxiii. 26.
4. no further tedious. Lit. “that I may not too long cut off or hinder you,” i.e. from other more important affairs.
clemency. In the Septuagint this word is used of divine mercy, but in the New Testament it is often rendered by “gentleness” (R.V.), and by “ modesty ” in our Rheims Version, e.g. Now I Paul myself beseech you by the mildness and modesty (ἐπιεικειας) of Christ (2 Cor. x. 1).
5. a pestilent man. Lit. “this pestilence.” Classical writers apply this epithet to a dangerous, cunning poison. The word is frequently used in the Old Testament, e.g. And some pestilent men (λοιμοι) of Israel led a wicked life (1 Mach. x. 61).
raising seditions. Tertullus puts this charge first in order to arrest the attention of Felix, who he knew had severely repressed sedition on several occasions.
among all the Jews throughout the world. The Jews of Jerusalem must have heard through their brethren of the Dispersion that riots had occurred in connection with the preaching of the Gospel at Philippi (ch. xvi. 20), Thessalonica (ch. xvii. 6), Corinth (ch. xviii. 12), and Ephesus (ch. xix. 29). Moreover, they were eye-witnesses of the tumult in the Temple (xxi. 20).
author. Lit., “a file leader” (πρωτοςτατην ), a military term signifying the right hand man in the front line. In the plural, it was used to designate the front rank of soldiers. St Paul is therefore represented, and with good reason, as a “ ringleader ” of the Nazarenes.
of the sect of the Nazarenes. This is the first time we find this title given to the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth. The Jews naturally refrained from calling them Christians, as this implied that Jesus was the Christ or Messias, a truth which they rejected.
We frequently find our Lord spoken of in the Acts as “Jesus of Nazareth.” (See ii. 22, iii. 0, iv. lu, x. 38, vi. 14, xxvi. 9.)
The word “ Nazarenes ” was used contemptuously, as the Jews despised Nazareth and its inhabitants. Cf. Nathanael said to him : Can any thing of good come from Nazareth ? (St John i. 46).
6. hath gone about. Here the calumny against St Paul (see ch. xxi. 28) is modified. In the tumult he was accused of having profaned the Temple.
we would also have judged, etc. These words and the following as far as “ commanding his accusers to come to thee ” are wanting in some of the best MSS. (A, B, H, L, P), but some MSS. have a parallel passage, and the Syriac and Vulgate represent these clauses. They complete the orator’s discourse, and are in accordance with facts (allowing for Tertullus’ strategy in casting the blame on Lysias). Also the words “of whom thou mayest .... have knowledge, ” etc. (verse 8), apply better to Lysias than to St Paul, since it was the accusers who declared the charge, and not the prisoner himself. This explanation, moreover, harmonizes with the reply of Felix to the Jews : When Lysias, the tribune, shall come down I will hear you (verse 22).
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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