[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 XXV : 13-22
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| © 2021 Biblical Archaeology Society. See bottom of screen for numbered notes. Reproduced for educational purposes. |
[13] And after some days, king Agrippa and Bernice came down to Caesarea to salute Festus.
[14] And as they tarried there many days, Festus told the king of Paul, saying: A certain man was left prisoner by Felix.
[15] About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests, and the ancients of the Jews, came unto me, desiring condemnation against him.
[16] To whom I answered: It is not the custom of the Romans to condemn any man, before that he who is accused have his accusers present, and have liberty to make his answer, to clear himself of the things laid to his charge.
[17] When therefore they were come hither, without any delay, on the day following, sitting in the judgment seat, I commanded the man to be brought.
[18] Against whom, when the accusers stood up, they brought no accusation of things which I thought ill of:
[19] But had certain questions of their own superstition against him, and of one Jesus deceased, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.
[20] I therefore being in a doubt of this manner of question, asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things.
[21] But Paul appealing to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept, till I might send him to Caesar.
[22] And Agrippa said to Festus: I would also hear the man, myself. Tomorrow, said he, thou shalt hear him.
[13] Et cum dies aliquot transacti essent, Agrippa rex et Bernice descenderunt Caesaream ad salutandum Festum. [14] Et cum dies plures ibi demorarentur, Festus regi indicavit de Paulo, dicens : Vir quidam est derelictus a Felice vinctus, [15] de quo cum essem Jerosolymis, adierunt me principes sacerdotum, et seniores Judaeorum, postulantes adversus illum damnationem. [16] Ad quos respondi : Quia non est Romanis consuetudo damnare aliquem hominem prius quam is qui accusatur praesentes habeat accusatores, locumque defendendi accipiat ad abluenda crimina. [17] Cum ergo huc convenissent sine ulla dilatione, sequenti die sedens pro tribunali, jussi adduci virum. [18] De quo, cum stetissent accusatores, nullam causam deferebant, de quibus ego suspicabar malum. [19] Quaestiones vero quasdam de sua superstitione habebant adversus eum, et de quodam Jesu defuncto, quem affirmabat Paulus vivere. [20] Haesitans autem ego de hujusmodi quaestione, dicebam si vellet ire Jerosolymam, et ibi judicari de istis. [21] Paulo autem appellante ut servaretur ad Augusti cognitionem, jussi servari eum, donec mittam eum ad Caesarem. [22] Agrippa autem dixit ad Festum : Volebam et ipse hominem audire. Cras, inquit, audies eum.
Notes
13. king Agrippa. Agrippa II., son of Herod Agrippa I., and brother of Bernice and Drusilla. Claudius gave him the principality of Chalcis, and the superintendence of the Temple and its treasury, together with the charge of appointing the high-priest. To these dominions Nero added Galilee and a few other towns and villages. His title of king was purely titular, as he was simply a vassal of Rome.
Agrippa II contrasts favourably with his grandfather and father, who were unscrupulous tyrants and persecutors of the disciples of Christ.
Bernice. See Annot. on Drusilla (ch. xxiv. 24). She was celebrated for her beauty and immorality. In spite of her bad reputation, Bernice was a patriotic Jewess, and in the troubled times which preceded the fall of Jerusalem she devoted herself to save her people, but her efforts were not crowned with success.
to salute Festus. They came to congratulate Festus on his promotion to the office of procurator of Judea. The Greek reads “ having saluted” Festus (ἀσπασάμενοι τὸν Φῆστον), which may mean that, they came down to Cesarea, after having previously welcomed Festus, perhaps in Jerusalem.
14. Festus told the king of Paul. He laid Paul's case before the king. The procurator profited by the opportunity of consulting Agrippa, who, being a Jew, was versed in all that concerned Jewish laws and religion.
15. condemnation. The Jews had evidently asked for a verdict against St Paul without any further trial. They insinuated that he had been proved guilty, but that sentence had been deferred.
16. It is not the custom., etc. “The proud boast of the custom of the Romans is very characteristic of an honest Roman judge, contrasting Roman and Oriental ideas of justice. The Romans do not sell their verdicts for money or for popularity, nor do they condemn a man unheard. Justice was one of the virtues of the early Romans ; and even in later days, compared with the corrupt administration of Eastern countries,'the Roman custom' must have seemed ideal” (Rackham, Acts cf the Apostles, p. 460).
Yet the provincial governors were by no means always praiseworthy in this matter, as we see from the testimony of the Acts, e.g. —
(1) Pilate sacrificed our Lord from interested motives.(2) Lysias had ordered St Paul to be scourged.(3) Felix looked for a bribe.(4) Festus detained St Paul in custody in order to please the Jews, although he knew him to be innocent.
and have liberty to make his answer. Lit. “and have had opportunity ” (τόπον) to make his defence.” The Greek word here used, like the Latin word “ locum,” signifies a “ place,” but they are often used metaphorically for “ occasion ” or “ opportunity.”
17. they were come thither. When the accused was face to face with his accusers, as the Roman law exacted.
18. which I thought ill of. Festus was prepared to listen to some serious misdemeanours.
19. their own superstition. See Annot. on ch. xvii. 22, where the cognate adjective is employed. Here the word simply means “ religion,” and no sarcasm or discourtesy is intended. Festus, addressing a Jewish prince, would not speak slightingly of the Mosaic Law, the more so that he wished to profit by Agrippa’s advice and experience.
of one Jesus. The Acts does not record that St Paul had pronounced the Name of Jesus either before Felix or Festus, but certainly the apostle mentioned that blessed Name when speaking of justice and chastity, and of judgment to come, and here we have another proof that St Luke frequently summarizes, and thus omits many details.
whom Paul affirmed, etc. Festus perhaps imagined that our Lord had not died. From the fact that the governor mentions this one point, we see that St Paul had fulfilled his apostolic office of bearing witness to the Resurrection.
20. I therefore being in doubt. Festus need have had no perplexity concerning the apostle, who he knew had not committed any offence against the Roman laws. His manifest duty was to dismiss St Paul, as his accusers could not substantiate their charges. But Festus had not the courage to take this course, for fear of offending the Jews.
21. Augustus. The reigning emperor, in this case Nero. The title “Augustus,” which signifies “venerable,” was first conferred by the Roman senate on Octavianus (B.C. 27). From that time it became a title of the reigning emperor. The Greek equivalent is “ Sebastos.”
The word “ Augustus ” is probably derived from augeo, “ I increase," and is cognate with augur, “a soothaayer.” Hence it means one who is blessed and exalted by God, and, consequently, one who merits the esteem and reverence of his fellows. Cesar is a family name, like Plantagenet or Stuart.
22. I would also hear the man. The Greek shews that Agrippa had desired to see St Paul before Festus had asked his opinion concerning the apostle, as it reads “ I was wishing ” (Ἐβουλόμην). The king’s reply is extremely courteous, and expresses the desire conditionally — provided Festus had no objection.
Numbered notes for Herodian family tree
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| © 2021 Biblical Archaeology Society. Reproduced for educational purposes. |
1. Herod the Great, founder of the dynasty, tried to kill the infant Jesus by the “slaughter of the innocents” at Bethlehem.
2. Herod Philip, uncle and first husband of Herodias, was not a ruler.
3. Herodias left Herod Philip to marry his half-brother Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee & Perea.
4. John the Baptist rebuked Antipas for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife, while his brother was still alive—against the law of Moses.
5. Salome danced for Herod Antipas and, at Herodias’s direction, requested the beheading of John the Baptist. Later she married her great-uncle Philip the Tetrarch.
6. Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee &: Perea (c. 4 B.C.–39 A.D.), was Herodias’s uncle and second husband. After Salome’s dance and his rash promise, he executed John the Baptist. Much later he held part of Jesus’ trial.
7. Herod Archelaus, Ethnarch of Judea, Samaria and Idumea (r. 4 B.C.–6 A.D.), was replaced by a series of Roman governors, including Pontius Pilate (c. 26–36 A.D.).
8. Philip the Tetrarch of northern territories (r. 4 B.C.–34 A.D.) later married Herodias’s daughter Salome, his grandniece.
Later Outcomes: Execution of James the son of Zebedee, imprisonment of Peter to execute him, and the trial of Paul
9. King Herod Agrippa I (c. 37–44 A.D.) executed James the son of Zebedee and imprisoned Peter before his miraculous escape.
10. Berenice, twice widowed, left her third husband to be with brother Agrippa II (rumored lover) and was with him at Festus’s trial of Paul.
11. King Herod Agrippa II (c. 50–c. 93 A.D.) was appointed by Festus to hear Paul’s defense.
12. Antonius Felix, Roman procurator of Judea (c. 52–c. 59 A.D.), Paul’s first judge, left him in prison for two years until new procurator Porcius Festus (c.60–62 A.D.) became the second judge, and Paul appealed to Caesar.
13. Drusilla left her first husband to marry Roman governor Felix.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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