Acts 24

Five days later, Ananias the high priest came down to Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus. They laid out their case against Paul before the governor.

1And after five days Ananias the high priest descended with the elders, and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul.

NoteThe hearing is in Caesarea, the coastal city that served as the Roman governor's headquarters; Jerusalem stands in the hills, which is why the King James says the party "descended." The "elders" are members of the ruling council in Jerusalem. Tertullus is a hired professional advocate, a man trained in Greek and Roman courtroom speech who would present the prosecution's case in the form a Roman official expected to hear.

2Paul was called in, and Tertullus began the accusation: "Because of you we enjoy lasting peace, and your foresight has brought improvements to this nation.

2And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence,

NoteOpening a court speech with praise of the judge was a fixed convention of Roman legal oratory, expected of any trained speaker before he got to his charges. Listeners would have heard it as formal procedure rather than as sincere compliment, particularly since Felix's rule in Judea was in fact marked by revolts and harsh reprisals.

3We welcome this always and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with deep thanks.

3We accept it always, and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness.

Note"Most noble" or "most excellent" was the standard respectful form of address for a Roman official of senior rank. Antonius Felix governed Judea from roughly AD 52 to 59.

4But I do not want to take up more of your time, so I ask you to be kind and hear us briefly.

4Notwithstanding, that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency a few words.

5We have found this man to be a troublemaker. He stirs up unrest among Jews all over the world, and he is a leader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

5For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes:

Note"Nazarenes" was an outsiders' label for the followers of Jesus, formed from the name of his home town, Nazareth. Calling Paul a "mover of sedition" among Jews "throughout the world" is the legally dangerous part of the charge: Rome tolerated religious disputes but treated anyone who stirred up public disorder across the provinces as a threat to the state. The King James "pestilent fellow" translates a word that literally means a plague or infection.

6He even tried to make the temple unclean. We arrested him, and we meant to judge him by our own law.

6Who also hath gone about to profane the temple: whom we took, and would have judged according to our law.

NoteNon Jews were allowed into the temple's outer court only. Stone notices in Greek and Latin warned that any foreigner who passed the barrier into the inner courts was liable to death, and Rome allowed the Jewish authorities to enforce that penalty. The accusation is that Paul brought a Gentile companion past that line, which is why it is framed as a capital matter rather than a religious quarrel.

7But Lysias the commander came upon us and took him out of our hands by force,

7But the chief captain Lysias came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands,

ManuscriptsMost modern translations leave this verse out. It is in the Greek text the King James translators worked from, but not in the older manuscripts found since, so scholars generally take it as a copyist’s addition rather than part of the original.

NoteThe sentence about Lysias seizing Paul by force, running from the end of verse 6 through verse 8, is missing from the oldest surviving Greek manuscripts, which is why some modern Bibles print no verse 7 at all. The King James follows the later manuscripts that include it.

8and he ordered the ones accusing him to come to you. If you question him yourself, you will be able to learn about everything we are charging him with."

8Commanding his accusers to come unto thee: by examining of whom thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things, whereof we accuse him.

9The other Jews joined in and said that these charges were true.

9And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so.

10The governor motioned for Paul to speak, and Paul answered: "I know you have been a judge over this nation for many years, so I make my defense gladly.

10Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself:

11You can check for yourself that it has been only twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship.

11Because that thou mayest understand, that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship.

NotePaul is making a legal point by counting: twelve days is too short a span to have organized the empire wide agitation he is charged with, and the dates could be checked by witnesses.

12My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone in the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues, or anywhere in the city.

12And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city:

13And they cannot prove any of the charges they are now making against me.

13Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me.

14But I do admit this to you: I worship the God of my ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything written in the Law and the Prophets,

14But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:

Note"The Way" was the earliest name the movement used for itself. The King James "heresy" translates the Greek word hairesis, which at the time simply meant a party, faction or school of thought, the same word used of the Pharisees and Sadducees. It did not yet carry the later sense of false teaching, though Paul's accusers are using it dismissively. "The law and the prophets" are the recognized divisions of the Hebrew scriptures.

15and I have the same hope in God that they themselves hold: that there will be a resurrection of the dead, of both the righteous and the wicked.

15And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.

NoteIn the King James, "allow" means accept or agree with, not permit. The point matters because Paul's accusers were divided on this: Pharisees held that the dead would rise, Sadducees denied it. The high priest Ananias, standing in the room, belonged to the group that rejected the idea.

16Because of this, I always work hard to keep my conscience clear before God and before people.

16And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.

17After several years away, I came back to bring gifts of money for the poor of my nation, and to present offerings.

17Now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation, and offerings.

Note"Alms" are charitable gifts to the poor. Paul had spent years collecting money from Gentile congregations to relieve poverty among believers in Jerusalem. The "offerings" are separate: sacrifices presented at the temple, which is his answer to the charge that he despised it.

18It was then that some Jews from the province of Asia found me in the temple. I had gone through the ceremony that made me clean, and there was no crowd with me and no riot.

18Whereupon certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with multitude, nor with tumult.

NoteJewish law required ritual washing and a set waiting period before certain temple rites, marking a person as ceremonially clean and fit to enter. Paul's argument is that he was found in the middle of that observance, behaving as an observant Jew, not as a man smuggling foreigners past the barrier.

19They are the ones who should be here in front of you to bring charges, if they have anything against me.

19Who ought to have been here before thee, and object, if they had ought against me.

NoteUnder Roman law an accuser was expected to appear in person and press his own charge; failing to show up could mean the case collapsed and the absent accuser himself faced penalties. Paul is pointing out that the men who actually witnessed the alleged offense are not present, so the men who are present are testifying to something they did not see. In the King James, "object" means to bring a formal charge, and "ought" is a spelling of "aught," meaning anything.

20Or let these men here say what wrong they found in me when I stood before the council,

20Or else let these same here say, if they have found any evil doing in me, while I stood before the council,

NoteThe council is the Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish court in Jerusalem, before which Paul had been brought at the hearing described in the previous chapter.

21unless it was this one thing I shouted while standing among them: 'It is about the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.'"

21Except it be for this one voice, that I cried standing among them, Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called in question by you this day.

NoteHe refers to the shout at that earlier hearing before the council, where he declared himself on trial over the resurrection and set the Pharisees and Sadducees on the panel arguing with each other. The King James "one voice" means one single statement.

22Felix knew a good deal about the Way, so he put the case off. He said, "When Lysias the commander comes down here, I will decide your case in full."

22And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter.

Note"Deferred them" means adjourned the hearing without a ruling. "The uttermost of your matter" means the case in its entirety. A Roman governor could postpone indefinitely, and waiting for the testimony of Lysias, the commander who had made the arrest, was a legitimate reason to do so.

23He ordered the officer in charge of a hundred soldiers to keep Paul under guard, but to give him some freedom and to let his friends take care of his needs.

23And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him.

NoteRoman custody came in degrees, and this is the mild form: a guarded prisoner still awaiting trial, not a convict. It also reflects a practical fact of Roman imprisonment. Authorities did not supply food, clothing or bedding, so a prisoner depended on friends being permitted to bring what he needed.

24Some days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

24And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.

NoteDrusilla was a daughter of Herod Agrippa I and was about twenty at this point. She had left her first husband, the king of a small Syrian state, to marry Felix, a match that Jewish opinion regarded as unlawful.

25As Paul talked about doing what is right, self-control, and the judgment that is coming, Felix became afraid. He said, "That is enough for now. You may go. When I have a convenient time, I will send for you."

25And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.

NoteThe King James "temperance" means self-control, including control of sexual appetite. "Righteousness" here is doing what is just, the quality expected of a judge. "A convenient season" means simply a time that suits me.

26He was also hoping that Paul would give him money to set him free, so he sent for Paul often and talked with him.

26He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him.

NoteRoman law forbade a governor to take money from a prisoner, but the practice was common enough to be a standing complaint against provincial officials. Paul had just arrived in Jerusalem carrying a substantial collection of funds, which is likely why Felix assumed he could raise a payment.

27Two years passed, and Porcius Festus took Felix's place as governor. Felix wanted to do the Jews a favor, so he left Paul in prison.

27But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix’ room: and Felix, willing to shew the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.

NoteIn 1611 English, "room" meant place or position, so this says that Festus succeeded Felix in office, around AD 59. Felix was recalled to Rome to answer complaints about his handling of the province, and leaving a prisoner in chains was a cheap concession to leaders who were in a position to testify against him.