Acts 25:21

21 But when Paul had appealed to be kept for the decision of the emperor, I commanded him to be kept till I should send him to Caesar.

Acts 25:21 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 25:21

But when Paul had appealed to be reserved
In custody at Caesarea:

unto the hearing of Augustus;
to have his cause heard, tried, and judged of, by the Roman Emperor Nero, here called Augustus; for as it was usual for a Roman emperor to be called Caesar, from Julius Caesar, the first of them, so to be called Augustus, from Octavius Augustus, the second emperor: his original surname was Thurinus, but this being objected to him as a reproachful one, he afterwards took the name of Caesar, and then of Augustus; the one by the will of his great uncle, the other by the advice of Munatius Plancus; when some thought he ought to be called Romulus, as if he was the founder of the city, it prevailed that he should rather be called Augustus; not only this surname being new, but more grand, seeing religious places, and in which anything was consecrated by soothsaying, were called "Augusta, ab auctu, vel ab avium gestu, gustuve", according to Ennius F20: in the Greek text the name is Sebastos, which signifies venerable and worshipful.

I commanded him to be kept;
in Caesarea, by a centurion, and not sent to Jerusalem:

till I might send him to Caesar:
till he could have an opportunity of sending him to Rome, to take his trial before the emperor.


FOOTNOTES:

F20 Suetonius in Vit. Octav. c. 7.

Acts 25:21 In-Context

19 but had certain questions against him of their own religion, and of one Jesus, who was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.
20 And I, being perplexed how to inquire concerning these things, asked whether he would go to Jerusalem and there be judged of these matters.
21 But when Paul had appealed to be kept for the decision of the emperor, I commanded him to be kept till I should send him to Caesar.
22 And Agrippa [said] unto Festus, I also could wish to hear the man myself. To-morrow, saith he, thou shalt hear him.
23 So on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and they were entered into the place of hearing with the chief captains and principal men of the city, at the command of Festus Paul was brought in.
The American Standard Version is in the public domain.