Acts 25 Footnotes

25:13 Herod Agrippa II—the last of the Herodian rulers—visited Caesarea with his sister Bernice. His territory generally expanded during his lifetime (he died near the end of the century). Bernice had a checkered sexual and marital history. The reason that Herod was brought into this situation by Festus was not only because they happened to be in the area; rather, Herod had responsibility for the temple and appointing the high priest, among other duties. He would have had an interest in the charges against Paul as one who had violated the temple.

25:19 Festus’s description of the heart of the matter—especially as an outsider would look on it—was apt. Disagreements between the Jews and Paul concerned whether a certain dead man, Jesus, had been resurrected.

25:25-27 Festus had not publicized that he could find nothing against Paul. He intended to have Paul tried in Jerusalem when Paul made his appeal to Caesar (v. 9). Once the appeal to Caesar had been made, Festus was free to admit that the charges were groundless (and perplexing). Festus hoped Agrippa (perhaps because of Agrippa’s ties to the Jews and his responsibilities regarding the temple) would help him send an informed letter with Paul, specifying the charges.