Acts 25 Footnotes

25:1-3 The new governor went from Caesarea to Jerusalem, no doubt to get a sense of the most important Jewish city in the realm. There Jewish leaders made their case to him with the hidden motive of trying to ambush and kill Paul in Jerusalem.

25:6-8 This passage encapsulates the conflict between Paul and the Jewish leaders to date. Paul was accused of many different charges that he refuted by pointing out that he had not violated Jewish law, the temple, or Roman law.

25:9-11 When Festus suggested, as a favor to the Jews, that Paul be tried in Jerusalem, Paul invoked his right as a Roman citizen to appeal directly to Caesar. Not all appeals to Caesar were granted by local governors, but Paul’s was. The Caesar himself did not always hear cases, depending on the level of involvement of the individual emperor. Nevertheless, this avenue was open to citizens. Festus was probably glad to shift this long-standing case to another jurisdiction—and to relieve himself of Jewish pressure (26:32).

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.