Acts 25:16

16 But I told them that we Romans are not in the habit of handing over any who are accused of a crime before they have met their accusers face-to-face and have had the chance of defending themselves against the accusation.

Acts 25:16 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 25:16

To whom I answered
As follows:

it is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die; or to
give any man to destruction;
to pass sentence of death upon him, without hearing his cause, and purely at the request of another, and merely to gratify him:

before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face;
so as to speak to his face, or before him, what they have to charge him with:

and have licence to answer for himself, concerning the crime laid
against him;
and this was also according to the law of the Jews, ( John 7:51 ) though Festus, from such an application to him by the chief priests and elders, might conclude that their manner was different, he being ignorant of their laws and customs; but their prejudice to the apostle carried them to act such an illegal part, or at least to desire it might be acted: it is one of the Jewish canons, that it is unlawful for a judge to hear one of the contending parties, before the other is come in.

Acts 25:16 In-Context

14 After they had been there several days, Festus explained Paul's situation to the king: "There is a man here who was left a prisoner by Felix;

15 and when I went to Jerusalem, the Jewish chief priests and elders brought charges against him and asked me to condemn him.

16 But I told them that we Romans are not in the habit of handing over any who are accused of a crime before they have met their accusers face-to-face and have had the chance of defending themselves against the accusation.

17 When they came here, then, I lost no time, but on the very next day I sat in the judgment court and ordered the man to be brought in.

18 His opponents stood up, but they did not accuse him of any of the evil crimes that I thought they would.