Acts 25:16

16 To {them} I replied that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up any man before the one who had been accused met [his] accusers face to [face] and received an opportunity for a defense concerning 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 And while they were staying there many days, Festus laid out the [case] against Paul to the king, saying, "There is a certain man left behind by Felix [as] a prisoner,

15 concerning whom [when] I was in Jerusalem the chief priests and the elders of the Jews presented evidence, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him.

16 To {them} I replied that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up any man before the one who had been accused met [his] accusers face to [face] and received an opportunity for a defense concerning the accusation.

17 Therefore, [when] they had assembled here, [I] made no delay; on the next [day] I sat down on the judgment seat [and] gave orders [for] the man to be brought.

18 [When they] stood up, [his] accusers began bringing no charge concerning {him} of the evil deeds that I was suspecting,

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "whom"
• [b] *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun