Acts 24

Ac 24:1-27.

PAUL,

ACCUSED BY A

PROFESSIONAL

PLEADER BEFORE

FELIX,

MAKES

HIS

DEFENSE, AND

IS

REMANDED FOR A

FURTHER

HEARING.

AT A

PRIVATE

INTERVIEW

FELIX

TREMBLES UNDER

PAUL'S

PREACHING, BUT

KEEPS

HIM

PRISONER FOR

TWO

YEARS,

WHEN

HE

WAS

SUCCEEDED BY

FESTUS.

1. after five days--or, on the fifth day from their departure

from Jerusalem.

Ananias . . . with the elders--a deputation of the Sanhedrim.

a certain orator--one of those Roman advocates who trained themselves

for the higher practice of the metropolis by practicing in the

provinces, where the Latin language, employed in the courts, was but

imperfectly understood and Roman forms were not familiar.

informed . . . against Paul--"laid information," that is, put in the

charges.

2-4. Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, &c.--In this

fulsome flattery there was a semblance of truth: nothing more. Felix

acted with a degree of vigor and success in suppressing lawless violence

[JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 20.8.4; confirmed by

TACITUS,

Annals, 12.54].

emperors.

5-8. a pestilent fellow--a plague, or pest.

and a mover of sedition among all the Jews--by exciting disturbances

among them.

throughout the world--(See on

Lu 2:1).

This was the first charge; and true only in the sense explained

on

Ac 16:20.

a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes--the second charge; and

true enough.

6. hath gone about--attempted.

to profane the temple--the third charge; and entirely false.

we . . . would have judged according to our law.

7. But . . . Lysias came upon us, and with great violence

took him out of our hands--a wilful falsehood and calumnious charge

against a public officer. He had commanded the Sanhedrim to meet for no

other purpose than to "judge him according to their law"; and only

when, instead of doing so, they fell to disputing among themselves, and

the prisoner was in danger of being "pulled in pieces of them"

(Ac 23:10)

--or as his own letter says "killed of them"

(Ac 23:27)

--did he rescue him, as was his duty, "by force" out of their

hands.

8. Commanding his accusers to come unto thee--Here they insinuate that,

instead of troubling Felix with the case, he ought to have left it to be

dealt with by the Jewish tribunal; in which case his life would soon

have been taken.

(Ac 24:22).

thyself mayest, &c.--referring all, as if with confidence, to Felix.

9. the Jews assented, &c.--See on

Ac 23:15.

10. thou hast been many years a judge to this nation--He had been in

this province for six or seven years, and in Galilee for a longer

period. Paul uses no flattery, but simply expresses his satisfaction at

having to plead before one whose long official experience of Jewish

matters would enable him the better to understand and appreciate what he

had to say.

11. thou mayest understand--canst easily learn.

that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem--namely, 1.

The day of his arrival in Jerusalem

(Ac 21:15-17);

2. The interview with James

(Ac 21:18-26);

3. The assumption of the vow

(Ac 21:26);

4, 5, 6. Continuance of the vow, interrupted by the arrest

(Ac 21:27,

&c.); 7. Arrest of Paul

(Ac 21:27);

8. Paul before the Sanhedrim

(Ac 22:30; 23:1-10);

9. Conspiracy of the Jews and defeat of it

(Ac 23:12-24),

and despatch of Paul from Jerusalem on the evening of the same day

(Ac 23:23, 31);

10, 11, 12, 13. The remaining period referred to

(Ac 24:1)

[MEYER].

This short period is mentioned to show how unlikely it was that he

should have had time to do what was charged against him.

for to worship--a very different purpose from that imputed to him.

12, 13. they neither found me . . . Neither can they prove

the things,

&c.--After specifying several particulars, he challenges proof of any

one of the charges brought against him. So much for the charge of

sedition.

14, 15. But this I confess to thee--in which Felix would see no crime.

that after the way they call heresy--literally, and better, "a sect."

so worship I the God of my fathers--the ancestral God. Two arguments

are contained here: (1) Our nation is divided into what they call

sects--the sect of the Pharisees, and that of the Sadducees--all the

difference between them and me is, that I belong to neither of these,

but to another sect, or religious section of the nation, which from its

Head they call Nazarenes: for this reason, and this alone, am I

hated. (2) The Roman law allows every nation to worship its own deities;

I claim protection under that law, worshipping the God of my ancestors,

even as they, only of a different sect of the common religion.

believing all, &c.--Here, disowning all opinions at variance with the

Old Testament Scriptures, he challenges for the Gospel which he preached

the authority of the God of their fathers. So much for the charge of

heresy.

15. And have hope . . . as they themselves . . .

allow, that there shall be a resurrection, &c.--This appeal to the

faith of his accusers shows that they were chiefly of the

Pharisees, and that the favor of that party, to which he owed in

some measure his safety at the recent council

(Ac 23:6-9),

had been quite momentary.

16. And herein--On this account, accordingly; that is, looking forward

to that awful day (compare

2Co 5:10).

I exercise myself--The "I" here is emphatic; "Whatever they do, this

is my study."

to have always a conscience void of offence, &c.--See

Ac 23:1;

2Co 1:12; 2:17,

&c.; that is, "These are the great principles of my life and

conduct--how different from turbulence and sectarianism!"

17. Now after many--several

years absence from Jerusalem--I came to bring alms to my of Macedonia

and Greece, which he had taken such pains to gather. This only allusion

in the Acts to what is dwelt upon so frequently in his own Epistles

(Ro 15:25, 26;

1Co 16:1-4;

2Co 8:1-4),

throws a beautiful light on the truth of this History. (See PALEY'S Horæ Paulinæ).

and offerings--connected with his Jewish vow: see

Ac 24:18.

18-21. found me purified in the temple--not polluting it, therefore,

then these Asiatic Jews have any charge to bring against me in

justification of their arrest of me, why are they not here to

substantiate it?

20. Or else let these . . . here say--"Or, passing from all that

preceded my trial, let those of the Sanhedrim here present say if I was

guilty of aught there." No doubt his hasty speech to the high priest

might occur to them, but the provocation to it on his own part was more

than they would be willing to recall.

21. Except . . . this one voice . . .

Touching the resurrection,

&c.--This would recall to the Pharisees present their own

inconsistency, in befriending him then and now accusing him.

22, 23. having more perfect knowledge of that--"the"

way--(See on

Ac 19:23;

and

Ac 24:14).

When Lysias . . . shall come . . . I will

how, &c.--Felix might have dismissed the case as a tissue of

unsupported charges. But if from his interest in the matter he really

wished to have the presence of Lysias and others involved, a brief

delay was not unworthy of him as a judge. Certainly, so far as

recorded, neither Lysias nor any other parties appeared again in the

case.

Ac 24:23,

however, seems to show that at that time his prepossessions in

favor of Paul were strong.

24, 25. Felix . . . with his wife Drusilla . . .

a Jewess--This beautiful but infamous woman was the third daughter

of Herod Agrippa I, who was eaten of worms (see on

Ac 12:1),

and a sister of Agrippa II, before whom Paul pleaded,

Ac 26:1,

&c. She was "given in marriage to Azizus, king of the Emesenes, who had

consented to be circumcised for the sake of the alliance. But this

marriage was soon dissolved, after this manner: When Festus was

procurator of Judea, he saw her, and being captivated with her beauty,

persuaded her to desert her husband, transgress the laws of her

country, and marry himself" [JOSEPHUS,

Antiquities, 20.7.1,2]. Such was this "wife" of Felix.

he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in

Christ--Perceiving from what he had heard on the trial that the new

sect which was creating such a stir was represented by its own

advocates as but a particular development of the Jewish faith, he

probably wished to gratify the curiosity of his Jewish wife, as well as

his own, by a more particular account of it from this distinguished

champion. And no doubt Paul would so far humor this desire as to

present to them the great leading features of the Gospel. But from

Ac 24:25

it is evident that his discourse took an entirely practical turn,

suited to the life which his two auditors were notoriously leading.

25. And as he reasoned of righteousness--with reference to the

public character of Felix.

temperance--with reference to his immoral life.

and judgment to come--when he would be called to an awful account

for both.

Felix trembled--and no wonder. For, on the testimony of

TACITUS, the

Roman Annalist [Annals, 9; 12.54], he ruled with a mixture of

cruelty, lust, and servility, and relying on the influence of his

brother Pallas at court, he thought himself at liberty to commit every

sort of crime with impunity. How noble the fidelity and courage which

dared to treat of such topics in such a presence, and what withering

power must have been in those appeals which made even a Felix to

tremble!

Go thy way for this time; and when I have a convenient season I will

call for thee--Alas for Felix! This was his golden opportunity,

but--like multitudes still--he missed it. Convenient seasons in

abundance he found to call for Paul, but never again to "hear him

concerning the faith in Christ," and writhe under the terrors of the

wrath to come. Even in those moments of terror he had no thought of

submission to the Cross or a change of life. The Word discerned the

thoughts and intents of his heart, but that heart even then clung to its

idols; even as Herod, who "did many things and heard John gladly," but

in his best moments was enslaved to his lusts. How many Felixes have

appeared from age to age!

26. He hoped . . . that money should have been given him . . .

wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him--Bribery

in a judge was punishable by the Roman law, but the spirit of a slave

(to use the words of TACITUS) was in all his acts, and his communing

with Paul"--as if he cared for either him or his message--simply added

hypocrisy to meanness. The position in life of Paul's Christian

visitors might beget the hope of extracting something from them for the

release of their champion; but the apostle would rather lie in prison

than stoop to this!

27. after two years--What a trial to this burning missionary of Christ,

to suffer such a tedious period of inaction! How mysterious it would

seem! But this repose would be medicine to his spirit; he would not, and

could not, be entirely inactive, so long as he was able by pen and

message to communicate with the churches; and he would doubtless learn

the salutary truth that even he was not essential to his Master's cause.

That Luke wrote his Gospel during this period, under the apostle's

superintendence, is the not unlikely conjecture of able critics.

Porcius Festus--Little is known of him. He died a few years after this

[JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 20.8.9-9.1].

came into Felix' room--He was recalled, on accusations against him

his brother at court [JOSEPHUS,

Antiquities, 20.8,10].

Felix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure--"to earn the thanks of

the Jews," which he did not.

left Paul bound--

(Ac 26:29)

--which does not seem to have been till then.