Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: ACTS #42 - 25:1-22)
XX. 25:1-26:32 PAUL WITNESSES TO GOVERNORS AND KINGS.)
A. 25:1-12 PAUL PRESERVED FROM JEWS AND GOVERNOR
1. 25:1-5 NEW PLOT TO SLAY PAUL FOILED
a 25:1 Festus therefore, having entered upon his province, after three days went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.
PHEstos oun, e-piBAS tee-parCHEIa [1885], meTA treis heMEras aNEbe eis Ie-roSOlu-ma aPO Kai-saRIas.
b. 25:2-3 JEWS PLOT TO HAVE PAUL BROUGHT TO JERUSALEM
e-nePHAniSAN [1718] te auTOhoi ar-chi-eREIS kai hoi PROtoi ton IouDAIon
And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews
kaTA tou PAUlon; kai pa-reKAloun [3870] auTON,
informed him against :Paul; and they besought him,
aiTOUme-noi CHArin [5485] kat' auTOU, hoPOS me-taPEMpse-tai auTON eis Ie-rou-saLEM;
3asking a favor against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem;
eNEdran [1247] poiOUNtes a-neLEIN auTON kaTA ten hoDON.
laying a plot to kill him on the way.
c. 25:4 FESTUS KEEPS HIM IN CAESAREA
ho men oun PHEstos a-peKRIthe, teREISthai [5083]ton PAUlon eis Kai-saRIan,
Howbeit :Festus answered, that :Paul was kept at Caesarea,
he-auTON de MELlein en TAchei ek-poREUes-thai.
and that he himself was about to depart thereshortly.
d. 25:5 FESTUS INVITED PAUL'S ACCUSERS TO CAESAREA
Hoi oun en huMIN, pheSIN, du-naTOI sun-ka-taBANtes,
Let them therefore, said he, that are of power among you go down with me,
EI ti eSTIN en toanDRI Ato-pon, ka-te-goREIto-san [2723]auTOU.
andif anything is amiss in the man, let them accuse him.
2. 25:6-12 PAUL APPEALS TO CAESAR
a. 25:6 FESTUS COMMANDED PAUL TO BE BROUGHT FOR JUDGMENT
Di-aTRIpsas de en auTOIS heMEras ou PLEIous okTO
And when he had tarried among them not more than eight
eDEka, ka-taBAS eis Kai-saRIan;
or ten days, he went down unto Caesarea;
teePAUri-on kaTHIsas ePI tou BEma-tos [968], eKEleu-sen ton PAUlon achTHEnai [71].
andon the morrow he sat on the judgment-seat, andcommanded :Paul to be brought.
b. 25:7-8 PAUL DEFENDS HIMSELF AGAINST ACCUSATION OF THE JEWS
pa-ra-ge-noMEnou de auTOU, pe-riEste-san auTON hoi
And when he was come, the Jews that had come down
aPO Ie-ro-soLUmon ka-ta-be-beKOtes IouDAIoi, polLA kai baREa [926]
from Jerusalem stood round about him, bringing against him
ai-tiOma-ta [157]ka-taPEron-tes [5742]ha ouk Ischu-on a-poDEIxai [584]; tou PAUlou a-po-lo-gouMEnou [HOti],
many and grievous charges which they could not prove; 8while :Paul said in his defense [that],
OUte eis ton NOmon ton IouDAIon, OUte eis to hi-eRON, OUte eis KAIsaRA, ti HEmar-ton.
Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar, have I sinned at all.
c. 25:9 FESTUS SUGGESTS PAUL GO TO JERSALEM FOR JUDGMENT
ho PHEstos de, THElon tois IouDAIois CHAri-ti ka-taTHESthai [2698],
But Festus, desiring to gain favor with the Jews,
a-po-kriTHEIS toPAUlo EIpen, THEleis eis Ie-roSOlu-ma a-naBAS,
answered :Paul and said, Will you go up to Jerusalem,
eKEI peRI TOUton kriTHEnai ep' eMOU?
andthere be judged of these thingsbefore me?
d. 25:10 PAUL DECLARES HIS INNOCENCE
EIpen de ho PAUlos, HeSTOS Epi tou BEma-tos [968]KAIsaROS ei-mi,
But :Paul said, I am standing before the judgment-seat of Caesar,
HOU me dei KRI-nes-thai: IouDAIous ouDEN eDIke-ka [91], hos kai su KALli-on [2573]e-pi-giNOskeis.
where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as you also quite well know.
e. 25:11a PAUL PREVENTS A MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE
ei men oun a-diKO, kai Axi-on thaNAtou PEpraCHA [4238]ti, ou pa-raiTOUmai [3868]to a-po-thaNEIN;
If therefore I am a wrong-doer, and have done anything worthy of death, I refuse not to die;
ei de ouDEN es-tin hon HOUtoi ka-te-goROU-SIN [2723]mou, ouDEIS me DUna-tai auTOIS chaRIsas-thai.
but if none of those things is true of which these accuse me, no one can give me to them as a favor.
f. 25:11b I appeal to Caesar. KAIsa-ra e-pi-kaLOUmai [1941].
g. 25:12 FESTUS CONFIRMS PAUL'S APPEAL TO CAESAR
TOte ho PHEstos, sun-laLEsas [4814]meTA tou sum-bouLIou, a-peKRIthe,
Then :Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered,
KAIsa-ra e-piKEkle-sai: ePI KAIsa-ra poREUse.
You have appealed to Caesar: unto Caesar shall you go.
B. 25:13-22 AGRIPPA DESIRES TO HEAR PAUL'S DEFENSE
a. 25:13 AGRIPPA AND BERNICE VISIT FESTUS
He-meRON de di-a-ge-noMEnon tiNON, A-GRIPpas ho ba-siLEUS kai BerNIke
Now when some days were passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice
kaTENte-san eis Kai-saRIan, a-spaSAme-noi [782]ton PHEston.
arrived at Caesarea, having greeted :Festus.
b. 25:14-15 FESTUS REPORTS THE CASE OF PAUL TO THEM
hos de PLEIous heMEras diEtri-bon eKEI, ho PHEstos to ba-siLEI aNEthe-to ta kaTA ton PAUlon, LEgon,
And as they tarried there rather many days, :Festus laid the case of :Paul before the king, saying,
A-NER tis eSTIN ka-ta-le-limMEnos [2641]huPO PHEli-kos DESmi-os [1198];
Thereis a certain man left prisoner by Felix;
peRI hou, ge-noMEnou mou eis Ie-roSOlu-ma,
15about whom, when I was at Jerusalem,
e-nePHAni-san [1718] hoi ar-chi-eREIS kai hoi presBUte-roi ton IouDAIon,
the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me,
aiTOUme-noi kat' auTOU ka-taDIken [1349].
asking for sentence against him.
c. 25:16 FESTUS APPEALS TO ROMAN LAW
pros hous a-peKRIthen, HOti ouk Estin Ethos [1485]'RoMAIois
To whom I answered, that it is not a custom of the Romans
chaRIzesTHAI [5483] ti-na ANthro-pon prin heho ka-te-goROUme-nos [2723]kaTA PROso-pon,
to give up any one as a favor before that the accused have the accusers face to face,
Echoi tous ka-teGOrous TOpon te a-po-loGIas [629]LAboi peRI tou egKLEma-tos [1462].
and have the opportunity to make defense concerning the accusation.
d. 25:17 FESTUS REPORTS THE CAESAREA JUDGMENT
su-nelTHONton oun enTHAde, a-na-boLEN [311]me-deMIan poi-eSAme-nos,
When therefore they were come together here, I made no delay,
teheXES kaTHIsas ePI tou BEma-tos, eKEleu-sa achTHEna ton ANdra.
buton the next day sat on the judgment-seat, andcommanded the man to be brought.
e. 25:18-19 FESTUS EXPLAINS TO AGRIPPA THE CHARGES CONCERNING JEWISH LAW
peRI hou, staTHENtes hoi kaTEgo-roi,
Concerning whom, when the accusers stood up,
ou-deMIan aiTIan Ephe-ron hon eGO hu-peNOoun [5283]po-neRON;
they brought no charge of such evil thingsas I supposed;
zeTEma-ta [2213]DE ti-na peRI tes iDIas dei-si-dai-moNIas [1175]EIchon pros auTON,
19 but had certain questions against him of their own religion,
kai peRI ti-nos IeSOU, teth-neKOtos [2348], hon Epha-sken [5335]ho PAUlos zen.
and of one Jesus, who was dead, whom :Paul affirmed to be alive.
f. 25:20 FESTUS RELATES HIS JERUSALEM SUGGESTION
a-poROUme-nos [639] de eGO ten peRI TOUton ZEte-sin [2214],
And I, being perplexed how to inquire concerning these things,
Ele-gon ei BOUloi-to poREUes-thai eis Ie-roSOlu-ma ka' 'KEI KRInes-thai peRI TOUton.
asked whether he would go to Jerusalem and there be judged of these matters.
g. 25:21 PAUL'S APPEAL TO CAESAR ACCEPTED
tou de PAUlou e-pi-ka-le-saMEnou [1941] te-reTHEnai auTON eis ten
But when :Paul had appealed to be kept for the decision
tou Se-baSTOU diAGno-sin [1233], eKEleu-sa
of the emperor, I commanded him
teREISthai auTON HEos hou a-naPEMpso auTON pros KAIsa-ra.
to be kept till I should send him to Caesar.
h. 25:22a And Agrippa saidunto :Festus, I also was wishing to hear the man myself.
A-GRIPpas de pros ton PHEston, E-bouLOmen kai auTOS tou anTHROpou aKOUsai.
i. 25:22b Tomorrow, says he, you shall hear him.
AUri-on, pheSIN, aKOUseauTOU.
NOTE: In Acts 22:7 Jesus says to Paul - “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Whatever one does to a believer in Christ, he does unto Jesus Himself! When Jesus as Son of Man rose from the dead, He was a New Creation”! He was now glorifiedman. There is now a man sitting at the right hand of the Father on the Throne of Heaven!
Before He was crucified, rose and ascended, He said, “I have a baptism to be baptized with - and howam I straitened until it be accomplished!” But now, crucified, risen, ascended and seated, He is the Headof the “One New Man”. All believers now are part of His spiritual body. He has a glorified natural body as Son of God and Son of Man - but he also has a spiritual body! The book of Ephesians goes into these remarkable truths.
So - what we do to believers in Him - we do to Him! What Saul of Tarsus did to believers prior to his conversion on the road to Damascus, he did to Jesus! The rest of his life, Paul saw himself as the chiefestof sinners, because of what he did to Christ's body. What he did as an apostle serving without remuneration, was his way in part to make up for the terrible sin he committed to Jewish believers: men and women. Stephen is but one clear example of the sins of Saul.
At the time of his conversion under Ananias, Paul was told what great things he was to suffer for Christ's Name's sake. This passage before us, 25:1-12, with its further plot by the Jews to kill him - is but one of many fulfilling this prophecy.
In 25:9 we see the duplicity of Festus the new governor. He attempted skillfully to hide his deception from Agrippa. But we know he was actually seeking to give Paul as a “favor” to the Jews, who would have killed him on the way to Jerusalem. Festus later told King Agrippa (25:16) that it was notthe custom of Romans to give anyone up as a favor! But hehad sought to do this to Paul. Paul discerned what Festus by subterfuge was seeking to do - and nailedhim, “to the Jews I have done no wrong, as you alsoquite well know” (25:10b). And in 25:11a - “but if none of those thingsis trueof which they accuse me, no onecan give me to them as a favor.”
Though Festus knew that Paul knewwhat he was up to, he didn't let it bother him, but carried on as if he were a righteous and God-fearing judge. And what of most politicians today? Can we discern a similarity between Festus and them?
Let us pray for our leaders. Prophets encouraged Judah to pray for Nebuchadnezzar as they went down into captivity to Babylon. Was the latter righteous? Certainly not. Read the account in the book of Daniel. But if the prayers of Jews brought peace to the land and leader under their captivity, it would go well with them
Much in the above to meditate upon. J.A.W.