ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Acts 24

Acts 24:1–26:32 The Witness in Caesarea. Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea for more than two years. He received formal hearings from the governors Felix and Festus and the Jewish king Agrippa II. When Festus decided to take him to Jerusalem for trial, Paul requested to be tried in Rome before the emperor.

Acts 24:1–27 The closest thing to an actual trial for Paul took place before Felix when the Jews from Jerusalem brought their charges against him. Felix was not persuaded. He dismissed the court but continued to hold Paul in custody. Felix spoke frequently with Paul in private.

Acts 24:1 The spokesman . . . Tertullus may have been a Gentile, a professional lawyer.

Acts 24:2 Tertullus began with flattering words designed to secure the governor’s goodwill. we enjoy much peace. This was not true: Felix had the least peaceful term of any Roman administrator up until his time. The Jews hated him. He was better known for taking bribes than helping the Jews.

Acts 24:5 Tertullus accused Paul of three crimes: stirring up riots, being a Christian ringleader, and profaning “the temple” (v. 6). To a Roman, the first charge would have been the most serious. It amounted to treason. Paul admitted to the second charge (v. 14). He denied the first and third charges (vv. 12–13).

Acts 24:10 Paul’s opening words are brief and honest when compared to Tertullus’s flattery (see note on v. 2).

Acts 24:11–12 Paul denied starting any riots. Twelve days was not enough time to gather a following.

Acts 24:14 Paul proceeded to show how as a Christian he was also a faithful Jew. He accepted the Law and the Prophets and lived his life in light of the resurrection and judgment of “the just and the unjust” (vv. 15, 25).

Acts 24:18–19 Paul began to relate the events of his being captured in the temple (21:27–36). He stopped when he realized his real accusers—the Jews from Asia—were not present. Roman law called for a “face-to-face” confrontation between the accusers and the accused.

Acts 24:20–21 when I stood before the council. Ananias and the elders were members of the Sanhedrin. Thus they could testify to Paul’s earlier hearing before them (23:1–10). The key issue both then and here was the resurrection—not just the general possibility of resurrection but the historical reality of Jesus’ resurrection.

Acts 24:22–23 Felix had an accurate knowledge of the Way (see note on 9:1–2), which may have come from his Jewish wife (see 24:24). but have some liberty. Paul’s “free custody” may have been due to his being a Roman citizen.

Acts 24:24 Drusilla was the youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa I and the sister of Agrippa II (who will appear in the next chapter). Her marriage to Felix was something of a scandal because Felix had caused her divorce from her first husband.

Acts 24:26 money. . . . sent for him often. Roman law prohibited officials from taking bribes, but bribe-taking was common.

Acts 24:27 Felix was removed from office in a.d. 60 for failing to deal properly with a dispute between the Jews and Gentiles in Caesarea.