Acts 25:21

But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar.

After a few days had passed, sometime after the trial or preliminary hearing which was destined to have such far-reaching consequences, King Agrippa and his sister Bernice came to Caesarea to offer congratulations to Festus upon his entry on his office. Agrippa II was the son of Herod Agrippa I, chap. 12. Since he was only seventeen years old at the time of his father's death, he was not given the kingdom, but was made ruler of Chalcis, a small city and district near the Antilebanon, after the death of his uncle, and also the government of the Temple was given him, with the right of appointing the high priest. Later the tetrarchies of Philip and Lysanias were added to his dominions, and he bore the title of king, though not king of Judea. Bernice, his oldest sister, had been betrothed to Marcus of Alexandria, had then married her uncle, Herod of Chalcis, a few years later, was left a widow, lived with her brother, was again married, to Polemon, king of Cilicia, whom: however, she soon left. The history of her life is that of a wanton woman with only one redeeming feature, when she tried to dissuade the procurator Florus from cutting down the Jews. The two royal visitors had been in the city for some time when Festus laid the case of Paul before the king, feeling sure that the latter's more intimate knowledge of Jewish affairs would enable him to form a correct idea of the situation. So he explained matters as he understood them. A certain man had been left in custody by Felix, concerning whom the Jews had laid information before him when he was in Jerusalem, earnestly requesting a sentence of condemnation against him. The Jews thus appear to have tried other schemes as well as that of haying the hearing transferred to Jerusalem. Festus had told the Jews that it was not the custom of the Romans to condemn one man to oblige another, before the accused have his accusers face to face and have a chance to defend himself concerning the accusation which was made against him. And when they had then come together at Caesarea, he had made no delay, he had not put off the matter another day, but on the very next day had taken his seat on the tribunal and commanded the man to be arraigned. But when the accusers stood up in court, they brought no accusation of evil concerning him as Festus had suspected. The bitterness of feeling which the chief priests and members of the Sanhedrin had exhibited in Jerusalem had led the governor to expect the charge of a very serious crime. Instead of that, as the speaker contemptuously remarks, they had certain questions about their own religion against him and concerning a certain Jesus who had died, of whom Paul insisted that he was living. During the court proceedings much must have been said on both sides which Luke did not record, since he was interested only in offering a summary of the history. in several sentences the Roman's skepticism is revealed, as when he refers to the Jewish belief as literally demon-worship, a foolish religion, See chap. 17:22, and when he refers to Paul's earnest statement as a mere assertion. The upshot of the matter had been that Festus had been in doubt, had been at a loss as to the manner of proceeding, of making his inquiry regarding these questions and had therefore asked whether Paul desired to go to Jerusalem and there be tried concerning them. But since Paul had made an appeal that his case be reserved for the decision of Augustus, the Roman emperor, the governor had given command to keep him in custody until he could send him to Caesar, to the highest court in the Roman empire. The report of Festus is fairly correct, though colored by his understanding of the case. But he was evidently still perplexed and counted upon Agrippa, his acquaintance with whom had reached that stage, to help him out with good advice.