Acts 23:25

περιέχουσαν, see critical note above. τύπον : “form,” R.V., a précis or summary of the contents of a letter, 3Ma 3:30. Such a letter would be called elogium, Alford, in loco, Renan, Saint Paul, p. 532. It is quite true that τύπος does not demand that the letter should have been given verbally, and in an oft-quoted passage, Plato, Polit., 3, p. 414, ἐν τύπῳ is contrasted with διʼ ἀκριβείας, but the letter bears the marks of genuineness, e.g., the part which Lysias claims to have played, and the expression “questions of their law” (see below). Moreover St. Luke might have easily learnt its contents, as there is reason for supposing that the letter would have been read in open court before Felix, as containing the preliminary inquiry, and that a copy may have been given to Paul after his appeal, see Bethge, Die Paulinischen Reden Apostelgeschichte, p. 226.