ἐπιβὰς : “having come into the province,” A. and R.V., or, “having entered upon his province,” R.V. margin. If we read τῇ ἐπαρχείῳ with Weiss and W.H [389] margin, the word is an adjective of two terminations, _sc._ ἐξουσίᾳ, _i.e._, having entered on his duties as governor of the province (see Weiss... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐνεφάνισαν, _cf._ Acts 23:15; Acts 24:1 : here the context evidently implies that legal and formal information was laid against Paul. If we read οἱ ἀρχ., _cf._ Acts 4:5. οἱ πρῶτοι : sometimes taken as = πρεσβ. in Acts 25:15, _cf._ Acts 23:14; Acts 24:1, but in Luke 19:47 we have οἱ ἀρχ. καὶ οἱ γράμμ... [ Continue Reading ]
αἰτουμ., _cf._ Acts 25:15. “Postulantes gratiam non justitiam,” Corn à Lapide. ἐνέδραν ποιοῦντες, not ποιήσοντες, they were making and contriving the ambush _already_ (Alford): priests and elders were willing as before to avail themselves of the assassin. κατὰ τὴν ὁδόν, _cf._ Luke 10:4, and three ti... [ Continue Reading ]
μὲν οὖν : no antithesis expressed; but Rendall, Appendix on μὲν οὖν, _Acts_, p. 162, holds that two phases of events are here contrasted: Festus refused to bring Paul away from Cæsarea, but he undertook to hear the charges of the Jews there. ἐν Και., see critical note, perhaps here εἰς simply = ἐν,... [ Continue Reading ]
φησί : change to the _oratio recta_, _cf._ Acts 1:4. For other instances of the insertion of the single words ἔφη or φησίν, rare in N. T., see Simcox, _Language of the New Testament_, p. 200; _cf._ Acts 23:35, Acts 26:25, 1 Corinthians 6:16; 2 Corinthians 10:10; Hebrews 8:5. οἱ … δυνατοί : “Let them... [ Continue Reading ]
ἡμέρας πλ., see critical note, “not more than eight or ten days,” R.V., _i.e._, the whole period of Festus' stay ἐν αὐτοῖς. Blass sees in the words an indication of the vigour of action characterising Festus. The expression may, however, be used from the standpoint of Paul and his friends at Cæsarea... [ Continue Reading ]
περιέστησαν : if we add αὐτόν, see critical note, “stood round about him,” _i.e._, Paul, R.V., “periculum intentantes,” Bengel. (_Cf._ John 11:42, Jdt 5:22, omit 1.) πολλὰ καὶ βαρέα : “many and (indeed) heavy,” etc., Winer-Moulton, lix., 3, perhaps as in Matthew 23:23, weighty, of great moment. αἰτι... [ Continue Reading ]
Evidently the charges classed as before under three heads, (1) the Law, (2) the Temple, (3) the Empire. In this verse Hilgenfeld ascribes ὅτι … ἥμαρτον to his “author to Theophilus”(Jüngst, too, omits the words). But, not content with this, he concludes that the whole narrative which follows about A... [ Continue Reading ]
χάριν καταθέσθαι, Acts 24:27. τοῖς Ἰ., best placed emphatically before χάριν κατ. (W.H [391]), so as to show that it was the compliance of Festus to the Jews which caused the turn which things took (Weiss). θέλεις εἰς Ἱ.: “injustum videbatur condemnare, incommodum absolvere,” Blass. ἐκεῖ : he makes... [ Continue Reading ]
ἑστώς εἰμι : “I am standing,” used rhetorically, Blass, _Gram._, p. 198; on the position of ἑστ. see critical note. Καίσαρος : because the procurator was the representative of Cæsar: “quæ acta gestaque sunt a procuratore Cæsaris sic ab eo comprobantur, atque si a Cæsare ipso gesta sint,” Ulpian, _Di... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰ μὲν γὰρ, see critical note, “if then (οὗν) I am a wrongdoer,” referring to his standing before Cæsar's judgment-seat, and not to the ἠδίκησα in Acts 25:10. ἀδικεῖν : only here absolutely in N.T.; the verb occurs five times in Acts, once in Luke's Gospel, and once in St. Matthew, but not elsewhere... [ Continue Reading ]
μετὰ τοῦ συμβ., _i.e._, his assessors, _assessores consiliarii_, with whom the procurators were wont to consult in the administration of the law. They were probably composed, in part at all events, of the higher officials of the court, _cf._ Suet., _Tiber._, 33, Lamprid., _Vita Alex. Sev._, 46, Jos.... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἀγρ. ὁ βασιλεὺς : this was Herod Agrippa II., son of Agrippa I., whose tragic end is recorded in chap. 12. At the time of his father's death he was only seventeen, and for a time he lived in retirement, as Claudius was persuaded not to entrust him with the kingdom of Judæa. But on the death of Herod... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀνέθετο : only in Luke and Paul, _cf._ Galatians 2:2. “Laid Paul's case before the king,” R.V., _cf._ Malachi 3:9; Malachi 3:9, and instances in Wetstein, Galatians 2:2. In the middle voice the idea is that of relating with a view to consulting, so here (_cf._ Acts 25:20; Acts 25:26, Lightfoot on Ga... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀρχ. καὶ οἱ πρεσβ., see on Acts 25:2. ἐνεφάνισαν, see Acts 25:21. δίκην, see critical note. If we read καταδίκην = “sentence,” R.V., _i.e._, of condemnation; LXX, Symm., Psalms 89:3, Wis 12:27; so in Polyb., xxvi., 5, 1.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἔθος, see Acts 6:14. χαρίζ., p. 489. πρὶν ἢ … ἔχοι, _cf._ Luke 2:26, the only two passages where a finite verb occurs after πρίν in N. T., see further Burton, pp. 52, 129, 133, and Plummer, Luke, _l. c._ κατὰ πρόσωπον, see on Acts 3:13. τόπον : “opportunity,” Romans 15:23; Ephesians 4:27; Hebrews 12... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀναβ. μηδ. ποιησάμενος, Acts 24:22, for the phrase see Thuc., ii., 42; Plut., _Camill._, 35, and Wetstein, _in loco._... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐδ. αἰτίαν ἐπέφ.: classical, _cf._ Thuc., v., 76; Herod., i., 26, so in Polyb. and Jos., but see critical note. αἰτίαν : _criminis delatio, accusatio_, and so in Acts 25:27; see for various meanings Grimm, _sub v._ ὑπενόουν : possibly he supposed that there were to be some charges of political dist... [ Continue Reading ]
ζητήματα … τινα : plural contemptuously (Weiss). δεισιδαιμονίας, see on Acts 17:22, “religion,” R.V.: in addressing a Jewish king Felix would not have used the term offensively, especially when we consider the official relation of Agrippa to the Jewish religion (see above, Acts 25:13), but he may we... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀπορούμενος δὲ : “being perplexed how to inquire concerning,” R.V., omitting εἰς, the verb ἀπορ. talking a direct accusative. See above on Acts 2:12. Festus might have truly said that he was perplexed, as he still was, concerning Paul, and it is possible that the positive motive assigned for his act... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐπικ. τηρηθῆναι αὐτὸν : on the construction after words of request or command of the infinitive _passive_ see Simcox, _Language of the N. T._, p. 121, and also Blass, _Gram._, p. 222. εἰς τὴν τοῦ Σεβαστοῦ διάγνωσιν : “for the decision of the Emperor,” R.V., “the Augustus,” _margin; cf._ Acts 24:22,... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐβουλόμην καὶ αὐτὸς : “I also was wishing to hear the man myself,” R.V., margin, imperfect, as of a wish entertained for some time; it was probable from Agrippa's position, and his official relationship to Judaism, that he would have been already interested in Paul. Bethge takes it as if it meant th... [ Continue Reading ]
φαντασίας, Polyb., xv., 25, 15, etc.; Diod. Sic., xii., 83, and instances in Wetstein, _cf._ Herod., vii., 10. φαντάζεσθαι (Page); “in eadem urbe, in qua pater ipsorum a vermibus corrosus ob superbiam perierat” (Wetstein). The word here in the description may point to the presence of an eyewitness ... [ Continue Reading ]
βασιλεῦ, see above on p. 495. συμπαρόντες : only here in N.T., _cf._ Wis 9:10, Tob 12:12 [395] [396]. πᾶν τὸ πλ.: the statement is not in the least inconsistent with Acts 25:2; Acts 25:7; Acts 25:15. In Jerusalem at all events it is easily intelligible that a noisy crowd would second the actual accu... [ Continue Reading ]
καταλαβόμενος, _cf._ Acts 4:13 and Acts 10:34; Ephesians 3:18. τὸν Σ.: “sanctius hoc nomen erat quam _Cæsar_,” Blass. αὐτοῦ δὲ τούτου, _cf._ Acts 24:15, Thuc., vi., 33 (Wetstein).... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀσφαλές τι γράψαι, _Dig._, xlix., 6. “Post appellationem interpositam litteræ dandæ sunt ab eo, a quo appellatum est, ad eum qui de appellatione cogniturus est, sive principem, sive quem alium, quas litt. dimissorias sive Apostolos appellant” (Wetstein and Blass). τῷ κυρίῳ : title refused by Augustu... [ Continue Reading ]
ἄλογον, _cf._ Thuc., vi., 85, Xen., _Ages._, xi., 1 (elsewhere in N.T., 2 Peter 2:12; Jude 1:10, _cf._ Wis 11:15-3, 3Ma 5:40 (A _om._), 4Ma 14:14; 4Ma 14:18). It would seem from the verse that the procurator was not bound to send the _litteræ dimissoriæ_ (O. Holtzmann). πέμποντα : for construction _... [ Continue Reading ]