25:1 Now 1 three days after Festus 2 arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem 3 from Caesarea. 4 25:2 So the chief priests and the most prominent men 5 of the Jews brought formal charges 6 against Paul to him. 25:3 Requesting him to do them a favor against Paul, 7 they urged Festus 8 to summon him to Jerusalem, planning an ambush 9 to kill him along the way. 25:4 Then Festus 10 replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea, 11 and he himself intended to go there 12 shortly. 25:5 “So,” he said, “let your leaders 13 go down there 14 with me, and if this man has done anything wrong, 15 they may bring charges 16 against him.”
1 tn BDAG 736-37 s.v. οὖν 2.b states, “οὖν serves to indicate a transition to someth. new…now, then, well…Ac 25:1.”
2 sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.
3 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
4 sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1. This was a journey of 65 mi (just over 100 km).
5 tn BDAG 893-94 s.v. πρῶτος 2.a.β has “οἱ πρῶτοι the most prominent men, the leading men w. gen. of the place…or of a group…οἱ πρ. τοῦ λαοῦ…Lk 19:47; cp. Ac 25:2; 28:17.”
6 tn BDAG 326 s.v. ἐμφανίζω 3 has “ἐ. τινὶ κατά τινος bring formal charges against someone…Ac 24:1; 25:2.”
9 tn Grk “Requesting a favor against him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation, the understood direct object of “requesting” has been supplied, and the phrase “to do them” supplied for clarity.
10 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Festus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The words “they urged him” are in v. 2 in the Greek text.
11 sn Planning an ambush. The Jewish leadership had not forgotten the original plan of several years ago (see 23:16). They did not trust the Roman legal process, but preferred to take matters into their own hands.
13 sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.
14 sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1.
15 tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.
17 tn Grk “let those who are influential among you” (i.e., the powerful).
18 tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
19 tn Grk “and if there is anything wrong with this man,” but this could be misunderstood in English to mean a moral or physical defect, while the issue in context is the commission of some crime, something legally improper (BDAG 149 s.v. ἄτοπος 2).
20 tn BDAG 533 s.v. κατηγορέω 1 states, “nearly always as legal t.t.: bring charges in court.” L&N 33.427 states for κατηγορέω, “to bring serious charges or accusations against someone, with the possible connotation of a legal or court context – ‘to accuse, to bring charges.”