25:6 After Festus 1 had stayed 2 not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea, 3 and the next day he sat 4 on the judgment seat 5 and ordered Paul to be brought.
1 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Festus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Grk “Having stayed.” The participle διατρίψας (diatriya") has been taken temporally.
3 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.
4 tn Grk “sitting down…he ordered.” The participle καθίσας (kaqisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
5 tn Although BDAG 175 s.v. βῆμα 3 gives the meaning “tribunal” for this verse, and a number of modern translations use similar terms (“court,” NIV; “tribunal,” NRSV), since the bhma was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time, there is no need for an alternative translation here.
6 tn Grk “said.”
7 tn Or “before the emperor’s” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).
8 tn Although BDAG 175 s.v. βῆμα 3 gives the meaning “tribunal” for this verse, and a number of modern translations use similar terms (“court,” NIV; “tribunal,” NRSV), since the bema was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time, there is no need for an alternative translation here. Here of course Paul’s reference to “Caesar’s judgment seat” is a form of metonymy; since Festus is Caesar’s representative, Festus’ judgment seat represents Caesar’s own.
9 tn That is, tried by an imperial representative and subject to Roman law.
10 sn “I have done nothing wrong.” Here is yet another declaration of total innocence on Paul’s part.
11 tn BDAG 506 s.v. καλῶς 7 states, “comp. κάλλιον (for the superl., as Galen, Protr. 8 p. 24, 19J.=p. 10, 31 Kaibel; s. B-D-F §244, 2) ὡς καί σὺ κ. ἐπιγινώσκεις as also you know very well Ac 25:10.”
12 tn BDAG 969-70 s.v. συνέρχομαι 2 states, “συνελθόντων ἐνθάδε prob. means (because of συνκαταβάντες 25:5) they came back here with (me) 25:17.”
13 tn BDAG 59 s.v. ἀναβολή states, “‘delay’…legal t.t. postponement…ἀ. μηδεμίαν ποιησάμενος I did not postpone the matter Ac 25:17.” “Case” has been supplied instead of “matter” since it is more specific to the context. The participle ποιησάμενος (poihsameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
14 tn Grk “sitting…I ordered.” The participle καθίσας (kaqisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
15 tn Although BDAG 175 s.v. βῆμα 3 gives the meaning “tribunal” for this verse, and a number of modern translations use similar terms (“court,” NIV; “tribunal,” NRSV), since the bema was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time, there is no need for an alternative translation here.