Acts 25:1-5

Paul Appeals to Caesar

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.”

[25:1]  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.”

[25:1]  ² sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[25:1]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[25:1]  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).

[25:2]  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.”

[25:2]  ⁶ tn BDAG 326 s.v. ἐμφανίζω 3 has “ἐ. τινὶ κατά τινος bring formal charges against someone…Ac 24:1; 25:2.”

[25:3]  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.

[25:3]  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.

[25:3]  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.

[25:4]  ¹³ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[25:4]  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.

[25:4]  ¹⁵ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[25:5]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “let those who are influential among you” (i.e., the powerful).

[25:5]  ¹⁸ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[25:5]  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).

[25:5]  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.”