Acts 25:3-4

25:3 Requesting him to do them a favor against Paul, ¹  they urged Festus ²  to summon him to Jerusalem, planning an ambush ³  to kill him along the way. 25:4 Then Festus ⁴  replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea, ⁵  and he himself intended to go there ⁶  shortly.

[25:3]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[25:4]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.