Acts 25:6-12

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. 25:7 When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, ⁶  bringing many serious ⁷  charges that they were not able to prove. ⁸  25:8 Paul said in his defense, ⁹  “I have committed no offense ¹⁰  against the Jewish law ¹¹  or against the temple or against Caesar.” ¹²  25:9 But Festus, ¹³  wanting to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and be tried ¹⁴  before me there on these charges?” ¹⁵  25:10 Paul replied, ¹⁶  “I am standing before Caesar’s ¹⁷  judgment seat, ¹⁸  where I should be tried. ¹⁹  I have done nothing wrong ²⁰  to the Jews, as you also know very well. ²¹  25:11 If then I am in the wrong ²²  and have done anything that deserves death, I am not trying to escape dying, ²³  but if not one of their charges against me is true, ²⁴  no one can hand me over to them. ²⁵  I appeal to Caesar!” ²⁶  25:12 Then, after conferring with his council, ²⁷  Festus ²⁸  replied, “You have appealed to Caesar; ²⁹  to Caesar ³⁰  you will go!” ³¹ 

[25:6]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Festus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:6]  ² tn Grk “Having stayed.” The participle διατρίψας (diatriya") has been taken temporally.

[25:6]  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.

[25:6]  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.

[25:6]  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.

[25:7]  ⁶ tn BDAG 801 s.v. περιίστημι 1.a has “περιέστησαν αὐτὸν οἱ ᾿Ιουδαῖοι the Judeans stood around him 25:7.”

[25:7]  ⁷ tn Grk “many and serious.” The term βαρύς (barus) refers to weighty or serious charges (BDAG 167 s.v. 1).

[25:7]  ⁸ tn The term ἀποδείκνυμι (apodeiknumi) in a legal context refers to legal proof (4 Macc 1:8; BDAG 108 s.v. 3).

[25:8]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Paul saying in his defense”; the participle ἀπολογουμένου (apologoumenou) could be taken temporally (“when Paul said…”), but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the participle was translated as a finite verb and a new sentence begun here in the translation. BDAG 116-17 s.v. ἀπολογέομαι has “W. ὅτι foll. τοῦ Παύλου ἀπολογουμένου, ὅτι when Paul said in his defense (direct quot. foll.) Ac 25:8.”

[25:8]  ¹² tn Grk “I have sinned…in nothing.”

[25:8]  ¹³ tn Grk “against the law of the Jews.” Here τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[25:8]  ¹⁴ tn Or “against the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[25:9]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[25:9]  ¹⁷ tn Or “stand trial.”

[25:9]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “concerning these things.”

[25:10]  ²¹ tn Grk “said.”

[25:10]  ²² tn Or “before the emperor’s” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[25:10]  ²³ 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.

[25:10]  ²⁴ tn That is, tried by an imperial representative and subject to Roman law.

[25:10]  ²⁵ sn “I have done nothing wrong.” Here is yet another declaration of total innocence on Paul’s part.

[25:10]  ²⁶ 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.”

[25:11]  ²⁶ tn BDAG 20 s.v. ἀδικέω 1.b has “intr. be in the wrong (Ex 2:13) εἰ ἀδικῶ Ac 25:11.”

[25:11]  ²⁷ tn BDAG 764 s.v. παραιτέομαι 2.b.β, “οὐ παραιτοῦμαι τὸ ἀποθανεῖν I am not trying to escape death Ac 25:11 (cp. Jos., Vi. 141).” To avoid redundancy in the translation, the English gerund “dying” is used to translate the Greek infinitive ἀποθανεῖν (apoqanein).

[25:11]  ²⁸ tn Or “but if there is nothing to their charges against me.” Both “if” clauses in this verse are first class conditions. Paul stated the options without prejudice, assuming in turn the reality of each for the sake of the argument.

[25:11]  ²⁹ sn That is, no one can hand me over to them lawfully. Paul was aware of the dangers of a return to Jerusalem.

[25:11]  ³⁰ tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[25:12]  ³¹ tn That is, with his advisers.

[25:12]  ³² sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[25:12]  ³³ tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[25:12]  ³⁴ tn Or “to the emperor.”

[25:12]  ³⁵ sn “To Caesar you will go!” In all probability Festus was pleased to send Paul on to Rome and get this political problem out of his court.