23:25 The commander had to send a copy of the background of Paul's case along with Paul himself. Luke wrote that what follows in the text was substantially what the letter contained.
23:26 This is the first mention of the commander's name in Acts. His Greek name was Lysias, and when he purchased his Roman citizenship (cf. 22:28) he must have also taken the Roman name of the emperor. Felix was the governor of the Roman province of Syria, which included Judea. Claudius Lysias addressed Felix politely (cf. 1:1; 24:2; 26:25).
23:27-30 The commander put himself in the best light possible in view of the facts. He mentioned his "rescue"of Paul in the temple courtyard but did not say that he almost flogged Paul. New in this letter is the mention of Paul's arrest by the Jews, evidently the Jewish temple police. Lysias wrote that he had rescued Paul because he knew that Paul was a Roman citizen, but the commander only learned of Paul's Roman citizenship after he had arrested him (21:34; 22:26-27). Of particular importance is the notice that in Lysias' judgment Paul was not guilty of any crime (cf. John 18:38), but his case only involved disputes over Jewish theology.889This was another judgment favoring not only Paul but Christianity by a Roman official that Luke carefully documented (cf. 19:40; 23:9; 25:25; 26:31-32). Undoubtedly Claudius Lysias told the Jewish leaders to go to Caesarea after Paul had left Jerusalem.
