24:1 The heat of the Jews' hatred of Paul is obvious from their speedy trip to Caesarea. The five days seem to describe the period from Paul's arrest in the temple courtyard to this trial (cf. v. 11; 21:27). The Jews' antagonism is also clear in that Ananias himself made the trip, and Paul's accusers had hired a special attorney to present their case. Tertullus was probably a Hellenistic Jew in view of his Roman name, though he could have been a Roman Gentile. "Attorney"is the translation of a Greek word that appears only here in the New Testament (rhetoros), which means a lawyer who was specially skillful in oratory.
24:2-4 Flattery of officials in formal speeches was fashionable in Paul's day, and Tertullus heaped praise on Felix. The title "most excellent"usually applied to men who enjoyed a higher social rank than Felix. Felix was a fierce ruler and the "peace"that existed was a result of terror rather than tranquillity. His "reforms"were more like purges. Speakers also usually promised to be brief, which promises then as now they did not always keep.
24:5 Tertullus leveled three specific charges against Paul. First, he was a troublemaker in the Roman Empire having stirred up Jews wherever he went. This was a serious charge because Rome sought to preserve peace in the world, and Jewish uprisings were a perennial problem to Roman officials.
Second, Tertullus pictured Paul as the leader of a cult outside mainstream Judaism. The Roman Empire tolerated Judaism, but the "sect of the Nazarenes"was not a part of Judaism to the Jewish leaders. This title is a unique name for Christianity found nowhere else in the New Testament. Tertullus evidently used this name to make "the Way"sound as bad as possible.
"That [second charge] coupled Paul with Messianic movements; and the Romans knew what havoc false Messiahs could cause and how they could whip the people into hysterical risings which were only settled at the cost of blood."895
The first two charges gave the impression that Paul was guilty of sedition against Rome. The Jews had similarly charged Jesus with political sedition before Pilate (cf. Luke 23:2, 5).
24:6-8 Third, Tertullus claimed Paul had tried to desecrate the temple allegedly by bringing a Gentile into its inner precincts (21:28). This was a softening of the Asian Jews' earlier charge that Paul had indeed brought Trophimus into the inner precincts of the temple (21:28-29). Tertullus' statement that the Jews had arrested Paul harmonized with Lysias' report (23:27). The Jews had tried to kill Paul on the spot too (21:31-33). Perhaps Tertullus did not mention that because it would have put the Jews in a very bad light. This third charge implied that Felix should put Paul to death since Rome had given the Jews the right to execute temple desecrators.
24:9 All of Paul's accusers confirmed Tertullus' charges. They undoubtedly expected Felix to dispatch Paul quickly since Felix had repeatedly crucified the leaders of uprisings for disturbing the peace of Rome.896
