κτήνη τε παραστῆσαι. Here we have the contrary change to that noted in Acts 23:22. With ἑτοιμάσετε began a direct order, and this is continued in the oratio recta down to the close of Acts 23:23. But with 24 the construction is oblique, as if some verb like ἐκέλευσεν had preceded παραστῆσαι. Consequently the Rev. Vers. has inserted in italics he bade them.

πρὸς Φήλικα τὸν ἡγεμόνα, to Felix the governor. Felix was made procurator of Judæa by Claudius in A.D. 53. He was the brother of Pallas, the favourite freedman of Claudius, and it was by the interest of his brother that Felix was advanced, and retained in his position even after the death of Claudius. The character of Felix, as gathered both from Roman and Jewish historians, is that of a mean, profligate and cruel ruler, and even the troublous times in which he lived are not sufficient to excuse the severity of his conduct. After his return to Rome, on the appointment of Festus to be governor in his stead, Felix was accused by the Jews of Cæsarea and only saved by the influence which his brother Pallas had with Nero, as he had had with his predecessor. Felix was connected with the Herodian family by his marriage with Drusilla the daughter of Herod Agrippa I. He continued to hold office at Cæsarea for two years after St Paul’s coming there (Acts 24:27), and during the whole of that time the Apostle was his prisoner.

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Old Testament