Acts 24:26

ἅμα δὲ καὶ ἐλπ.: connected by some with ἀπεκ. (cf. Acts 23:25), so Weiss, Wendt, Hackett; others punctuate as W.H [386], R.V., and render it as a finite verb. ὅτι : on the construction with ἐλπίζειν see Simcox, Language of the N.T., p. 121, and Blass, in loco : Luke 24:31; 2 Corinthians 1:13; 2 Corinthians 13:6; Philemon 1:22 (not in Attic Greek). On ἅμα cf. Blass, Gram., p. 247, Colossians 4:3; Philemon 1:22; 1 Timothy 5:13. ἅμα καί : only in Luke and Paul; on its use by them see further Viteau, Le Grec du N.T., p. 187 (1893). χρήματα : the mention of “alms,” Acts 24:17, had perhaps suggested the thought that Paul was in a position to purchase his freedom with money, and it was also evident to Felix that the prisoner was not without personal friends, Acts 24:23. Spitta, Apostelgeschichte, p. 280, points to Acts 24:17, and to the fact that Felix could not be unaware that Paul was a man of wide influence and supported by many friends, as a sufficient answer to the supposed improbability urged by Pfleiderer that Felix could hope for money from a poor tent maker and missionary. Spitta thinks that Philippians may have been written from Cæsarea, and that therefore (Philippians 4:10) Felix had double cause to suppose that the poor missionary had command of money; but without endorsing this view as to the place of writing of Philippians, it may be suggested that St. Paul's friends at Philippi might have helped to provide financial help for the expenses of his trial: Lydia, e.g., was not only ready with large-hearted hospitality, but her trade in itself required a considerable capital: see on the other hand the view of Ramsay. St. Paul, p. 312. It is urged, moreover, that a poor man would never have received such attention or aroused such interest. But St. Luke himself has told us how Herod desired to see the Son of Man, Who had not where to lay His head, and the same feeling which prompted Herod, the feeling of curiosity, the hope perhaps of seeing some new thing, may have prompted the desire of an Agrippa or a Drusilla to see and to hear Paul. ἐλπιζ.… δοθ.: “sic thesaurum evangelii omisit infelix Felix,” Bengel. When Overbeck expresses surprise that Felix did not deliver Paul to the Jews for money, he forgets that Paul's Roman citizenship would make such an action much more dangerous than his detention. διὸ καὶ : characteristic of Luke and Paul, and common to Luke's Gospel and Acts, cf. Luke 1:35; Acts 10:29; Romans 4:22; Romans 15:22, 2 Corinthians 1:20; 2 Corinthians 4:13; 2 Corinthians 5:9; Philippians 2:9, only twice elsewhere in N.T., Hebrews 11:12; Hebrews 13:12; “ut illiceret eum ad se pecunia temptandum,” Blass, Knabenbauer. πυκνότερον, cf. Luke 5:33; 1 Timothy 5:23; and LXX, Esther 8:13 2Ma 8:8, 3Ma 4:12. The comparative here is “verus comparativus”: quo sæpius, Blass. Nothing could more plainly show the corruption of the Roman government than the conduct of Felix in face of the law: “Lex Julia de repetundis præcepit, ne quis ob hominem in vincula publice conjiciendum, vinciendum, vincirive jubendum, exve vinculis dimittendum; neve quis ob hominem condemnandum, absolvenduum … aliquid acceperit,” Digest., xl., 11, 3 (Wetstein); see further on Acts 24:3. ὡμίλει : only in Luke, see above Acts 20:11; imperfect denoting frequent occurrence.

[386] Westcott and Hort's The New Testament in Greek: Critical Text and Notes.