Acts 25:21

ἐπικ. τηρηθῆναι αὐτὸν : on the construction after words of request or command of the infinitive passive see Simcox, Language of the N. T., p. 121, and also Blass, Gram., p. 222. εἰς τὴν τοῦ Σεβαστοῦ διάγνωσιν : “for the decision of the Emperor,” R.V., “the Augustus,” margin; cf. Acts 24:22, and for the noun Wis 3:18. Σεβ.: here and in Acts 25:25 rendered “Emperor,” R.V. the title Augustus, A.V., might lead to confusion. The Cæsar Augustus in Luke 2:1 was Octavian, upon whom the title of Augustus was first conferred, Suet., Aug [394], 7, B.C. 27. The title was inherited by his successors, and thus it is ascribed to Nero here and in Acts 25:25. The divine sacredness which the title seemed to confer (cf. its Greek form, and the remark of Dio Cassius, liii., 16, 18, that Augustus took the title as being himself something more than human) excited the scruples of Tiberius, but succeeding emperors appear to have adopted it without hesitation. πέμψω, see critical notes; the reading ἀναπέμψω would mean, literally, “till I should send him up,” i.e., to a higher authority, cf. Luke 23:7, where it is used of “referring” to another jurisdiction, and in Acts 25:11; Acts 25:15, of “sending back ” (Philemon 1:12); see Plummer's note. For the use of this word in its technical sense of sending to a higher authority (as it is used in Plut., Phil., Jos., Polyb.) see further instances from inscriptions, Deissmann, Neue Bibelstudien, ii., 56. The verb is only used by Luke and Paul. Καίσαρα : in N.T. the name is always official, never personal. It was first assumed as an official title by Octavius, the nephew of Julius Cæsar (see above), who doubtless took it on account of the fame of his uncle, and as a name not likely to be hated and despised by the Romans like that of “king”. After the death of Gaius Cæsar, the last of the Julian stock, it was adopted by Claudius and by succeeding emperors, Tac., Hist., ii., 80, until the third century, when the title Augustus was reserved for the supreme ruler, and that of Cæsar was adopted for those who shared his government as his possible heirs, as earlier still it had been conferred upon the heir presumptive: “Cæsar,” Hastings' B.D. and B.D. 2.

[394] Augustine.