Acts 24:2

Verse Acts 24:2. Tertullus began to accuse him] There are three parts in this oration of Tertullus:-

1. The exordium.

2. The proposition.

3. The conclusion.

The exordium contains the praise of Felix and his administration, merely for the purpose of conciliating his esteem, Acts 24:2; The proposition is contained in Acts 24:5. The narration and conclusion, in Acts 24:6.

By thee we enjoy great quietness] As bad a governor as Felix most certainly was, he rendered some services to Judea. The country had long been infested with robbers; and a very formidable banditti of this kind, under one Eliezar, he entirely suppressed. Joseph. Antiq. lib. xx. cap. 6; Bell. lib. ii, cap. 22. He also suppressed the sedition raised by an Egyptian impostor, who had seduced 30,000 men; see on Acts 21:38. He had also quelled a very afflictive disturbance which took place between the Syrians and the Jews of Caesarea. On this ground Tertullus said, By thee we enjoy great quietness; and illustrious deeds are done to this nation by thy prudent administration. This was all true; but, notwithstanding this, he is well known from his own historians, and from Josephus, to have been not only a very bad man, but also a very bad governor. He was mercenary, oppressive, and cruel; and of all these the Jews brought proofs to Nero, before whom they accused him; and, had it not been for the interest and influence of his brother Pallas; he had been certainly ruined.