AND AFTER FIVE DAYS ANANIAS THE HIGH PRIEST DESCENDED WITH THE ELDERS,.... From Jerusalem to Caesarea: these five days are to be reckoned not from the seizing of Paul in the temple, but from his coming to Caesarea; the Alexandrian copy reads, "after some days", leaving it undetermined how many: the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE WAS CALLED FORTH,.... Not Tertullus the orator; for this is not to be understood of him, and of his being admitted to speak, as is thought by some, but the Apostle Paul; which is put out of doubt by the Vulgate Latin version, which reads, "and Paul being cited"; he was ordered to be brou... [ Continue Reading ]
WE ACCEPT IT ALWAYS, AND IN ALL PLACES,.... The sense is, that the Jews observed with pleasure the provident care the governor took of their nation, and at all times spoke well of him; and wherever they came commended his conduct, and owned the favours they received from him, and the blessings they... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTWITHSTANDING, THAT I BE NOT FURTHER TEDIOUS UNTO THEE,.... Suggesting, that he could say a great deal more under this head, but, for brevity sake, should omit it; and because he would not tire his patience, and hinder business going forward: I PRAY THEE, THAT THOU WOULDST HEAR US OF THY CLEMENCY... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WE HAVE FOUND THIS MAN A PESTILENT FELLOW,.... Pointing to Paul, the prisoner at the bar; the word here used signifies the "pest" or "plague" itself; and it was usual with orators among the Romans, when they would represent a man as a very wicked man, as dangerous to the state, and unworthy to l... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO ALSO HATH GONE ABOUT TO PROFANE THE TEMPLE,.... By introducing a Greek into it; see Acts 21:28 which was only a supposition and conjecture of the Asiatic Jews, and was a false and groundless one: WHOM WE TOOK; as they did in the temple, and dragged him out of it: AND WOULD HAVE JUDGED ACCORDIN... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THE CHIEF CAPTAIN LYSIAS CAME UPON US,.... Suddenly, and at unawares, immediately, and with great haste, before they could execute their designs; which were not to judge Paul according to law, but to kill him, in the manner the zealots did: AND WITH GREAT VIOLENCE TOOK HIM AWAY OUT OF OUR HANDS... [ Continue Reading ]
COMMANDING HIS ACCUSERS TO COME UNTO THEE,.... But this was not done till after Paul had set forth his case before the people, upon the stairs leading to the castle: and after he had pleaded his own cause before the sanhedrim; and after the chief captain had had intelligence of the Jews lying in wai... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE JEWS ALSO ASSENTED,.... That is, Ananias the high priest, and the elders that were with him, agreed to what Tertullus said, and confirmed the same. SAYING, THAT THESE THINGS WERE SO; that Paul was such a person, and was guilty of the crimes he had set forth; and that the chief captain had t... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN PAUL, AFTER THE GOVERNOR HAD BECKONED UNTO HIM TO SPEAK,.... Tertullus having finished his account, Paul was silent to his charge and calumnies, until the governor beckoned with his hand or head, or made some sign to him to speak for himself; which he might not do, until leave was given him; an... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE THAT THOU MAYEST UNDERSTAND,.... By what Paul now asserted, and by the witnesses which he could produce to certify the truth of it: THAT THERE ARE YET BUT TWELVE DAYS SINCE I WENT UP TO JERUSALEM FOR TO WORSHIP; that is, from the time that he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, to the prese... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY NEITHER FOUND ME IN THE TEMPLE DISPUTING WITH ANY MAN,.... Either about civil or religious affairs: not that it was criminal to dispute in the temple; it was a common thing for the doctors to dispute about matters of religion, in the porches, and courts, and chambers of the temple, as it ma... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER CAN THEY PROVE THE THINGS WHEREOF THEY NOW ACCUSE ME. As that he was a pestilent fellow, a mover of sedition, and a profaner of the temple these things they could not set forth in any clear light, and bring testimonies, or give demonstration of; they could not make them appear to be true, wh... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THIS I CONFESS UNTO THEE,.... What was truth he was not ashamed of, but ready to own, and bear his testimony for, whatever was the consequence of it: THAT AFTER THE WAY WHICH THEY CALL HERESY; referring to the charge of his being a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, Acts 24:5 and meaning... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HAVE HOPE TOWARDS GOD,.... Of an interest in him, and of enjoying eternal life and happiness with him in a future state: WHICH THEY THEMSELVES ALSO ALLOW; that is, some of the Jews, not the Sadducees, for they denied what is afterwards asserted; but the Pharisees, who believed the immortality o... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HEREIN DO I EXERCISE MYSELF,.... Or because of this; on account of this doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, which is a doctrine according to godliness, and promotes and engages to a holy life and conversation, as the contrary tends to encourage a dissolute and sinful manner of living; see... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW AFTER MANY YEARS,.... Absence from Jerusalem; it was now about five and twenty years since his conversion, and most of this time he spent among the Gentiles; three years after it he went up to Jerusalem, and fourteen years after that, Galatians 1:18 but it had now been some years since he had be... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREUPON,.... Or "among which"; while the apostle was busy about the offerings of the Nazarites: CERTAIN JEWS FROM ASIA FOUND ME PURIFIED IN THE TEMPLE; and therefore could not be said to profane it; this he observes in answer to the charge of his attempting to profane it, and acquaints the govern... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO OUGHT TO HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE THEE,.... For they were the only persons who saw him in the temple, and what he was doing; and who by an hideous outcry raised a mob upon him, who took things upon hearsay from them: AND OBJECT, IF THEY HAD OUGHT AGAINST ME; either with respect to sedition, or bla... [ Continue Reading ]
OR ELSE LET THESE SAME HERE SAY,.... They that are present, the high priest and the elders, who were come down to accuse him: IF THEY HAVE FOUND ANY EVIL DOING IN ME, WHILE I STOOD BEFORE THE COUNCIL; or "Jewish sanhedrim"; when he was brought before them by the chief captain, Acts 22:30 meaning, i... [ Continue Reading ]
EXCEPT IT BE FOR THIS ONE VOICE,.... Sentence or expression following, which declares his faith about the resurrection; not that he thought or owned that this was an evil in him, but that it was the only one, that any of them, the Jews, a part among them, namely, the Sadducees, could condemn, or jud... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN FELIX HEARD THESE THINGS,.... Which were said on both sides, both by plaintiff and defendant, the charges brought against Paul, and his answer to them, as a judge ought to do: HAVING MORE PERFECT KNOWLEDGE OF THAT WAY; the Christian religion, which the Jews called heresy, and Paul had embr... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE COMMANDED A CENTURION TO KEEP PAUL,.... In custody, to watch and guard him, and look after him, that he went not away, since he was neither condemned nor acquitted; and therefore must be retained a prisoner, till one or other was done: AND TO LET HIM HAVE LIBERTY; not to go where he pleased,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AFTER CERTAIN DAYS,.... Some days after this trial: WHEN FELIX CAME WITH HIS WIFE DRUSILLA, WHICH WAS A JEWESS; to Caesarea, having been to fetch her from some other place, or to meet her: this woman was the daughter of Herod Agrippa, who was eaten by worms, Acts 12:23 and sister to King Agripp... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS HE REASONED OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, TEMPERANCE, AND JUDGMENT TO COME,.... The apostle not only discoursed concerning the doctrine of faith in Christ, but insisted upon the duties of religion: and particularly he reasoned upon righteousness; not justifying righteousness, that is only the righteousne... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HOPED ALSO THAT MONEY WOULD HAVE BEEN GIVEN HIM OF PAUL,.... For he observed from his own defence, that he came up to Jerusalem to bring alms and offerings; and he perceived by Tertullus's indictment, that he was at the head of a large body of men; that he was some considerable person, at least w... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT AFTER TWO YEARS,.... Not of Felix's government, for he had been judge many years in that nation, but of the apostle's confinement at Caesarea: PORCIUS FESTUS CAME IN FELIX'S ROOM; was made governor of Judea by Nero in his stead; who having had many and loud complaints against him for malpractic... [ Continue Reading ]