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Paul Before King Agrippa and Bernice

23 So the next day Agrippa[a] and Bernice came with great pomp[b] and entered the audience hall,[c] along with the senior military officers[d] and the prominent men of the city. When Festus[e] gave the order,[f] Paul was brought in. 24 Then Festus[g] said, “King Agrippa,[h] and all you who are present here with us, you see this man about whom the entire Jewish populace[i] petitioned[j] me both in Jerusalem and here,[k] shouting loudly[l] that he ought not to live any longer. 25 But I found that he had done nothing that deserved death,[m] and when he appealed[n] to His Majesty the Emperor,[o] I decided to send him.[p] 26 But I have nothing definite[q] to write to my lord[r] about him.[s] Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa,[t] so that after this preliminary hearing[u] I may have something to write.

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 25:23 sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.
  2. Acts 25:23 tn Or “great pageantry” (BDAG 1049 s.v. φαντασία; the term is a NT hapax legomenon).sn Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp. The “royals” were getting their look at Paul. Everyone who was anyone would have been there.
  3. Acts 25:23 tn Or “auditorium.” “Auditorium” may suggest to the modern English reader a theater where performances are held. Here it is the large hall where a king or governor would hold audiences.
  4. Acts 25:23 tn Grk “the chiliarchs” (officers in command of a thousand soldiers). In Greek the term χιλίαρχος (chiliarchos) literally described the “commander of a thousand,” but it was used as the standard translation for the Latin tribunus militum or tribunus militare, the military tribune who commanded a cohort of 600 men.
  5. Acts 25:23 sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.
  6. Acts 25:23 tn Grk “and Festus ordering, Paul was brought in.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation, and καί (kai) has not been translated. The participle κελεύσαντος (keleusantos) has been taken temporally.
  7. Acts 25:24 sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.
  8. Acts 25:24 sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.
  9. Acts 25:24 tn Probably best understood as rhetorical hyperbole. BDAG 825 s.v. πλῆθος 2.b.γ states, “people, populace, populationτὸ πλῆθος the populaceἅπαν τὸ πλ. τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων Ac 25:24.” However, the actions of the leadership are seen by Luke as representing the actions of the entire nation, so the remark is not inaccurate.
  10. Acts 25:24 tn Or “appealed to” (BDAG 341 s.v. ἐντυγχάνω 1.a).
  11. Acts 25:24 sn Here means “here in Caesarea.”
  12. Acts 25:24 tn Or “screaming.”
  13. Acts 25:25 sn He had done nothing that deserved death. Festus’ opinion of Paul’s guilt is like Pilate’s of Jesus (Luke 23:4, 14, 22).
  14. Acts 25:25 tn The participle ἐπικαλεσαμένου (epikalesamenou) has been taken temporally. It could also be translated as causal: “and because he appealed…”
  15. Acts 25:25 tn A designation of the Roman emperor (in this case, Nero). BDAG 917 s.v. σεβαστός states, “ὁ Σεβαστός His Majesty the Emperor Ac 25:21, 25 (of Nero).”
  16. Acts 25:25 tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
  17. Acts 25:26 sn There is irony here. How can Festus write anything definite about Paul, if he is guilty of nothing.
  18. Acts 25:26 sn To my lord means “to His Majesty the Emperor.”
  19. Acts 25:26 tn Grk “about whom I have nothing definite…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced with a personal pronoun (“him”) and a new sentence begun in the translation at the beginning of v. 26.
  20. Acts 25:26 sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.
  21. Acts 25:26 tn Or “investigation.” BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνάκρισις has “a judicial hearing, investigation, hearing, esp. preliminary hearingτῆς ἀ. γενομένης Ac 25:26.” This is technical legal language.

Paul Before Agrippa and Bernice

23 So, on the next day when (A)Agrippa came [a]together with (B)Bernice amid great pomp, and entered the hall [b]accompanied by the [c]commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the order of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24 And Festus *said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom (C)all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that (D)he ought not to live any longer. 25 But I found that he had committed (E)nothing worthy of death, and since he himself (F)appealed to [d]the Emperor, I decided to send him. 26 [e]Yet I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write.

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 25:23 Lit and Bernice
  2. Acts 25:23 Lit and with
  3. Acts 25:23 Military leader over 1,000 soldiers
  4. Acts 25:25 v 21, note 1
  5. Acts 25:26 Lit About whom I have nothing definite