1 And after five days came down the chief priest Ananias, with the elders, and a certain orator -- Tertullus, and they made manifest to the governor `the things' against Paul;
and the chief priest Ananias commanded those standing by him to smite him on the mouth,
thou being able to know that it is not more than twelve days to me since I went up to worship in Jerusalem,
And, as the seven days were about to be fully ended, the Jews from Asia having beheld him in the temple, were stirring up all the multitude, and they laid hands upon him,
beasts also provide, that, having set Paul on, they may bring him safe unto Felix the governor;'
`I will hear thee -- said he -- when thine accusers also may have come;' he also commanded him to be kept in the praetorium of Herod.
For lo, the wicked tread a bow, They have prepared their arrow on the string, To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
and on a set day, Herod having arrayed himself in kingly apparel, and having sat down upon the tribunal, was making an oration unto them,
about whom, in my being at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid information, asking a decision against him,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 24
Commentary on Acts 24 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 24
We left Paul a prisoner at Caesarea, in Herod's judgment-hall, expecting his trial to come on quickly; for in the beginning of his imprisonment his affairs moved very quickly, but afterwards very slowly. In this chapter we have his arraignment and trial before Felix the governor at Caesarea; here is,
Act 24:1-9
We must suppose that Lysias, the chief captain, when he had sent away Paul to Caesarea, gave notice to the chief priests, and others that had appeared against Paul, that if they had any thing to accuse him of they must follow him to Caesarea, and there they would find hi, and a judge ready to hear them-thinking, perhaps, they would not have given themselves so much trouble; but what will not malice do?
Act 24:10-21
We have here Paul's defence of himself, in answer to Tertullus's charge, and there appears in it a great deal of the spirit of wisdom and holiness, and an accomplishment of Christ's promise to his followers that when they were before governors and kings, for his sake, it should be given them in that same hour what they should speak. Though Tertullus had said a great many provoking things, yet Paul did not interrupt him, but let him go on to the end of his speech, according to the rules of decency and the method in courts of justice, that the plaintiff be allowed to finish his evidence before the defendant begins his plea. And when he had done, he did not presently fly out into passionate exclamations against the iniquity of the times and the men (O tempora! O mores!-Oh the degeneracy of the times!) but he waited for a permission from the judge to speak in his turn, and had it. The governor beckoned to him to speak, v. 10. And now he also may have leave to speak out, under the protection of the governor, which was more than he could hitherto obtain. And, when he did speak, he made no reflections at all upon Tertullus, who he knew spoke for his fee, and therefore despised what he said, and levelled his defence against those that employed him. And here,
Act 24:22-27
We have here the result of Paul's trial before Felix, and what was the consequence of it.