The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (158 page)

24:1 Ananias:
The high priest, accompanied by a delegation of Jewish elders to represent the interests of the Sanhedrin before Felix.
See note on Acts 23:2
.
Tertullus:
A trained orator who acted as a prosecuting attorney on behalf of the Jerusalem leadership. 
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24:2-8
Tertullus' case against Paul distorts the truth about his character and conduct. After flattering the governor with praises of his benevolence and moderation, he levels two accusations sure to grab the attention of Felix.
(1)
He portrays Paul as a troublemaker who provokes disturbances wherever he goes. The implication is that Paul is an enemy of peace and a threat to Roman order.
(2)
He also tries to disassociate Paul from Judaism and make him the ringleader of a new and unapproved religion. At the time, it was illicit to practice or promote religions not officially recognized by the Romans. 
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24:5 Nazarenes:
The only use of this title for the followers of Jesus in the NT. • Among Jewish Christians, its Hebrew form,
Notsrim,
was associated not only with the village of Nazareth, but also with the prophecy of Is 11:1, where the Messiah is depicted as a "branch" (Heb.
netser
) that sprouts from the royal stump of Jesse, the father of King David.
See note on Mt 2:23
. 
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24:10-21
Paul defends himself with outright denials of the charges laid against him. Far from being an agitator, he has conducted himself in a peaceable and orderly manner ever since his arrival in Jerusalem (24:12). Far, too, from promoting religious novelties, he worships the same God, venerates the same Scriptures, and maintains the same belief in a resurrection as his Jewish accusers (24:14-15).
See note on Acts 24:2-8
. 
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24:14 the Way:
A code name for the early Christian movement.
See note on Acts 9:2
. 
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24:15 resurrection:
Paul inherited from Pharisaic Judaism (23:8) the belief that God will raise the bodies of saints and sinners alike on the last day and send them their separate ways (Dan 12:2). This was reaffirmed in the teaching of Jesus, who claimed for himself the leading role in this final drama of history (Jn 5:25-29; CCC 1038). 
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Word Study

Sect
(Acts
24:5
)

Hairesis
(Gk.): refers to a "party", "school", or "faction". The word is used six times in Acts and three times elsewhere in the NT. It can have both
neutral
and
negative
connotations.
(1)
As applied to the Sadducees (Acts 5:17) and the Pharisees (15:5), it is a neutral term for distinct religious movements or schools of thought within the common heritage of Judaism.
(2)
Its application to the Christian sect (Acts 24:5, 14; 28:22) leans in a more negative direction. It expresses the sentiment of the Jerusalem authorities that Christianity was an illegitimate and even dangerous deviation from Judaism. Members of the sect were thus considered "heretics", an English term derived from the root of this Greek noun. Other uses of the word in the NT apply it to factions and religious fictions that go astray from Christian teaching in one way or another (1 Cor 11:19; Gal 5:20; 2 Pet 2:1).

24:17 alms and offerings:
This is the only reference in Acts to the collection of money that Paul had taken up among Gentile Churches to assist the poor of Jerusalem (Rom 15:25-27; 1 Cor 16:1-4; 2 Cor 8-9). Paul had accepted this responsibility years earlier at the Jerusalem Council (Gal 2:10). 
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24:22 knowledge of the Way:
Felix was already familiar with the rudiments of Christian teaching, possibly from the preaching of Philip the evangelist in Caesarea (8:40; 21:8). 
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24:24 Drusilla:
One of the daughters of Herod Agrippa I (12:1). She was Felix' third wife, and Felix was her second husband. 
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24:25 Felix was alarmed:
Paul's insistence on righteousness and moral purity in the face of the coming judgment made the immoral couple too uncomfortable to listen further. 
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24:26 money:
Felix' interest in Paul was in part driven by greed, i.e., he hoped to get his hands on some of the funds Paul had brought to Jerusalem should the apostle attempt to buy his way out of confinement (24:17). 
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24:27 Porcius Festus:
The Roman procurator who replaced Felix in
A.D.
59 and governed Judea until 61. History portrays him as a man more sensible and restrained than his predecessor. Paul had been left in the Caesarean prison for two years by the time he took office. 
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25:3 planning an ambush:
The hatred of the Jerusalem leaders for Paul had not diminished over the course of his imprisonment. With the recent appointment of Festus, they jumped at another chance to eliminate him (23:12-15). 
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25:5 go down with me:
Festus denied the request to bring Paul to Jerusalem but agreed to reopen his case in Caesarea. 
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25:7 could not prove:
Festus heard nothing but hearsay accusations against Paul. The eyewitness testimony needed to substantiate their allegations was entirely lacking. 
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25:11 If . . . I deserve to die:
Paul affirms the authority of the state to issue and enforce a capital death sentence. What he denies is his own guilt.
See note on Rom 13:4
.
I appeal to Caesar:
Every Roman citizen had the right to appeal his case to the emperor either before or after the verdict of a lower court was rendered. Paul exercises this right to protect his own life, knowing full well that justice would be denied him in Jerusalem. At this point, only the tribunal of Caesar in Rome could handle his case with equity and impartiality. 
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25:12 to Caesar:
Nero, who reigned as emperor from
A.D.
54 to 68. 
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25:13 Agrippa the king:
Herod Agrippa II, the son of Agrippa I (12:1) and the great-grandson of Herod the Great (Lk 1:5). The last ruler of the Herodian dynasty, he governed parts of Galilee and Perea until about
A.D.
85. His consort
Bernice
was actually his sister, with whom he had a scandalous affair for many years. 
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25:22 I should like to hear:
Reminiscent of Herod Antipas' interest in hearing Jesus in Lk 23:8. 
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25:26 nothing definite to write:
Festus wanted Agrippa to assist him in drafting a report of Paul's case to Caesar. Having witnessed the battle of words—with Paul and his opponents contradicting one another on every point (25:7-8)—there appeared to the procurator to be no violation of Roman law, only disputes about Jesus and the Jewish religion (25:19). Luke stresses that both Festus and Agrippa believed Paul to be innocent of wrongdoing (25:25; 26:31), just as he highlights the innocence of Jesus during his trials before Roman judges (Lk 23:4, 15, 22). 
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26:2-23
Paul's final defense speech in Acts, delivered before Jewish (Agrippa II) and Roman (Festus) authorities. Paul insists the Jews have wrongly accused him of abandoning the ancestral faith of Israel. Not only is he trained as a Pharisee (26:5), but the doctrine of the resurrection he now preaches is both a classic tenet of Pharisaic theology (23:8) and a central hope of the Hebrew Scriptures (26:22-23). 
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26:3 familiar with all customs:
Agrippa II was well acquainted with Judaism, being authorized by the Romans to have charge over the Temple treasury and to appoint its high priests. 
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26:5 a Pharisee:
Paul spent his formative years mastering the strictest traditions of Judaism under the tutelage of one of its most celebrated rabbis (22:3; Gal 1:14). 
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26:7 our twelve tribes:
The tribal family of Israel living in Palestine and abroad yearned for the resurrection of the dead and the restoration of their nation. • Hopes of bodily resurrection and national restoration are blended together in texts such as Ezek 37:1-14 and Hos 6:1-2, where the redemption of all Israel from sin (exile) to covenant sonship (return) is described as the resurrection of a body from death to new life. Paul deals at length with the tribal restoration of Israel in Rom 9-11.
worship night and day:
Luke has already hinted at this in Lk 2:36-37, where Anna, of the tribal lineage of Asher, prays night and day in the Temple for the redemption of her people. 
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26:10 prison . . . death:
For Paul's relentless attacks on the early Christians, see word study:
Laid Waste
at 8:3. 
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26:12-18
The second retelling of Paul's conversion since its occurrence (9:1-19; 22:6-16). 
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26:14 kick against the goads:
A Greek proverb about useless and harmful resistance. The idea was well understood among farmers: yoked oxen that kick against the plowman only injure themselves on the sharpened spikes that follow behind them. Jesus was telling Paul that his resistance to the gospel was futile to the point of being personally harmful. 
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26:17 the people:
The sons of Israel (9:15). 
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26:21 For this reason:
More than anything else, it was Paul's ministry to the Gentiles that infuriated his Jewish opponents (22:21-22). 
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26:23 the first to rise:
Israel's hope in the resurrection (24:15) has become history in the personal experience of the Messiah (25:19), who is the first of an entire company of saints to be raised again in glory (1 Cor 15:20-23).
he would proclaim light:
A probable allusion to Is 49:6, excerpted earlier by Paul in 13:47. • Isaiah hears Yahweh sending out his messianic Servant, first to restore the scattered tribes of Israel and then to shine his light on the nations. The sequence of the prophecy explains why the apostles, who share in this mission of the Messiah (1:8; 9:15), carried the gospel to Israel before systematically evangelizing the Gentiles (3:26; 13:46; 26:20).
See note on Acts 13:5
. 
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26:26 not done in a corner:
The founding events of Christianity were public events of recent history. The well-attested facts of Holy Week and the open proclamation of the gospel make it anything but a secretive movement. 
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26:28 make me a Christian!:
When Paul's preaching turned personal, Agrippa followed the path of political expedience. He did not want to alienate himself from the Jews who hated Paul (26:2) or from the Roman procurator who thought him mad (26:24). So instead of admitting the cogency of Paul's argument, he fell back on the excuse that the exposition was too short to expect of him an authentic conversion. 
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