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Acts 24:1. πέντε ἡμέρας: most probably to be reckoned from the arrival of St. Paul at Cæsarea, not from his apprehension in Jerusalem, or from his start from Jerusalem on the way to Cæsarea. This latter view is that of Mr. Page, who takes οἱ μὲν οὖν, Acts 23:31, as answered by the δέ in this verse. But δέ, Acts 23:32, seems quite sufficiently to answer to μέν in the previous verse. Wendt reckons the days from the arrival of Paul at Cæsarea, and regards the day of the arrival of the high priest as the fifth day, cf. Mark 8:31. μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας = Matthew 16:21, Luke 9:22, τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμ., see below, Acts 24:11. On the truthfulness of the narrative see also on same verse.—κατέβη: “came down,” R.V., i.e., from the capital.—Ἀνανίας, see on Acts 23:2. If we read πρεσ. τινῶν, see critical note, “with certain elders,” R.V., i.e., a deputation of the Sanhedrim.—ῥήτορος Τ. τινὸς: “an orator, one Tertullus,” R.V., ῥη. here = causidicus, a barrister; here the prosecuting counsel συνήγορος (as opposed to σύνδικος the defendant’s advocate), see note, Blass, in loco. Τερτ.: a common name, diminutive of Tertius; but it does not follow from the name that he was a Roman, as both Greeks and Jews often bore Roman names. Blass speaks of him as a Jew “erat Judæus et ipse” (so Ewald, Bethge), whilst Wendt (1899) inclines against this view, although if the words in Acts 24:6, κατὰ τὸν ἡμετερον νόμον, are retained, he admits that it would be correct; in addition to this the expression ἔθνος τοῦτο, Acts 24:3, seems in Wendt’s view to indicate that the speaker was not a Jew (so too Wetstein). Tertullus was apparently one of the class of hired pleaders, often employed in the provinces by those who were themselves ignorant of Roman law. The trial may have been conducted in Greek, Lewin, St. Paul, ii. 684, Felten, in loco.—ἐνεφάνισαν, cf. Acts 25:2; Acts 25:15, the verb appears to be used in these passages as a kind of technical term to indicate laying formal information before a judge, cf. Jos., Ant., xiv., 10, 8, in LXX, Esther, Esther 2:22. Blass takes it here = χάρτην ἔδωκαν, see also Wetstein.

Acts 24:2. ἤρξατο: he began with a captatio benevolentiæ after the usual oratorical style, cf. Cicero, De Oratore, ii., 78, 79, on the exordium and its rules.—If obtaining such artificial support was not as Calvin calls it “signum malæ conscientiæ,” it may well indicate the weakness of the Jews’ cause, and their determination to leave nothing untried against Paul.

Acts 24:3. πολλῆς εἰρ. τυγχ.: the governors specially prided themselves on keeping peace in their provinces (Wetstein). On the phrase see 2Ma 4:6; 2Ma 14:10.—κατορθωμάτων: “very worthy deeds,” A.V., the word might mean “successes,” cf. Polyb., i., 19, 12, or it might mean recte facta, cf. Cic., De Fin., iii., 14 (see also in Wetstein; the word is found in 3Ma 3:23, R); but διορθώματα, see critical note, in Arist., Plut. = corrections, reforms (cf. R.V.), so διόρθωσις in Polyb., Vulgate, multa corrigantur. In LXX διορθοῦν is used of amending, Jeremiah 7:3; Jeremiah 7:5—προνοίας: foresight, cf. Romans 13:14, nowhere else in N.T.; cf. for a close parallel to its use here 2Ma 4:6, referred to above (Lumby). It is possible that the word may be a further proof of the sycophancy of the orator; twice the Latin providentia, A. and R.V. “providence,” was used of the emperors on coins, and also of the gods (Humphry on R.V.), “hoc vocabulum sæpe diis tribuerunt,” Bengel, in loco.—πάντη τε καὶ πανταχοῦ ἀποδεχ., so A. and R.V., “non in os solum laudamus” (Wetstein); but Meyer joins πάν. τε κ. παντ. with what precedes (Lach.), and in this he is followed by Weiss, Wendt, Page and Blass. For similar phrases in Plato, Artistotle, Philo, Josephus, see Wetstein. πάντῃ: only here in N.T., but cf. Sir 50:22, 3Ma 4:1, cf. Friedrich, p. 5, on Luke’s fondness for ᾶς and kindred words.—τῷ ἔθνει τούτῳ, see above on Acts 24:1 and also Acts 24:10. If he had been a Jew Wetstein thinks that he would have said τῷ ἔθνει τῷ ἡμετέρῳ, but see Blass, in loco, on ἔθνος “in sermone elegantiore et coram alienigenis”.—ἀποδ.: only in Luke and Acts; for its meaning here cf. Acts 2:41, 1Ma 9:71 ( al[377]), so in classical Greek.—εὐχ.: except Revelation 4:9; Revelation 7:12, elsewhere in N.T. only in St. Paul’s Epistles (frequent); the word is also found in Esth. (LXX) Acts 8:13, Sir 37:11, Wis 16:28, 2Ma 2:27, and for other references see Kennedy, Sources of N.T. Greek, p. 73, and Grimm-Thayer, sub v.—There was very little, if anything, to praise in the administration of Felix, but Tertullus fastened on the fact of his suppression of the bands of robbers who had infested the country, Jos., B.J., ii., 13, 2, Ant., xx., 8, 5, “ipse tamen his omnibus erat nocentior” (Wetstein). His severity and cruelty was so great that he only added fuel to the flame of outrage and sedition, Jos., Ant., xx., 8, 6, B.J., ii., 13, 6, whilst he did not hesitate to employ the Sicarii to get rid of Jonathan the high priest who urged him to be more worthy of his office. In the rule of Felix Schürer sees the turning-point in the drama which opened with the death of Herod and terminated with the bloody conflict of A.D. 70. The uprisings of the people under his predecessors had been isolated and occasional; under him rebellion became permanent. And no wonder when we consider the picture of the public and private life of the man drawn by the hand of the Roman historian, and the fact trading upon the influence of his infamous brother Pallas he allowed himself a free hand to indulge in every licence and excess, Tac., Hist., Acts 24:9, and Ann., xii., 54, Schürer, Jewish People, div. i., vol. ii., p. 177–181, E.T.

[377] Alford’s Greek Testament.

Acts 24:4. δέ: autem, “innuit plura dici potuisse in laudem Felicis,” Bengel.—ἐγκόπτω, impedire, as if Felix was so busy in his reforms that Tertullus would not interrupt him, but see critical note, cf. Romans 15:22, Galatians 5:7.—ἐπὶ πλεῖον, cf. Acts 4:17, Acts 20:9; in 2 Timothy 2:16; 2 Timothy 3:9, with the opposite verb προκόπτω.—συντόμως: so in classical Greek, with λέγειν, εἰπεῖν; in Jos., c. Apion., i., 1, 6, with γράψαι and διδάσκειν, see Wetstein on Romans 9:28, cf. 2Ma 2:31, for the adjective and for the adverb, Proverbs 13:23, 3Ma 5:25; “est hæc communis oratorum promissio” (Blass).—ἐπιεικείᾳ: only in Luke and Paul, see 2 Corinthians 10:1, “pro tua dementia,” Vulgate, derived from εἴκω, cedo, it properly might be rendered yieldingness; equity as opposed to strict law; so Aristotle sets the ἐπιεικής against the ἀκριβοδίκαιος, Eth. Nic., v., 10, 6. It is often joined with φιλανθρωπία, πραότης. Its architype and pattern is to be found in God, cf. Wis 12:18, 2Ma 2:22; 2Ma 10:4 R., Psalm 85:5, and so also in Psalms of Solomon, Acts 5:14. The word also occurs, Bar 2:27, Song of the Three Children, Acts 24:19 (Dan., LXX and Theod. 3:42), where it is used of God, also in Wis 2:19, 3Ma 3:15; 3Ma 7:6. For a valuable account of the word see Trench, Synonyms, i., p. 176 ff.

Acts 24:5. εὑρόντες γὰρ τὸν ἄνδρα … ὂς καὶ … ὅν καὶ ἐκρατ.: on the anacolouthon, Blass, Gram. des N.G., p. 277, Winer-Moulton, xlv., 6 b. Blass remarks that Luke gives no address so carelessly as that of Tertullus, but may not the anacolouthon here be the exact expression of the orator’s invective? see critical note.—λοιμόν: 1 Samuel 2:12; 1 Samuel 10:27; 1 Samuel 25:17; 1 Samuel 25:25, Psalm 1:1 (plural), 1Ma 15:21; 1Ma 10:61; 1Ma 15:3 R, ἄνδρες λοιμοί (cf. Proverbs 24:9; Proverbs 29:8 A). So in classical Greek Dem., and in Latin pestis, Ter., Cic., Sallust. In 1Ma 10:6 A, ἄνδρες παράνομοι is a further description of “the pestilent fellows” (so 1 Samuel 2:12, υἱοὶ λοιμοί = ἀνὴρ ὁ παράνομος, 2 Samuel 16:7).—κινοῦντα στασιν, cf. Jos., B.J., ii., 9, 4. κιν. ταραχήν.: not against the Romans but amongst the Jews themselves—such a charge would be specially obnoxious to Felix, who prided himself on keeping order.—τὴν οἰκ.: the Roman empire, see on p. 270, cf. Acts 17:6, and Acts 21:28; see addition in [378] text.—πρωτοστάτης: the τε closely connecting the thought that the prisoner does all this as the leader, etc., literally one who stands in the front rank, so often in classical Greek, in LXX, Job 15:24, AB.—τῶν Ναζ.: “the disciple is not above his Master,” and the term is applied as a term of contempt to the followers of Jesus, as it had been to Jesus Himself, Who was stamped in the eyes of the Jews as a false Messiah by His reputed origin from Nazareth, John 1:46; John 7:41-42; see for the modern employment of the name amongst Jews and Mohammedans Plumptre, in loco, and further, Harnack, History of Dogma, i., 301, E.T. Blass compares the contemptuous term used by the Greeks, Χρηστιανοί, Acts 11:26.—αἱρέσεως, see above on Acts 5:17, all references to the question of law, Acts 23:6; Acts 23:29, were purposely kept in the background, and stress laid upon all which threatened to destroy the boasted “peace” (Weiss).

[378] R(omana), in Blass, a first rough copy of St. Luke.

Acts 24:6. ἐπείρασε: the charge could not be proved, cf. Acts 21:28, but the verb here used is an aggravation not a modification of the surmise (ἐνόμιζον, Acts 21:29) of the Jews.—βεβ., cf. Matthew 12:5 (βαίνω, βηλός, threshold), Jdt 9:8, 1Ma 2:12; 1Ma 4:38; 1Ma 4:44; 1Ma 4:54, 2Ma 10:5, etc., and frequent in LXX, cf. Psalms of Solomon Acts 1:8, and βέβηλος four, βεβήλωσις three times.—Probably Tertullus wanted to insinuate that the prisoner was punishable even according to Roman law, see above on Acts 21:29; but Trophimus as a Greek and not Paul would have been exposed to the death penalty, to say nothing of the fact that the charge was only one of suspicion. Schürer, Jewish People, div. i., vol. ii., p. 74, note, and references in chap. 21, Acts 21:29.—ἐκρατήσαμεν: the word could be used “de conatu vel mero vel efficaci,” and so Bengel adds “aptum igitur ad calumniam”. The orator identifies himself with his clients, and ascribes to the hierarchy the seizing of Paul, as if it was a legal act, whereas it was primarily the action of the mob violence of the people, Acts 21:30; frequently used in same sense as here by Matthew and Mark, but not at all by St. John, and only in this passage by Luke, cf. Revelation 20:2, LXX, Psalms 55, tit., Jdg 8:12; Jdg 16:21 (A al[379]).—καὶ κατὰ … ἐπὶ σέ, Acts 24:8, see critical note, omitted by R.V. in text, retained by Blass and Knabenbauer, so in Vulgate. Zöckler amongst others has recently supported Blass, and for the same reason, viz., because if the words are retained the judge is asked to inquire of Paul, and thus the Apostle becomes a witness as well as a prisoner. But, on the other hand, Paul though still a prisoner is allowed to speak for himself before both Felix and Festus. If the words are retained, παρʼ οὗ would refer to Lysias, and this would be in agreement with the remarks of Felix in Acts 24:22. Certainly ἐκρατήσαμεν seems very bald without any sequel, and this may have caused the insertion of the words; but the insertion was a bold one, although we can understand that the Jews would have been incensed against Lysias, who had twice protected Paul from their violence. The omission of the words if they formed part of the original text is no doubt difficult to explain.—ἠθελ. κρίνειν, cf. Acts 21:31; Acts 21:36, Acts 22:22, Acts 23:12, passages which give us a very different idea of the wishes of the Jews.

[379] Alford’s Greek Testament.

Acts 24:7. μετὰ π. βίας: another statement directly at variance with the facts, Acts 21:32.

Acts 24:8. ἀνακ.: not an examination by torture, which could not be legally applied either to Paul or to Lysias as Roman citizens, but in the sense of a judicial investigation—in this sense peculiar to Luke, cf. Luke 4:9, and Plummer on Luke 23:14, cf. Acts 25:26 below. A.V., “by examining of whom thyself,” etc., which is quite misleading whether we retain the words omitted above in R.V. or not, because this rendering reads as it Felix was to examine the accusers, whereas the relative pronoun is in the singular, παρʼ οὐ.