HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  1Three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem 2where the chief priests and the leaders of the Jews gave him a report against Paul. They appealed to him 3and requested, as a favor to them against Paul,a to have him transferred to Jerusalem. They were, in fact, planning an ambush to kill him along the way. 4Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea, and that he himself intended to go there shortly. 5“So,” he said, “let those of you who have the authority come down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them accuse him.”

  6After he had stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea; the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. 7When he arrived, the Jews who had gone down from Jerusalem surrounded him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove. 8Paul said in his defense, “I have in no way committed an offense against the law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against the emperor.” 9But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and be tried there before me on these charges?” 10Paul said, “I am appealing to the emperor’s tribunal; this is where I should be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you very well know. 11Now if I am in the wrong and have committed something for which I deserve to die, I am not trying to escape death; but if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can turn me over to them. I appeal to the emperor.” 12Then Festus, after he had conferred with his council, replied, “You have appealed to the emperor; to the emperor you will go.”

  Festus Consults King Agrippa

  13After several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to welcome Festus. 14Since they were staying there several days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man here who was left in prison by Felix. 15When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me about him and asked for a sentence against him. 16I told them that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over anyone before the accused had met the accusers face to face and had been given an opportunity to make a defense against the charge. 17So when they met here, I lost no time, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought. 18When the accusers stood up, they did not charge him with any of the crimesb that I was expecting. 19Instead they had certain points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died, but whom Paul asserted to be alive. 20Since I was at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wished to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges.c 21But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of his Imperial Majesty, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to the emperor.” 22Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he said, “you will hear him.”

  Paul Brought before Agrippa

  23So on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then Festus gave the order and Paul was brought in. 24And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all here present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish community petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. 25But I found that he had done nothing deserving death; and when he appealed to his Imperial Majesty, I decided to send him. 26But I have nothing definite to write to our sovereign about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write—27for it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner without indicating the charges against him.”

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  a Gk him

  b Other ancient authorities read with anything

  c Gk on them

  25.1–12 The arrival of Festus prompts another plot, another cycle of accusation and defense, and finally Paul’s appeal to the emperor.

  25.1 By contrast with Felix (24.27), Festus acts promptly to resolve Paul’s situation.

  25.2–3 This plan replays the plot in 23.12–35.

  25.6 Tribunal, the judgment seat or bench.

  25.7 See the earlier charges in 21.28; 24.5–6.

  25.8 See Paul’s earlier defense in 22.1–21; 23.1, 6; 24.10–21. Against the emperor refers to the charge that Paul has threatened the civil order (24.5).

  25.9 Like his predecessor, Festus wishes to appease the powerful Jewish leadership (see 24.27).

  25.10 The details of the law governing appeals at this time are obscure. Here what is assumed is not the right to appeal a verdict but the right to be moved to another venue.

  25.12 The solemn repetition of Paul’s appeal underscores its importance.

  25.13–27 The arrival of Agrippa and Bernice sets the stage for the climactic defense of Paul and the pronouncement of his innocence.

  25.13 King Agrippa, Herod Agrippa II, son of Herod Agrippa I (see note on 12.1; “The Herods: A Simplified Family Tree,” p. 1672). Because of his youth, Agrippa II did not succeed his father immediately, but by 50 CE he ruled the small region of Chalcis in Lebanon and later acquired considerable territory. His incestuous relationship with Bernice, his sister, was widely reported. Bernice later went to Rome in the company of the emperor Titus.

  25.14–21 Festus’s statement summarizes the events of 24.27–25.12, although with several changes: he states that the Jews asked for a verdict (25.15; cf. 25.2–3); he concedes the rightness of Paul’s defense (25.18–19); and he omits his political reasons for proposing that Paul be tried in Jerusalem (25.20; cf. 25.9).

  25.23 The formality of this setting prepares for Paul’s final defense speech.

  25.24 The whole Jewish community, another instance of Lukan hyperbole (see, e.g., 4.4, 16).

  25.25 Nothing deserving death. See 23.29; 25.18; 26.31; see also Lk 23.15, 22.

  25.26–27 On the need for specific charges, see note on 21.33.

  Acts 26

  Paul Defends Himself before Agrippa

  1Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began to defend himself:

  2“I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, 3because you are especially familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews; therefore I beg of you to listen to me patiently.

  4“All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, a life spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem. 5They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I have belonged to the strictest sect of our religion and lived as a Pharisee. 6And now I stand here on trial on account of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors, 7a promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship day and night. It is for this hope, your Excellency,a that I am accused by Jews! 8Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

  9“Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth.b 10And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death. 11By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.

  Paul Tells of His Conversion

  12“With this in mind, I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, 13when at midday along the road, your Excellency,c I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. 14When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrewd language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.’ 15I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecutin
g. 16But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen mee and to those in which I will appear to you. 17I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

  Paul Tells of His Preaching

  19“After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance. 21For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22To this day I have had help from God, and so I stand here, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place: 23that the Messiahf must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

  Paul Appeals to Agrippa to Believe

  24While he was making this defense, Festus exclaimed, “You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane!” 25But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking the sober truth. 26Indeed the king knows about these things, and to him I speak freely; for I am certain that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner. 27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” 28Agrippa said to Paul, “Are you so quickly persuading me to become a Christian?”g 29Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening to me today might become such as I am—except for these chains.”

  30Then the king got up, and with him the governor and Bernice and those who had been seated with them; 31and as they were leaving, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” 32Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to the emperor.”

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  a Gk O king

  b Gk the Nazorean

  c Gk O king

  d That is, Aramaic

  e Other ancient authorities read the things that you have seen

  f Or the Christ

  g Or Quickly you will persuade me to play the Christian

  26.1–32 Paul’s final defense speech, combining themes from the speeches in 22.1–21; 24.10–21, begins with a claim to Jewish loyalty, rehearses once again Paul’s conversion with special emphasis on his commission, and concludes with an assertion of Paul’s obedience.

  26.1 Stretched out his hand, a conventional orator’s gesture (see 12.17; 13.16; 21.40).

  26.2–3 On the tradition of opening a speech with praise for the audience, see note on 24.2–4.

  26.4–5 See 22.3; 23.6. My own people and our religion imply that Paul does not regard Agrippa as one of those people (cf. 22.3).

  26.6–8 See 23.6; 24.15. Resurrection is not simply the renewal of individual life but a symbol of all of God’s promises to Israel and thus a theme throughout Luke-Acts.

  26.9–11 This final depiction of Paul’s activity as persecutor portrays it in much harsher terms than previously (cf. 8.1, 3; 9.1–2; 22.4–5).

  26.13 See 9.3; 22.6.

  26.14 In the Hebrew language, a detail not present in earlier accounts (cf. 9.4; 22.7). It hurts you to kick against the goads, also not present in earlier accounts, is from Euripides (Bacchae 794–95), although it had become a conventional proverb.

  26.16–18 Here Paul receives his commission directly from Jesus (cf. 9.6, 15–16; 22.14–16).

  26.17 I will rescue you. See 1 Chr 16.35; Jer 1.8, 19.

  26.18 Turning from darkness to light, also a conventional expression for gentile conversion (see, e.g., 13.47; Lk 1.79; 2.32; note on 9.35).

  26.20 See 9.19–22, 26–30; 13.46–49.

  26.21 See 21.27–36.

  26.22 Paul here resumes the argument of 26.6–8.

  26.23 The Messiah must suffer. The necessity of the Messiah’s death and resurrection is a key Lukan theme; see 3.18, 21–25; 8.32–35; Lk 24.26. Light plays a prominent role in this speech (vv. 13, 18), as it does elsewhere in Luke-Acts (e.g., 9.3; 12.7; 13.47; Lk 2.32; 8.16; 11.3).

  26.24 You are out of your mind. Exactly what leads Festus to this conclusion is unclear, but his comment allows for the solemn assertion that follows.

  26.26 Not done in a corner, i.e., these events have occurred in the open (see note on 12.18–19).

  26.28 Agrippa’s statement could be either an ironic insult or a straightforward comment on Paul’s persuasiveness.

  26.31 Agrippa, Bernice, and Festus together confirm the conclusion of Lysias (23.29).

  26.32 The details of the law regarding appeals are obscure (see note on 25.10), but this pronouncement determines what lies ahead for Paul.

  Acts 27

  Paul Sails for Rome

  1When it was decided that we were to sail for Italy, they transferred Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort, named Julius. 2Embarking on a ship of Adramyttium that was about to set sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. 3The next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul kindly, and allowed him to go to his friends to be cared for. 4Putting out to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 5After we had sailed across the sea that is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. 6There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy and put us on board. 7We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind was against us, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8Sailing past it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.

  9Since much time had been lost and sailing was now dangerous, because even the Fast had already gone by, Paul advised them, 10saying, “Sirs, I can see that the voyage will be with danger and much heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. 12Since the harbor was not suitable for spending the winter, the majority was in favor of putting to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, where they could spend the winter. It was a harbor of Crete, facing southwest and northwest.

  The Storm at Sea

  13When a moderate south wind began to blow, they thought they could achieve their purpose; so they weighed anchor and began to sail past Crete, close to the shore. 14But soon a violent wind, called the northeaster, rushed down from Crete.a 15Since the ship was caught and could not be turned head-on into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven. 16By running under the lee of a small island called Caudab we were scarcely able to get the ship’s boat under control. 17After hoisting it up they took measuresc to undergird the ship; then, fearing that they would run on the Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and so were driven. 18We were being pounded by the storm so violently that on the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard, 19and on the third day with their own hands they threw the ship’s tackle overboard. 20When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest raged, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

  21Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul then stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and thereby avoided this damage and loss. 22I urge you now to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23For last night there stood by me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before the emperor; and indeed, God has granted safety to all those who are sailing with you.’ 25So keep up you
r courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26But we will have to run aground on some island.”

  27When the fourteenth night had come, as we were drifting across the sea of Adria, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. 28So they took soundings and found twenty fathoms; a little farther on they took soundings again and found fifteen fathoms. 29Fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. 30But when the sailors tried to escape from the ship and had lowered the boat into the sea, on the pretext of putting out anchors from the bow, 31Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat and set it adrift.

  33Just before daybreak, Paul urged all of them to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been in suspense and remaining without food, having eaten nothing. 34Therefore I urge you to take some food, for it will help you survive; for none of you will lose a hair from your heads.” 35After he had said this, he took bread; and giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat. 36Then all of them were encouraged and took food for themselves. 37(We were in all two hundred seventy-sixd persons in the ship.) 38After they had satisfied their hunger, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea.

  The Shipwreck

  39In the morning they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned to run the ship ashore, if they could. 40So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea. At the same time they loosened the ropes that tied the steering-oars; then hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach. 41But striking a reef,e they ran the ship aground; the bow stuck and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the force of the waves. 42The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none might swim away and escape; 43but the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, 44and the rest to follow, some on planks and others on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.