Acts 24


Acts 24 is the twenty-fourth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the period of Paul's imprisonment in Caesarea. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the Gospel of Luke.

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 27 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
The events in this chapter took place in Caesarea.

Context

In the previous chapters, Paul has been accused of contra-Jewish teaching and practice: he "teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place; and furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place". He has responded with his own statement of defense but the contents of his speech "prove too much" for his Jewish audience and they "resume their riotous behaviour". Paul has been detained, initially within the Roman barracks in Jerusalem, and then in Caesarea, some from the Jewish capital. He has asserted that by birth he is a Roman citizen, and his trial therefore needs to be undertaken in recognition of his citizenship. The narrator's intention is to progress the story of Paul's transfer to Rome for trial. As Acts 23 ends, the Roman governor, Antonius Felix, is awaiting the arrival of Paul's accusers from Jerusalem in order to commence a hearing. The venue of the hearing is now "much more in the Roman sphere than the Jewish".

The speech for the prosecution (verses 1–9)

The Sanhedrin sent a delegation to Felix, bringing a professional rhetor to make a formal rhetorical presentation on their behalf.

Verse 1

This "Ananias, the high priest" was Ananias son of Nebedaeus, who was appointed by Herod of Chalcis in AD 47, and replaced in 59.

Verses 2-3

The King James Version states that "he was called forth", referring to Paul being called to hear the accusation against him. Thus the New Living Translation opens verse 2 with "Paul was called in". Alternatively, the Living Bible suggests that the words refer to Tertullus being called forward.

Verse 5

  • "The sect of the Nazarenes" refers to the 'followers of Jesus the Nazarene', that is, Christians. This appellation for Christians is attested in the writing by Tertullian.

    Paul's defense (verses 10–21)

When it is his turn to speak, Paul, like Tertullus, focuses his self-defence on events in Jerusalem, stating that he has not been involved in disputes or riots in synagogue or temple, and, "as Luke takes pains to show, no offence against the law can be proved against him". "By a simple narrative, Paul overthrows the exaggerated accusation" made against him.

Verse 10

The dignified, calm, and wise manner in which Paul speaks has been noted by several writers. Felix's "many years" probably amounted to six or seven years.

Felix defers judgement (verses 22–27)

When prosecution and defense have presented their cases, Felix the procurator 'refuses to be drawn into making a judgement', first 'on the pretext of waiting for the tribune's report', but then 'no more is heard of this'. According to custom at that time, Paul could be released at the end of Felix's term of office, yet 'Felix deliberately leaves the case for his successor'.

Verse 27

  • "Porcius Festus": the procurator of Judea succeeding Antonius Felix. His exact time in office is not known, with the earliest proposed date for the start of his term c. AD 55–6, while the latest is AD 61, but most scholars opt for a date between 58 and 60, based on a change in the provincial coinage of Judaea attested for Nero's fifth year points to AD 59.