to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
Paul
Παῦλος·Paulos
G3972
(little · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
I
εἰμι,eimi
G1510
I exist (used only when emphatic) · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
stand
ἑστώςhestōs
G2476
to stand (transitively or intransitively) · verb — perfect active participle, nominative singular masculine
at
ἐπὶepi
G1909
properly · preposition
Cæsar’s
ΚαίσαροςKaisaros
G2541
Cæsar · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
seat
βήματοςbēmatos
G968
a step · noun — genitive singular neuter
where
οὗhou
G3757
at which place · adverb
I
μεme
G3165
me · personal pronoun — 1st person accusative singular
ought
δεῖdei
G1163
also deon deh-on' · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
judged
κρίνεσθαι.krinesthai
G2919
by implication · verb — present passive infinitive
Jews
ἸουδαίουςIoudaious
G2453
Judæan · noun — accusative plural masculine, a people name
done
ἠδίκησα,ēdikēsa
G91
to be unjust · verb — aorist active indicative, 1st person singular
no
οὐδὲνouden
G3762
not even one (man · adjective — accusative singular neuter
wrong
ἀδικέωadikéō
G91
to be unjust
as
ὡςhōs
G5613
which how · particle
thou
σὺsu
G4771
thou · personal pronoun — 2nd person nominative singular
well
κάλλιονkallion
G2566
(adverbially) better than many · adjective — accusative singular neuter, comparative
knowest
ἐπιγινώσκεις·epiginōskeis
G1921
to know upon some mark · verb — present active indicative, 2nd person singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 27:18 For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.
2 Corinthians 4:2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestatio…
Acts 25:25 But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send him…
Acts 26:31 And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.
Acts 28:18 Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me.
Matthew 27:23-24 And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.
Acts 16:37-38 But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out p…
Acts 22:25-28 And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and un…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 25:1-12
We commonly say, "New lords, new laws, new customs;" but here was a new governor, and yet Paul had the same treatment from him that he had from the former, and no better. Festus, like Felix, is not so just to him as he should have been, for he does not release him; and yet not so unjust to him as the Jews would have had him to be, for he will not condemn him to die, nor expose him to their rage. Here is,
I. The pressing application which the high priest and other Jews used with the governor to persuade him to abandon Paul; for to send him to Jerusalem was in effect to abandon him. 1. See how speedy they were in their applications to Festus concerning Paul. As soon as ever he had come into th…
Then said Paul, I stand at CÃ&brvbrsar's judgment seat--that is, I am already before the proper tribunal. This seems to imply that he understood Festus to propose handing him over to the Sanhedrim for judgment (and see on Act 25:11), with a mere promise of protection from him. But from going to Jerusalem at all he was too well justified in shrinking, for there assassination had been quite recently planned against him.
to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou knowest very well--literally, "better," that is, (perhaps), better than to press such a proposal.
if there be none of these things . . . no man may deliver me unto them--The word signifies to "surrender in order to gratify" another.
Adam Clarke on Acts 25:10
I stand at Caesar's judgment seat - Every procurator represented the person of the emperor in the province over which he presided; and, as the seat of government was at Caesarea, and Paul was now before the tribunal on which the emperor's representative sat, he could say, with the strictest propriety, that he stood before Caesar's judgment seat, where, as a freeman of Rome, he should be tried.
As thou very well knowest - The record of this trial before Felix was undoubtedly left for the inspection of Festus; for, as he left the prisoner to his successor, he must also leave the charges against him, and the trial which he had undergone. Besides, Festus must be assured of his innocence, from th…
Some one might say, How is it, that having been told, "Thou must also bear witness of Me in Rome", he, as if unbelieving, did this? God forbid: nay, he did it, because he so strongly believed. For it would have been a tempting of God to be bold on account of that declaration, and to cast himself into numberless dangers, and to say: "Let us see if God is able even thus to deliver me." But not so does Paul; no, he does his part, all that in him lies, committing the whole to God. Quietly also he reproves the governor: for, "If," says he, "I am an offender, thou doest well: but if not, why dost thou give me up?" "No man," he says, "may sacrifice me." He put him in fear, so that even if he wished, he could not sacrifice him to them; while also as an excuse to them he had Paul's appeal to allege.
"But Paul said, At Caesar's tribunal am I standing," etc.: he did not say, I will not, lest he should make the judge more vehement, but here again is his great boldness: They cast me out once for all, themselves, and by this they think to condemn me, by their showing that I have offended against Caesar: at his bar I choose to be judged, at the bar of the injured person himself. "To the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou also very well knowest." Here now he reproved him, that he too wished to sacrifice him to the Jews: then, on the other hand, he relaxes the sternness of his speech: "if then I be an offender, or have committed anything worthy of death, I refuse not to die." I utter sentence against myself. For along with boldness of speech there must be also justness of cause, so as to abash the hearer. "But if there be nothing in the things whereof these accuse me, no man" - however he may wish it - "no man may sacrifice me to please them." He said, not, I am not worthy of death, nor, I am worthy to be acquitted, but, I am ready to take my trial before Caesar. At the same time too, remembering the dream, he was the more confident to appeal. And he said not, Thou mayest not, but, neither any other man may sacrifice me, that it might be no affront to him.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Appeal · Paul makes, to — Paul makes, to
Jerusalem · Roman government transferred from, to Caesarea — Roman government transferred from, to Caesarea
Judgment-Seat · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Roman Empire · The right of appeal — The right of appeal
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on Acts 25:10
Then said Paul, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat,.... Not that here was a seat in the judgment hall built by Herod for Caesar himself to sit in, should he ever come there, as some have thought; but the seat on which Festus sat is called Caesar's judgment seat, because it was in a Raman court of judicature, and because Festus, who filled it, represented Caesar himself:
where I ought to be judged: being a Roman citizen, and not at Jerusalem by the sanhedrim of the Jews, who had nothing to do with him:
to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest; it may be by his predecessor Felix, who had informed him of this case; or by Lysias's letter, which might come to his hands; or by…
Acts 25:9-12
9. And Festus, being willing to do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul, and said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me? 10. But Paul said, I stand before Caesar's judgment-seat, where I must be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou thyself knowest full well. 11. And if I do injury, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die; but if there be nothing of these things whereof they accuse me, no man can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar. 12. Then spake Festus with the council, and said, Hast thou appealed to Caesar? to Caesar shalt thou go.
9. And Festus. Whether Festus knew somewhat of their laying await,…
Festus’s suggestion that Paul be tried in Jerusalem motivated the apostle’s appeal to Caesar. Paul was not afraid of death, but he objected to being turned over to a biased court intent on murder, not justice (25:7).
