The Bible Says
Acts 25:13-22 Meaning

In Acts 25:13-22, Governor Festus tells King Agrippa II about Paul’s imprisonment, trials, and his appeal to go to Caesar. King Agrippa listens intently and expresses a desire to hear Paul speak.

Even though Paul’s appeal to go to Caesar in Rome had been granted, he is still in Caesarea for the time being. Arrangements for a prisoner transport must be made, and in the ancient world, that could take some time. Nor was Governor Festus in a hurry to send Paul away.

In the meanwhile, Luke, the author of Acts, records a notable encounter between Paul and King Agrippa of the Jews. Paul’s full testimony and interaction with Agrippa is recorded in the following chapter, Acts 26. The prelude to this exchange is found here in the final passages of Acts 25. Though the conversation between the Apostle and the King does not alter Paul’s trajectory to Rome, it accomplishes two important tasks concerning Paul:

1. It affirms Paul’s innocence. The highest-ranking Jewish official himself declares Paul has done nothing wrong and should be a free man (Acts 26:32).

2. It fulfills Jesus’s promise that Paul would preach the gospel to kings (Acts 9:15).

Luke introduces the arrival of the Judean dignitaries:

Now when several days had elapsed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and paid their respects to Festus (v. 13).

Since the trial before Festus, several days had elapsed, and Paul is waiting to finally depart from Caesarea after two years of imprisonment there. The priests and elders who had come to Caesarea to prosecute Paul have probably gone back home to Jerusalem by now to lick their wounds. There was now no chance of drawing Paul out of prison to ambush him on the road or assassinate him in any context.

Paul had appealed to Caesar. He had eluded their murderous intentions again, and for the last time. It is worth noting that Paul would never return to Jerusalem or Israel once he set sail for Rome, as far as we know.

During this waiting period, King Agrippa II and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and paid their respects to Festus. This is the second Herod Agrippa. His father, Agrippa I, was responsible for killing the Apostle James, and was later struck with a mortal illness by God because crowds of people were praising him as though he were a god, and he accepted this praise (Acts 12:1-2, 21-23). Festus is the new governor of Judea, replacing Felix, who was Agrippa’s brother-in-law. Felix’s Jewish wife, Drusilla, was Agrippa’s sister (Acts 24:24).

King Agrippa II was joined by another of his sisters, Bernice, who by many accounts was a co-ruler of the lands over which Agrippa was granted limited authority by Rome. Bernice would become a mistress to the Roman general Titus during the Jewish-Roman Wars, and would live for some time in Rome with Titus after the destruction of Jerusalem and prior to his ascendancy to the throne. Once Caesar, Titus would reject Bernice, after which point no record indicates what became of her.

Agrippa II, the great-grandson of King Herod the Great, would be the last of the Herodian kings. He would help preserve Jewish history through his association with the historian Josephus, writing over sixty letters to the historian to aid in his research and composition.

As king, it was appropriate to become acquainted with the Roman governor. Agrippa II and his sister Bernice came and paid their respects to Festus, hanging around Caesarea for some time. Festus brings up the matter of Paul to Agrippa, to seek insight into the situation (Acts 25:27), since Agrippa was king of the Jews (only a puppet king, under Roman rule) and might better understand the animosity directed from the Jewish leadership toward the preacher of an obscure sect, Paul. Festus summarizes what has happened during his brief tenure as governor:

While they were spending many days there, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, “There is a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix; (v. 14).

Since Agrippa and his sister were spending many days there in the palace in Caesarea, Festus made use of this time by laying Paul’s case before the king to learn more about why there was a dispute between the leading Jews and Paul. He summarizes the events of Acts 25 so far from his perspective.

Festus tells Agrippa about Paul, that he is a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix. The previous governor Felix had left Paul as a prisoner “as a favor to the Jews” (Acts 24:27), just as Porcius Festus had tried to send Paul back to Jerusalem, “wishing to do the Jews a favor” (Acts 25:9).

When dismissed as governor, Felix went back to Rome to stand trial. There were accusations from Jewish leadership for how he handled a riot in Caesarea. Thus, Paul was left as a prisoner by Felix in hopes of making nice with the Jews before they prosecuted him.

When Festus recently took over as governor, he learned to some extent about this political prisoner whom Felix had kept in Caesarea for two years. When Festus went to the Jewish capital, he learned more about Paul:

and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him (v. 15).

Festus is retelling Agrippa what occurred earlier in verses 1-12. During his inaugural visit to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews met with their new governor. They took this opportunity to see if the new governor would help solve a problem of theirs: Paul. This is very similar to what occurred in Corinth years earlier, when a new Roman proconsul Gallio came to the city and Jews who were hostile to the gospel petitioned Gallio to get rid of Paul (Acts 18:12-22). When there is a changing of the guard in government, the time is ripe to gain influence over the new administrator.

The priests and elders in Jerusalem brought charges against Paul to Festus. Apparently the accusers either lied overtly to Festus or they were vague about the charges, because in a few verses Festus will express his surprise at the actual charges which they presented at the trial, “they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes as I was expecting” (v. 18).

We learn here that the priests and elders were then asking Festus for a sentence of condemnation against Paul. When comparing this with verse 3 and with Festus’s response in verse 16, they were not asking for a sentence of condemnation to death for Paul, rather, they were asking for Festus to condemn Paul of the crimes which they had brought to him.

If Festus would pass this sentence of condemnation, then Paul would be delivered back to the Jewish authorities so that they could punish him according to their Law. Earlier in verse 3, Luke explained that the chief priests and the elders were “requesting a concession against Paul, that he might have him brought to Jerusalem (at the same time, setting an ambush to kill him on the way).”

But Festus answered that this was not legally possible:

“I answered them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man before the accused meets his accusers face to face and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges (v. 16).

The Jewish authorities were probably displeased with this answer, while also expecting it at the same time. They knew the custom of the Romans. They knew that Festus would not instantly hand over any man without a trial. The governor cannot relinquish custody just because someone asks him to. Both sides must present their case.

The accused man is permitted to meet his accusers face to face so that he has the opportunity to make his defense against the charges. This is what happened two years earlier at the judgment seat of Felix. Regardless, Paul’s accusers seemed to have worked some sway over Festus, since he was all too ready to take Paul back to Jerusalem to hold another trial there (Acts 25:9).

In this retelling, Festus assures King Agrippa that he acted promptly once he returned to Caesarea. The trial for Paul happened almost immediately:

“So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought before me (v. 17).

Paul’s accusers journeyed to Caesarea with Festus, and after they had assembled here, Festus did not delay the hearing. It was the very next day when Festus took his seat on the tribunal, the seat of judgment, and ordered the man Paul to be brought before him to hear the accusations and make his defense against the charges.

But the charges brought by the priests and elders against Paul were puzzling to Festus:

“When the accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes as I was expecting, but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive (vs. 18-19).

When the accusers stood up, their charges against Paul were not what Festus anticipated. When first meeting Festus, the priests and elders seem to have misrepresented Paul’s criminality. They had impressed upon Festus that Paul was a dangerous man who should be judged in Jerusalem, but when they began bringing charges against him at trial in Caesarea, their accusations were not of such crimes as Festus was expecting.

The Jewish leadership had told Festus that Paul was deserving of death, “all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that he ought not to live any longer” (Acts 25:24). That was in Jerusalem. Now they are accusing him of much lesser crimes, only seeking to have Paul relocated to Jerusalem (so their co-conspirators can ambush him on the road).

Due to the accusations he heard in Jerusalem, Festus likely expected serious crimes; perhaps Paul was a zealot, a thief, or a murderer. But it turned out that they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion. Festus is an outsider in many ways. He is Roman, he is in a foreign country, and his own religion is significantly different from Jewish practices and beliefs. When hearing the charges against Paul, the accusations do not sound like any kind of crime with which Festus is familiar. It is just a religious debate, with points of disagreement dividing the Jewish leadership and this one man.

During the trial, Festus made note of the central disagreement, that there was a man named Jesus whom the accusers claimed was dead and whom Paul asserted to be alive. It was for this reason the Jewish leadership wanted Festus to condemn Paul and concede him to Jewish custody. This is indeed the crux of what divided the Jewish believers in Jesus (such as Paul) from those who rejected Jesus as Messiah.

Most of the Jewish priests and elders did not believe in Jesus and did not accept Him as God’s anointed messiah (1 Corinthians 1:23-24). When the Apostles began preaching that they had seen Jesus come back to life, the priests and elders wanted them to be quiet (Acts 5:28). Paul, as a young Pharisee, was on the side of the priests and the elders, until he too saw and heard the resurrected Jesus (Acts 9:3-5).

Paul will soon tell Festus and Agrippa about his witness of the resurrected Jesus, whom he has seen to be alive, not dead. Thus Paul preaches what he has seen, that though Jesus was dead, He is alive, and He is the first of many who will be resurrected after death-those who believe in Him as their savior from sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:20).

Here, in conversation with King Agrippa, the Roman governor Festus describes his own point of view at the trial as being confused and above reproach. But it is evident that his goal was to make the Jewish leadership happy, “wishing to do the Jews a favor” (v. 9), which is why Festus suggested that Paul be relocated to Jerusalem where yet another trial could be conducted:

“Being at a loss how to investigate such matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there stand trial on these matters (v. 20).

It is probably true that Festus was at a loss how to investigate such matters. He is but another Roman official in a long line of Roman officials who do not know what to make of the hostility of the priests and elders toward someone who disagrees with them.

Other Roman authorities such as Pilate, Gallio, Claudius Lysias, and Felix were confused by and/or disinterested in making judgments when it came to Jewish religious matters (John 18:31, Acts 18:14, 23:29, 24:22). In each of those instances, each official pushed back against the accusations and tried to resolve them, initially, with varying results.

Pilate saw no reason why Jesus should be put to death, but ultimately yielded to maintain peace with the Jewish leadership and the crowd (Matthew 27:24). Gallio rigidly ignored the outrage of the Jewish leaders in Corinth, and did not yield to their demands, even when they assaulted a Christian man, Sosthenes, in his courtroom (Acts 18:12-17). Claudius Lysias protected Paul and secretly transported him to Caesarea, deferring the situation to Felix, the Roman governor at the time (Acts 23:23-26). Felix did not think much of the accusations against Paul and did not hand him over to the priests, but kept Paul a prisoner for two years in the hope that Paul would pay him a bribe to be released (Acts 24:26).

Here, Festus, while at a loss and unpersuaded that Paul deserved punishment, was still motivated to stay on the Jewish leadership’s good side. Festus was brand new to his role as governor over Judea, and wanted a peaceful working relationship with the local authorities and men of influence. He probably did not want to start his tenure by alienating the priests and elders, because he wanted their support in managing the Judean people.

Rather than freeing Paul and denying his accusers’ demands, Festus thought it most prudent to prolong the trial. In an effort to please the Jewish leadership, he asked whether Paul was willing to go to Jerusalem and there stand trial on these matters.

Maybe Festus rationalized that in Jerusalem the accusations against Paul would be better argued, and that if he stood trial there, a verdict would be easier to determine. But based on what he admits the following day, “I found that [Paul] had committed nothing worthy of death,” Festus knew that Paul should be set free.

Political convenience was more important to Festus, which is seemingly why he proposed another trial in Jerusalem. Paul likely suspected that agreeing to this proposal would lead to his death. The Jewish leadership had arranged for an ambush to kill him on the road to Jerusalem (Acts 25:3). He also knew he was destined to go to Rome (Acts 23:11). This is why he appealed to go to Caesar.

Festus informs Agrippa that this is what had happened:

“But when Paul appealed to be held in custody for the Emperor's decision, I ordered him to be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar” (v. 21).

Paul appealed to be tried by the Emperor, which put an end to any chance of further trials in Judea or Jerusalem. This was Paul’s right as a Roman citizen. He appealed to be held in custody until he could make his defense and be judged based upon the Emperor’s decision, which would both send him to Rome and arguably keep him safe from ambushes or assassinations. Festus followed the Roman law and ordered that Paul should continue to be kept safe in Roman custody until he could send him to Caesar in Rome.

This concludes Festus’s account of what his first few weeks as governor had been preoccupied with. King Agrippa finds the situation fascinating. He expresses his interest in hearing Paul explain himself:

Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.”

“Tomorrow,” Festus replies, “you shall hear him” (v. 22).

King Agrippa II was probably familiar with the Christians, the followers of the Way, who were also known as the sect of the Nazarenes (Acts 19:9, 25:5, 26:28). But the fact that this particular follower of Jesus was in the crosshairs of the priests and elders intrigued him.

Though Agrippa was descended from an Idumean, Herod the Great, he was the puppet king of the Judeans. The Jews were his people, and further insight into this growing sect which was dividing his people would be of value to Agrippa, or at least a passing curiosity. He expresses that he also would like to hear the man Paul talk about what he believes, about the dead man Jesus whom Paul asserted to be alive. Festus is happy to oblige this wish, and declares that Tomorrow Paul will be brought out of his prison so that Agrippa shall hear him speak.