Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 25:11
For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar.
11. For if I be an offender ] The best MSS. have not “For.” Read, with Rev. Ver., “If then I am a wrong-doer.” He has asserted that he was innocent so far as the Jews are concerned. If there be anything against him, it is for the civil jurisdiction of Rome, not for the religious tribunal at Jerusalem, to decide upon.
no man may deliver me unto them ] The full idea of the verb is expressed by the margin of the Rev. Ver., “no man may grant me by favour.” The use of this word confirms the notion that St Paul saw through what the governor was doing. The word “may” represents the Greek “is able,” and therefore the “can” of the Rev. Ver. is to be approved. There is no power anywhere which can give me up to them.
I appeal unto Cesar ] The final tribunal being the hearing of the Emperor himself.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For if I be an offender – If I have injured the Jews so as to deserve death. If it can be proved that I have done injury to anyone.
I refuse not to die – I have no wish to escape justice. I do not wish to evade the laws, or to take advantage of any circumstances to screen me from just punishment. Pauls whole course showed that this was the noble spirit which actuated him. No true Christian wishes to escape from the laws. He will honor them, and not seek to evade them. But, like other people, he has rights; and he may and should insist that justice should be done.
No man may deliver me unto them – No man shall be allowed to do it. This bold and confident declaration Paul could make, because he knew what the law required, and he knew that Festus would not dare to deliver him up contrary to the law. Boldness is not incompatible with Christianity; and innocence, when its rights are invaded, is always bold. Jesus firmly asserted his rights when on trial Joh 18:23, and no man is under obligation to submit to be trampled on by an unjust tribunal in violation of the laws.
I appeal unto Caesar – I appeal to the man emperor, and carry my cause directly before him. By the Valerian, Porcian, and Sempronian laws, it had been enacted that if any magistrate should be about to beat, or to put to death any Roman citizen, the accused could appeal to the Roman people, and this appeal carried the cause to Rome. The law was so far changed under the emperors that the cause should be carried before the emperor instead of the people. Every citizen had the right of this appeal; and when it was made, the accused was sent to Rome for trial. Thus, Pliny Eph. 10, 97 says that those Christians who were accused, and who, being Roman citizens, appealed to Caesar, he sent to Rome to be tried. The reason why Paul made this appeal was that he saw that justice would not be done him by the Roman governor. He had been tried by Felix, and justice had been denied him, and he was detained a prisoner in violation of law, to gratify the Jews; he had now been tried by Festus, and saw that he was pursuing the same course; and he resolved, therefore, to assert his rights, and remove the cause far from Jerusalem, and from the prejudiced people in that city, at once to Rome. It was in this mysterious way that Pauls long-cherished desire to see the Roman church, and to preach the gospel there, was to be gratified. Compare notes on Rom 1:9-11. For this he had prayed long Rom 1:10; Rom 15:23-24, and now at length this purpose was to be fulfilled. God answers prayer, but it is often in a way which we little anticipate. He so orders the train of events; he so places us amidst a pressure of circumstances, that the desire is granted in a way Which we could never have anticipated, but which shows in the best manner that he is a hearer of prayer.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 11. For if I be an offender] If it can be proved that I have broken the laws, so as to expose me to capital punishment, I do not wish to save my life by subterfuges; I am before the only competent tribunal; here my business should be ultimately decided.
No man may deliver me unto them] The words of the apostle are very strong and appropriate. The Jews asked as a favour, , from Festus, that he would send Paul to Jerusalem, Ac 25:3. Festus, willing to do the Jews , this favour, asked Paul if he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged, Ac 25:9. Paul says, I have done nothing amiss, either against the Jews or against Caesar; therefore no man , can make a PRESENT of me to them; that is, favour them so far as to put my life into their hands, and thus gratify them by my death. Festus, in his address to Agrippa, Ac 25:16, admits this, and uses the same form of speech: It is not the custom of the Romans, , gratuitously to give up any one, c. Much of the beauty of this passage is lost by not attending to the original words. See Clarke on Ac 25:16.
I appeal unto Caesar.] A freeman of Rome, who had been tried for a crime, and sentence passed on him, had a right to appeal to the emperor, if he conceived the sentence to be unjust but, even before the sentence was pronounced, he had the privilege of an appeal, in criminal cases, if he conceived that the judge was doing any thing contrary to the laws. ANTE sententiam appellari potest in criminali negotio, si judex contra leges hoc faciat.-GROTIUS.
An appeal to the emperor was highly respected. The Julian law condemned those magistrates, and others having authority, as violaters of the public peace, who had put to death, tortured, scourged, imprisoned, or condemned any Roman citizen who had appealed to Caesar. Lege Julia de vi publica damnatur, qui aliqua potestate praeditus, Civem Romanum ad Imperatorem appellantem necarit, necarive jusserit, torserit, verberauerit, condemnaverit, in publica vincula duci jusserit. Pauli Recept. Sent. lib. v. t. 26.
This law was so very sacred and imperative, that, in the persecution under Trajan, Pliny would not attempt to put to death Roman citizens who were proved to have turned Christians; hence, in his letter to Trajan, lib. x. Ep. 97, he says, Fuerunt alii similis amentiae, quos, quia cives Romani erant, annotavi in urbem remittendos. ‘There were others guilty of similar folly, whom, finding them to be Roman citizens, I have determined to send to the city.” Very likely these had appealed to Caesar.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
If I be an offender; if I have injured the Jews, and my fault be worthy of death, such as by law deserves death, I beg no favour.
No man may deliver me unto them; according to law, (which the Romans did punctually observe), before sentence was passed.
I appeal unto Caesar: it was lawful for any that had that privilege of the Roman citizens, to appeal; neither might they be tried against their wills in any province out of Rome. Now Paul might appeal unto Caesar:
1. To make Caesar more favourable unto himself, and to other Christians.
2. Because he thought it more safe for himself and for the church.
3. He was in part admonished to do it by Christ himself, who had told him that he must bear witness of him at Rome, Act 23:11.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. I appeal to CsarTheright of appeal to the supreme power, in case of life and death, wassecured by an ancient law to every Roman citizen, and continued underthe empire. Had Festus shown any disposition to pronounce finaljudgment, Paul, strong in the consciousness of his innocence and thejustice of a Roman tribunal, would not have made this appeal. Butwhen the only other alternative offered him was to give his ownconsent to be transferred to the great hotbed of plots against hislife, and to a tribunal of unscrupulous and bloodthirstyecclesiastics whose vociferous cries for his death had scarcelysubsided, no other course was open to him.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For if I be an offender,…. Against the law of Moses, or the temple at Jerusalem, or Caesar the Roman emperor:
or have committed anything worthy of death; by the laws of the Romans, as sedition, murder, c.
I refuse not to die signifying that he did not decline going to Jerusalem, either through any consciousness of guilt, or fear of death; for if anything could be proved against him, that was of a capital nature, he did not desire to escape death; he was ready to die for it; this was no subterfuge, or shift, to evade or defer justice:
but if there be none of these things; to be found, or proved, and made to appear:
whereof these accuse me; pointing to the Jews, that came down to be his accusers, and had laid many and grievous charges against him:
no man may deliver me unto them; not justly, or according to the Roman laws; suggesting that Festus himself could not do it legally;
I appeal unto Caesar; to this the apostle was induced, partly by the conduct of the governor, who seemed inclined to favour the Jews; and partly by the knowledge he might have of their intention to lie in wait for him, should he go up to Jerusalem; and chiefly by the vision he had had, which assured him that he must bear witness of Christ at Rome, Ac 23:11.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
If I am a wrong-doer ( ). Condition of the first class with and the present active indicative of ( privative and ): “If I am in the habit of doing injustice,” assuming it to be true for the sake of argument.
And have committed anything worthy of death ( ). Same condition with the difference in tense (, perfect active indicative) of a single case instead of a general habit. Assuming either or both Paul draws his conclusion.
I refuse not to die ( ). Old verb to ask alongside, to beg from, to deprecate, to refuse, to decline. See on Lu 14:18f. Josephus (Life, 29) has . Here the articular second aorist active infinitive is in the accusative case the object of : “I do not beg off dying from myself.”
But if none of these things is ( ). here is contrasted with just before. No word for “true” in the Greek. (“is”) in the Greek here means “exists.” Same condition (first class, assumed as true).
Whereof these accuse me ( ). Genitive of relative by attraction from (accusative with ) to case of the unexpressed antecedent (“of these things”). is genitive of person after .
No man can give me up to them ( ). “Can” legally. Paul is a Roman citizen and not even Festus can make a free gift () of Paul to the Sanhedrin.
I appeal unto Caesar ( ). Technical phrase like Latin Caesarem appello. Originally the Roman law allowed an appeal from the magistrate to the people (provocatio ad populum), but the emperor represented the people and so the appeal to Caesar was the right of every Roman citizen. Paul had crossed the Rubicon on this point and so took his case out of the hands of dilatory provincial justice (really injustice). Roman citizens could make this appeal in capital offences. There would be expense connected with it, but better that with some hope than delay and certain death in Jerusalem. Festus was no better than Felix in his vacillation and desire to curry favour with the Jews at Paul’s expense. No doubt Paul’s long desire to see Rome (Acts 19:21; Rom 15:22-28) and the promise of Jesus that he would see Rome (Ac 23:11) played some part in Paul’s decision. But he made it reluctantly for he says in Rome (Ac 28:19): “I was constrained to appeal.” But acquittal at the hands of Festus with the hope of going to Rome as a free man had vanished.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Deliver [] . With an underlying sense of giving him up as a favor to the Jews.
I appeal [] . The technical phrase for lodging an appeal. The Greek rendering of the Latin formula appello.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For if I be an offender,” (ei men oun adiko) “if I therefore do wrong,” am found to do wrong, to be a malicious law-breaker, of Roman or Jewish law.
2) “Or have committed any thing “ (pepracha ti) “Or I have practiced anything,” repeatedly done anything, with deliberate intent and purpose, even subject to death under my nation’s religious laws, Exo 20:1-17.
3) “Worthy of death,” (kai aksion thanatou) “Ever worthy of death,” any crime of capital punishment nature, worthy of death, or that merits death. And he had not, a matter confirmed by both Festus and Agrippa, Act 25:25; Act 26:30-32.
4) I refuse not to die: (ou paraitoumai to apothanein) “I do not refuse (will not draw back) to die;” or beg off. A Roman is willing to die, a Christian is ready to die. This shows his patriotism, his preparation for a better abode with Christ, 2Co 5:1-9.
5) “But if there be none of these thing “ (ei de ouden estin hon houtoi) “Yet, if there exists not a single thing,” not even one factual thing, Act 23:29-30.
6) “Whereof these accuse me,” (kategorusin) “Of which they accuse me,” repeatedly, hashing the same things over and over, as generalization charges, submitting no evidentiary material of his actual guilt, Act 24:5-9.
7) “No man may deliver me unto them,” (oudeis me’ dunati autois charisasthai) “There is no one who can grant me to them,” who can turn me over to them, based on Roman law, Act 26:32.
8) “I appeal unto Caesar.” (Kaisara epikaloumai) “So I appeal to Caesar,” to his jurisdiction alone over me, Act 28:19-21. By this appeal the Jews were robbed-of their prey, Act 21:32; Act 23:27.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
−
11. I appeal unto Caesar. After that he hath professed that he doth not refuse to die if he be found guilty, he freely useth such helps as he could find at the hands of men. Wherefore, if we be at any time brought into like straits, we must not be superstitious, but we may crave help of the laws and politic order. Because it is written, that magistrates are made and appointed by God to the praise of the godly ( Rom 13:3; and 1Pe 2:13). Neither was Paul afraid to go to law under an unbelieving judge; for he which appealeth commenceth a new action. −
Therefore, let us know that God, who hath appointed judgment-seats, doth also grant liberty to his to use the same lawfully. Therefore, those mistake Paul who think that he doth flatly condemn the Corinthians, ( 1Co 6:1) because they require help of the magistrate for defense of their right, seeing he reproveth in that place a manifest fault, to wit, because they could suffer no wrong, and because they were too much set upon suing one another, whereby they caused the gospel to be evil spoken of. −
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(11) No man may deliver me unto them.Literally, no man may give me up to them as a favour. The words show that he saw through the simulated fairness of the procurator, and did not shrink from showing that he did so.
I appeal unto Csar.The history of this right of appeal affords a singular illustration of the manner in which the republic had been transformed into a despotic monarchy. Theoretically the emperor was but the imperator, or commander-in-chief of the armies of the state, appointed by the senate, and acting under its direction. Consuls were still elected every year, and went through the shadowy functions of their office. Many of the provinces (see Notes on Act. 13:7; Act. 18:12), were directly under the control of the senate, and were accordingly governed by proconsuls. But Augustus had contrived to concentrate in himself all the powers that in the days of the republic had checked and balanced the exercise of individual authority. He was supreme pontiff, and as such regulated the religion of the state; permanent censor, and as such could give or recall the privileges of citizenship at his pleasure. The Tribunicia potestas, which had originally been conferred on the tribunes of the plebs so that they might protect members of their order who appealed to them against the injustice of patrician magistrates, was attached to his office. As such he became the final Court of Appeal from all subordinate tribunals, and so, by a subtle artifice, what had been intended as a safeguard to freedom became the instrument of a centralised tyranny. With this aspect of the matter St. Paul had, of course, nothing to do. It was enough for him that by this appeal he delivered himself from the injustice of a weak and temporising judge, and made his long-delayed journey to Rome a matter of moral certainty.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Refuse not to die I accept the penalty which the law of the empire decides.
Deliver me Make a gracious present of me. He insists upon Roman law and justice instead of being bandied about by the favour of one party to another.
Appeal unto Cesar By this memorable sentence the apostle irrevocably transfers himself to Rome.
Act 25:11 . From his preceding declaration that he must be judged before the imperial tribunal, and not by Jews, Paul now reasons ( , as the correct reading instead of , see the critical remarks) that he accordingly by no means refuses to die, if, namely, he is in the wrong; but in the opposite case, etc. In other words: “Accordingly, I submit myself to the penalty of the Roman law, if I am guilty; but if,” etc. And, in order to be sure of the protection of Roman law, amidst the inclination of Festus to please the Jews, he immediately adds the appeal to the Emperor .
] If I am at fault . See Krger, Index. Xen. Anab .; Jacobitz, ad Luc. Tim . 25, p. 25 f.; Heind. ad Plat. Protag . 4, p. 463 f. The idea of the word presupposes the having done wrong (Khner, ad Xen. Anab . i. 5. 12), therefore the added . . contains a more precise definition of , and that according to the degree.
. . .] non deprecor . Comp. Joseph. Vit . 29; Herod. i. 24 : . Lys. adv. Sim . Acts 4 : , .
] “ id ipsum agi, notat articulus,” Bengel. Comp. Buttmann, neut. Gr . p. 226[E. T. 262].
] but if there exists nothing of that, of which they , etc. is by attraction for . Comp. Act 24:8 ; Luk 23:14 .
] namely, according to the possibility conditioned by the subsisting legal relations.
] to surrender me to them out of complaisance . See on Act 3:14 .
.] I appeal to the Emperor . See examples from Plutarch of . in Wetstein; also Plut. Graech . 16; in Dem. and others: . Certainly the revelation, Act 23:11 , contributed to Paul’s embracing this privilege of his citizenship (see Grotius in loc. ; Krebs, de provocat. Pauli ad Caes . in his Opusc . p. 143 ff.). “Non vitae suae, quam ecclesiae consulens,” Augustine accordingly says, Eph 2 .
11 For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar.
Ver. 11. I appeal to Coesar ] Who though a lion, 2Ti 4:17 , yet I hope to be tutus sub umbra leonis, against a manifest violence of a corrupt judge, notoriously forestalled and preoccupated. Iudex, locusta civitatis est, malus. (Scaliger.)
11. ] Both readings, , and , will suit the sense. In the former case, it is, ‘ For if I am an offender , :’ in the latter, If, now, I am an offender , taking up the supposition generally , after having denied the particular case of his having offended the Jews . Meyer and De Wette are at issue about the internal probability of these readings: I am disposed to agree with Meyer that a difficulty was felt in the (no expression is more frequently misunderstood and altered than ) and it was corrected into . This assumes the conviction after proof; as the following does the acquittal .
. . ] Said of legal possibility: ‘non fas est aliquem.’ The dilemma here put by Paul is, “ If I am guilty, it is not by them, but by Csar, that I must be ( and am willing to be ) tried, sentenced, and punished. If I am innocent, and Csar acquits me, then clearly none will be empowered to give me up to them: therefore, at all events, guilty or innocent, I am not to be made their victim .”
. .] I call upon , i.e. appeal to (provoco ad) Csar . This power (of ‘provocatio ad populum ’) having existed in very early times (e.g. the case of Horatius, Livy i. 26), was ensured to Roman citizens by the Lex Valeria (see Livy ii. 8, U.C. 245), suspended by the Decemviri, but solemnly re-established after their deposition (Liv. iii. 55, U.C. 305), when it was decreed that it should be unlawful to make any magistrate from whom there did not lie an appeal. When the emperors absorbed the power of the populus and the tribunitial veto in themselves, the ‘provocatio ad populum’ and ‘appellatio ad tribunos’ were both made to the princeps . See Smith’s Dict. of Antt. art. Appellatio. In Pliny’s celebrated Epistle respecting the Bithynian Christians (x. 97), we read, “Fuerunt alii similis amenti: quos, quia cives Romani erant, adnotavi in urbem remittendos.”
Act 25:11 . , see critical note, “if then ( ) I am a wrongdoer,” referring to his standing before Csar’s judgment-seat, and not to the in Act 25:10 . : only here absolutely in N.T.; the verb occurs five times in Acts, once in Luke’s Gospel, and once in St. Matthew, but not elsewhere in the Gospels (Friedrich, p. 23). ., i.e. , according to Roman law. : non recuso , Vulgate, so Blass; the verb is only used here in Acts, but it occurs three times in St. Luke’s Gospel, three times in Hebrews, once in Mar 15:6 , W.H [392] In the present passage, and in 1Ti 4:7 ; 1Ti 5:11 , 2Ti 2:23 , Tit 3:10 , Heb 12:25 (twice), the word is rendered “refuse,” R.V. text; but in Luk 14:18-19 , the word is rendered “to make excuse”; “excused”: Jos., Ant. , vii., 8, 2; but in each case the Greek verb literally means “to beg off from,” and the Latin deprecor might well express the verb both here and in Luk 14 , l.c., cf. Est 4:8 in the sense of supplicating, and for the sense as above 2Ma 2:31 , 3Ma 6:27 ; see also Grimm sub v. for different shades of meaning. In Jos., Vita , 29, we have the phrase : upon which Krenkel insists as an instance of dependence upon Josephus, but not only is the phrase here somewhat different verbally, . ., the article expressing more emphatically, as Bengel says, id ipsum agi; but cf. the instances quoted by Wetstein of the use of similar phrases in Greek, and of the Latin deprecor, e.g. , Dion. Hal., A.V. , 29. . See further Introd. , p. 31. : “to grant me by favour,” R.V. margin, cf. Act 3:14 , Act 25:16 , Act 27:24 (Phm 1:22 ), only in Luke and Paul in N.T.; see on its importance as marking the “We” section, Act 27:24 , and other parts of Acts, Zeller, Acts , ii., 318, E.T. Paul must have known what this “giving up” to the Jews would involve. .: Appello: provoco ad Csarem: “Si apud acta quis appellaverit, satis erit si dicat: Appello.” Digest. , xlix., 1, 2, except in the case of notorious robbers and agitators whose guilt was clear, ibid. , 16. But we must distinguish between an appeal against a sentence already pronounced, and a claim at the commencement of a process that the whole matter should be referred to the emperor. It would appear from this passage, cf. Act 27:21 ; Act 27:26 ; Act 27:32 , that Roman citizens charged with capital offences could make this kind of appeal, for the whole narrative is based upon the fact that Paul had not yet been tried, and that he was to be kept for a thorough inquiry by the emperor, and to be brought to Rome for this purpose, cf. Pliny, Epist. , x., 97, quoted by Schrer, Alford, and others, and similar instances in Renan, Saint Paul , p. 543, Schrer, Jewish People , div. 1., vol. ii., p. 59, and div. ii., vol. ii., p. 278, E.T., and also “Appeal,” Hastings’ B.D., and below, p. 514. This step of St. Paul’s was very natural. During his imprisonment under Felix he had hoped against hope that he might have been released, but although the character of Festus might have given him a more reasonable anticipation of justice, he had seen enough of the procurator to detect the vacillation which led him also to curry favour with the Jews. From some points of view his position under Festus was more dangerous than under Felix: if he accepted the suggestion that he should go up to Jerusalem and be tried before the Sanhedrim, he could not doubt that his judges would find him guilty; if he declined, and Festus became the judge, there was still the manifest danger that the better judgment of the magistrate would be warped by the selfishness of the politician. Moreover, he may well have thought that at a distant court, where there might be difficulty in collecting evidence against him, he would fare better in spite of the danger and expense of the appeal. But whilst we may thus base St. Paul’s action upon probable human motives, his own keen and long desire to see Rome, Act 19:21 , and his Lord’s promise of the fulfilment of that desire, Act 23:11 , could not have been without influence upon his decision, although other motives need not be altogether excluded, as St. Chrysostom, Ewald, Neander and Meyer (see Nsgen, 435). It has been maintained that there was every reason to suppose that St. Paul would have obtained his acquittal at the hands of the Roman authorities, especially after Agrippa’s declaration of his innocence, Act 26:32 . But St. Paul’s appeal had been already made before Agrippa had heard him, and he may well have come to the conclusion that the best he could hope for from Festus was a further period of imprisonment, whilst his release would only expose him to the bitter and relentless animosity of the Jews. Two years of enforced imprisonment had been patiently borne, and the Apostle would be eager (can we doubt it?) to bear further witness before Gentiles and kings of his belief in Jesus as the Christ, and of repentance and faith towards God.
[392] Westcott and Hort’s The New Testament in Greek: Critical Text and Notes.
For if = If then indeed.
if. App-118.
be an offender = am doing wrong. Greek. adikeo, as in Act 25:10.
refuse. Literally beg off. Greek. paraiteomai. See Luk 14:18.
none = nothing. Greek. oudeis. no man = no one. Greek. oudeis.
may = can. See Act 25:7.
deliver. Literally grant. Greek. charizomai. App-184. See Act 3:14.
unto = to.
appeal unto = call upon, invoke. Greek. epikaleomai. See Act 2:21.
Caesar: i.e. the Emperor before whose tribunal every Roman citizen was entitled to appear. Paul, seeing the desire of Festus to hand him over to the Jews, was constrained to exercise this right. Compare Act 16:37; Act 22:25.
11.] Both readings, , and , will suit the sense. In the former case, it is, For if I am an offender, : in the latter, If, now, I am an offender ,-taking up the supposition generally, after having denied the particular case of his having offended the Jews. Meyer and De Wette are at issue about the internal probability of these readings: I am disposed to agree with Meyer that a difficulty was felt in the (no expression is more frequently misunderstood and altered than ) and it was corrected into . This assumes the conviction after proof; as the following does the acquittal.
. .] Said of legal possibility: non fas est aliquem. The dilemma here put by Paul is, If I am guilty, it is not by them, but by Csar, that I must be (and am willing to be) tried, sentenced, and punished. If I am innocent, and Csar acquits me, then clearly none will be empowered to give me up to them: therefore, at all events, guilty or innocent, I am not to be made their victim.
. .] I call upon, i.e. appeal to (provoco ad) Csar. This power (of provocatio ad populum) having existed in very early times (e.g. the case of Horatius, Livy i. 26), was ensured to Roman citizens by the Lex Valeria (see Livy ii. 8, U.C. 245), suspended by the Decemviri, but solemnly re-established after their deposition (Liv. iii. 55, U.C. 305), when it was decreed that it should be unlawful to make any magistrate from whom there did not lie an appeal. When the emperors absorbed the power of the populus and the tribunitial veto in themselves, the provocatio ad populum and appellatio ad tribunos were both made to the princeps. See Smiths Dict. of Antt. art. Appellatio. In Plinys celebrated Epistle respecting the Bithynian Christians (x. 97), we read, Fuerunt alii similis amenti: quos, quia cives Romani erant, adnotavi in urbem remittendos.
Act 25:11. ) The present absolute (as in Col 3:25, ), in which the preterite is involved, as in Chrys. de Sacerd. sect. 55, at the end, . Comp. ch. Act 26:31, .- ) That this was the issue at stake, is denoted by the article.-, no man) Modestly expressed; i.e. thou canst not.-, I appeal) Sometimes we may employ legal remedies in the cause of GOD. Paul lays hold of a help towards his going to Rome, according to what was the will of God expressed in the vision, ch. Act 23:11.
if I: Act 18:14, Jos 22:22, 1Sa 12:3-5, Job 31:21, Job 31:38-40, Psa 7:3-5
no man: Act 16:37, Act 22:25, 1Th 2:15
I appeal: An appeal to the emperor was the right of a Roman citizen, and was highly respected. The Julian law condemned those magistrates, and others, as violaters of the public peace, who had put to death, tortured, scourged, imprisoned, or condemned any Roman citizen who had appealed to Cesar. This law was so sacred and imperative, that, in the persecution under Trajan, Pliny would not attempt to put to death Roman citizens, who were proved to have turned Christians, but determined to send them to Rome, probably because they had appealed. Act 25:10, Act 25:25, Act 26:32, Act 28:19, 1Sa 27:1
Reciprocal: Gen 40:15 – done Gen 44:9 – both Deu 21:22 – General 1Sa 20:8 – if there be Psa 25:21 – General Psa 119:121 – I have Jer 37:18 – General Jer 37:20 – lest Dan 6:16 – the king Luk 2:1 – Caesar Luk 21:12 – before Act 9:24 – their Act 18:15 – a question Act 23:29 – but Act 27:24 – thou
ST. PAULS APPEAL TO CSAR
I appeal unto Csar.
Act 25:11
This was St. Pauls declaration to Festus who had succeeded Felix. More than two years had passed since the Sanhedrin excited the mob against St. Paul, but their hatred of him was still great. As soon as Festus arrived at Jerusalem, the chief priest and elders laid their plansor part of thembefore him (Act 25:2-3). They stated that they wanted the Apostle brought to Jerusalem to be tried again, but really they had hired some persons to wait in the way to kill him. Probably Festus knew nothing of the plot, but his answer to this request showed that he wished to act justly (Act 25:4-5). He told them that he would be returning to Csarea shortly, where St. Paul was imprisoned, and he would hear the case. Some of their body could go down with him and prosecute Paul if there be any wickedness in him. At the end of about ten days Festus returned to Csarea, and the trial was arranged the day after, the Jewish rulers being present to repeat the charges laid before Felix, which they could not prove (Act 25:7). To the charges Paul gave a simple denial (Act 25:8). As there was no case, the prisoner should have been acquitted, but here again the desire to do the Jews a pleasure prevented Festus from acting justly, as was the case with Felix; and as the Jews seemed to attach importance to the matter, Festus asked Paul if he would go to Jerusalem to be tried by the Sanhedrin if he presided? (Act 25:9). This was a great crisis in St. Pauls life. For the third time he took his stand on his rights as a Roman citizen. I appeal unto Csar.
I. The appeal.
(a) He could appeal no higher. Rome was now the mistress of the world, and her Csars could spare or sacrifice life as they liked, no one daring to question their right to do so. The Csar of Rome, at the time St. Paul made his appeal, was Nero, as impious and cruel a man as ever occupied a throne. It was by his imperial command that the Apostle was ultimately beheaded. Why did he appeal to such a man, knowing his character only too well? Because he felt that immediate destruction awaited him if he accepted the proposal of Festus to go up to Jerusalem to be tried there. There was, then, only one way by which he could save himself from the jaws of the lion for at least some while to come, and that was by claiming his high privilege as a Roman citizen. He did not hesitate for a moment. He could but die ultimately, if Nero condemned him; and hence he uttered the four words of the text which changed, in the twinkling of an eye, the whole case.
(b) He asserts his innocence. He said to Festus, To the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest. As it has been well observed, It is a debt we owe to our good name not only not to bear false witness against ourselves, but maintain our own integrity against those who bear false witness against us.
(c) He demands justice. If there be, he says, none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. His meaning is this: If I have done anything wrong, I will make neither resistance nor attempt to escape from justice; but if I am guiltless, as I maintain I am, the persecution of my foes is malicious; and no man can righteously deliver me unto them, not even thou, Festus; for it is thy business as much to protect the guiltless as it is to punish the guilty. For these reasons he flies to the last refuge of oppressed innocency, and earnestly says, I appeal unto Csar. Alas, that a Hebrew of the Hebrews should feel that he would be infinitely safer in Rome, among unbaptized heathen, than in Jerusalem, among his own countrymen! A mans worst foes are they of his own household.
II The agreement.
(a) The language of Festus was decisive. Hast thou appealed unto Csar? unto Csar shalt thou go. This seems brave enough; but Festus was beginning to be afraid. A mysterious Hand was writing on his heart as it did once on the walls of a palace in Babylon, and a great Spirit was pressing his mind with thoughts that bore him away as the sea-waves bear away whatever is on their bosom. St. Paul was a perfect contrast to Festus: they might well have changed places. Yet in one thing they were onetheir agreement respecting Csar.
(b) This agreement was providential. Had Festus, who was very willing to do the Jews a pleasure, taken St. Paul to Jerusalem, and he had fallen a martyr on the road, then some of those Epistles which now enrich our sacred literature, and have proved an emphatic benediction to thousands of Gods saints, had never been written. But Divine Providence so ordered this circumstance from beginning to end that it turned out for the furtherance of the Gospel. He permitted the Apostle to be taken as a prisoner to Rome; but he whom they led to Rome carried the Gospel with him to that imperial city; and he preached it there with the same matchless eloquence and power as he had done in the Hebrew capital; and, strange to tell, though the preacher was incarcerated in a prison, he made converts to the faith of Jesus not only among the soldiers who guarded him, but among courtiers and others in the very palace of Csar to whom he had appealed! Surely the wrath of man shall ever praise God!
Illustration
The moment St. Paul uttered these words, neither the Jews nor Festus had any further power over him. Amidst all the corruption of Roman law and justice, the rights of the Roman citizen and the power of appeal had been jealously guarded by the emperors on account of the power which it put into their hands; for with the utterance of these words a Roman citizen obtained immediate right of entry into the presence of his emperor, and right of judgment from that emperors lips alone. Festus immediately arose from his judgment-seat and withdrew, in order that he might confer with his council. He had driven his prisoner further than he had intended, and had exposed himself almost on the first day of his jurisdiction in Juda to a refusal to abide by his degree, and an appeal which passed him by and carried the matter to the emperor. But whether he were piqued or not as the result of his timeserving policy, he had no recourse save to reply, Hast thou appealed unto Csar? unto Csar shalt thou go.
1
Act 25:11. If I . . . committed anything worthy of death, I refuse not to die. This sentence is against the sentimentalists who oppose capital punishment, and who claim the New Testament does not endorse it. If that penalty is wrong in God’s sight, then it would be impossible for a man to commit anything worthy of death, and Paul would not have admitted such a possibility, which he did by the words “if I have.” Also, if capital punishment is wrong, then Paul would not have given his consent to it, which he did by not refusing to die. But since he denied any guilt whatsoever, and was a Roman citizen entitled to the rights of such a standing, he appealed his case to the highest secular court in the world, whose headquarters were at Rome.
Act 25:11. I appeal unto Csar. This power of appealing to Rome was a valuable privilege of all Roman citizens, and a great safeguard against tyranny and oppression on the part of provincial magistrates. The appeal to Csar (provocatio) existed under the form of an appeal to the people in Rome in early times; the Decemvirs suspended the right, but it was restored again after their deposition.
The Julian law forbade any unnecessary impediment being put in the way of a Roman citizen who had thus appealed. Some years later we read in the letters of the Proconsul Pliny how he sent to Rome, when Trajan was emperor, those Bithynian Christians who had appealed as Roman citizens to Csar. These appeals were heard in Rome by men of consular dignity specially appointed for this purpose. Thus Suetonius (Augustus) tells us that the Emperor Augustus assigned every year causes which came from the provinces to men of consular rank, to one of whom the business of each province was referred.
We may well suppose, too, that Pauls determination to appeal to Csar was strengthened, if not suggested, by this special promise he had received (sec chap, Act 23:11), that he should bear witness to the Lord Jesus in Rome before he died. It is likely that he felt that all these thingsthe bitter and ever-increasing hostility of the Jews, the disinclination of the Roman procurators in succession to cross the Sanhedrim and leading men of Jerusalem in their intense wish to get Paul into their own handswere subservient to a plan determined in the counsels of the Most High, that he (Paul) should surely preach the gospel in Rome also. He would carry out, he thought, his Masters will, and at all risks, even though in chains, would bear his witness to the Crucified in the imperial city; so he cried, I appeal unto Csar.
See notes on verse 10
Verse 11
Unto them; unto the Jews.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament