Acts 25:22

Act_25:22-27

Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man for myself.

The voluptuarys desire for a new sensation

The scene is highly characteristic. The round of festivities in honour of the illustrious visitors began to flag-some novel show would be desirable. A Jewish heretic would interest Agrippa, who was himself a Jew. Berenice was clever and cultivated, and all women loved eloquence and genius, and Paul had both; and Berenice also loved novel and strange excitements. The upper classes then, as now, sated with luxury End refinement, found a certain fascination about prison life--out-of-the-way scent connected with police courts--human crime and misery. They liked a criminal cause celebre then just as they do now. An afternoon with Paul was the very thing to suit Agrippa and Berenice. (H. R. Haweis, M. A.)

Motives for hearing

Agrippas desire may be understood variously--

I. As the wish of a supercilious curiosity, which seeks nothing more than a passing entertainment.

II. As the expression of a worldly desire for knowledge, which is only concerned about interesting information.

III. As the earnest desire of the seeker for salvation, who feels the need of spiritual instruction. Application to Church going, hearing sermons, reading books, etc. (K. Gerok.)

And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing.--

The vanity of regal pomp

It is at this moment more than ever we are justified in saying with the wise man, Vanity of vanities; all is vanity. Where is now the splendour of the consulate? Where their brilliancy of lamps and torches; the feast of joyous assemblies? Where are the crowns and magnificent ornaments? Where the flattering reports of the city--the acclamations of the circus--the adulations of thousands of spectators? All have passed away! The wind by one blast has swept the leaves, and now they show us a dead tree torn up by the roots, so violent has been the tempest. It lies a broken ruin. Where are the pretended friends--the swarm of parasites--the tables charged with luxury--the wine circulating during entire days; where the various refinements of feasting--the supple language of slaves? What has become of them all? A dream of the night which vanishes with the day! A flower of spring, which fades in the summer--a shade which passes! a vapour which scatters! a bubble of water which bursts! a spiders web which is torn down--Vanity of all vanities; all is vanity. Inscribe these words on your walls, on your vestments, your palaces, your streets, your windows, your doors; inscribe them on your conscience, in order that they may represent it incessantly to your thoughts. Repeat them every morning, repeat them in the evening, and in the assemblies of fashion, let each repeat to his neighbour, Vanity of vanities; all is vanity. (Chrysostom.)

The worth of worldly glory

As the naturalist observes of the glory of the rainbow, that it is wrought in the eye, and not in the cloud, and that there is no such pleasing variety of colours there as we see; so the pomp, and riches, and glory of this world are of themselves nothing, but are the work of our opinion and the creations of our fancy, and have no worth or price but what our lusts and desires set upon them. (A. Farindon.)

The audience chamber of Caesarea

I. A drawing room of worldly glory, by the splendour of the assembled nobility (Act_25:23).

II. A lecture room of holy doctrine, by the testimony of the apostle (Act_26:1-23).

III. A judgment hall of Divine majesty, by the impression of the apostolic discourse which discloses the secret of the heart (Act_26:24-32). (K. Gerok.)

How the Christian is regarded by the world

There are subjects about which the world has but one opinion, and towards which it maintains a tolerably consistent attitude, but Christianity is not one of them. Ask men of the world their opinions respecting profit, pleasure, health, death, etc., and you will get but one pronouncement; ask them about the religion of Christ and the answers will be almost as various as the men who give them. But practically they may be reduced to four when severely analysed, although intermingled, and are often found in combination. The Christian and his religion are regarded with--

I. Hatred. The Jews (Act_25:24) so regarded Paul. To everything that corrupt Judaism held dear the apostle was an uncompromising antagonist. And so they cried that he ought to live no longer--a cry often heard since, and heard now. The money grubber, the pleasure seeker, the vicious hate the Christian and his faith. The attitude of Christianity towards the mere accumulation of wealth, towards sensuality, oppression, etc., necessarily arouses the bitterest hostility. There can be no truce between them. Victory in the one case means extermination in the other.

II. Perplexity. Festus (Act_25:26-27) was nearly worried out of his life with the problem. Paul was a standing menace to the peace of his province, and yet he was guilty of nothing, as far as he could see, which could bring him under the ban of Roman law. Hence his desire to have the case heard by such experts in religious matters as the Sanhedrin and Agrippa. And Paul having appealed to Caesar on grounds of which he was deplorably ignorant, Festus was painfully embarrassed as to what to say about him to his imperial master. Festus is not a solitary instance of perplexity about Christians and their faith, Many now can make nothing of either; but often enough are ready to consult authorities like the Sanhedrin or Agrippa, who can give no satisfactory solution of the problem. Why did not Festus give himself the same trouble as Felix did, and commune with Paul? And so the obvious question in relation to the perplexed today is, Why do they not consult Christians or their Scriptures? The unreasonableness of the position is obvious. What would be thought of a man, troubled with scientific, political, or historical questions, who never consulted the proper authorities!

III. Curiosity. Agrippa probably laughed in his sleeve at both the animosity of the Jews and the perplexity of Festus. Yet, desiring to hear Paul for himself, he displayed a somewhat more reasonable temper. This is all that Christianity asks, and the Christian thinks himself happy when he has the chance of answering for himself before an expert (chap. 26:2, 3), whatever may be the result. The result, however, is often only that reached by experts in science, etc. The Christian has to be accounted for, and when an hypothesis is framed which satisfies curiosity he is labelled, like a geological specimen, and forgotten. So he is studied by the historian, the politician, the comparative religionist, etc. That he or his principles have any interest beyond this is not admitted for a moment.

IV. Indifference and contempt. What Berenice thought is not stated, for obvious reasons. She neither hated, nor was perplexed, nor curious about Paul. The trial was a new sensation, and that over perhaps both the occasion and the apostle were dismissed from her thoughts. What cared she for theological questions or for the fate of an enthusiast. And so there are many for whom a religious ceremony may have a passing interest, but who neither know nor care about the questions involved. The sordid man of business, or a voluptuous pleasure seeker, may attend a religious pageant in aid of a religious charity, but what care they for the object promoted.

Conclusion:

1. Contact with Christianity becomes a test of character.

2. Contact with it even for once may decide a destiny. The Jews, Festus, Agrippa, Berenice--what occurred to them afterwards? What are they now? (J. W. Burn.)

.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 25:22. Then Agrippa said, I would also hear the man myself — That I may learn from his own mouth what it is that he maintains, and on what principles he proceeds. This demand the king made because he was well acquainted with the religious tenets, disputes, and expectations of the Jews, and because many wonderful things had been reported to him concerning Jesus and his disciples, and he had heard of Paul, and knew of what vast concern this question was which Festus made so light of; namely, whether Jesus was alive or not. Many great men think it below them to take cognizance of the matters of religion, except they can hear of them while they sit in judgment with authority, and act in character, like themselves. Agrippa would not, on any account, have gone to a synagogue, or religious meeting, to hear Paul preach, no more than Herod to hear Jesus; and yet they were both glad to have these persons brought before them, but only to satisfy their curiosity. To-morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him — There was a gracious providence in this for the encouragement of Paul, who seemed buried alive in his imprisonment, and deprived of almost all opportunities of doing good. We know not that any of his epistles were written during his confinement at Cesarea. What opportunity he had of doing good to his friends that visited him, or perhaps to a little congregation of them, that might assemble to hear him every Lord’s day, was but a low and narrow sphere of usefulness: so that he seemed to be thrown by as a broken vessel, in which there was no pleasure; but he has now an opportunity of preaching Christ to a great congregation, and that of great ones. Felix heard him in private concerning the faith in Christ; but Agrippa and Festus agree that he shall be heard in public. And we have reason to think that his sermon, contained in the next chapter, though it might not be so instrumental as some other of his sermons for the conversion of individual persons, yet redounded as much to the honour of Christ and Christianity as any sermon he ever preached.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 25:22. Ἐβουλόμην) for βούλομαι· a courteous enallage [change of tense.—Append.]—καὶ αὐτὸς I myself) A prudent wish. If thou knowest for thyself, thou wilt see and hear more than others tell thee. [The world truly is full of lies: but nowhere is it the custom to lie more absurdly, or wantonly than when a question arises concerning either holy persons or holy things.—V. g.]—αὔριον) The same day by Festus is termed αὔριον, to-morrow; by Luke, ἐπαύριον, on the following day, Act 25:23.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_25:22. The narrative of Festus has excited the Jewish interest of the king, so that he also, on his part (κ. αὐτός), wishes to hear the prisoner.

ἐβουλόμην] quite like our: I wished [Germ.: ich wollte], namely, if it admitted of being done. Comp. Rom_9:3; Gal_4:20. See Winer, p. 265 f. [E. T. 353]. Calvin erroneously infers from the imperfect that Agrippa had previously cherished a wish to hear Paul, but had hitherto refrained from expressing it, in order not to appear as if he had come for any other reason than to salute Festus.

αὔριον ἀκούσῃ … αὐτοῦ] The wish of the king is very welcome to the procurator. Why? see Act_25:26.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 25:22 . ἐβουλόμην καὶ αὐτὸς : “I also was wishing to hear the man myself,” R.V., margin, imperfect, as of a wish entertained for some time; it was probable from Agrippa’s position, and his official relationship to Judaism, that he would have been already interested in Paul. Bethge takes it as if it meant that a strong desire had been already awakened by the governor’s statement to hear Paul, see also Winer-Moulton, xli. a , 2; but it is most usual to explain the imperfect here (without ἄν ) rather than the direct present as used out of politeness, softening the request, “I should like,” Burton, p. 16, Page, in loco; Lightfoot, On a Fresh Revision, etc. , p. 16. Calvin strangely takes the imperfect to mean that Agrippa had long cherished the wish to hear Paul, but had checked it hitherto, lest he should seem to have come with any other motive than to see Festus. αὔριον : emphatic (and emphasised by φησίν ), indicating the immediate compliance with Agrippa’s wish.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That is fulfilled in Paul, which the Lord before had told to Ananias of him, Acts 9:15.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

I would also hear--"should like to hear."

the man myself--No doubt Paul was fight when he said, "The king knoweth of these things . . . for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner" (Act 26:26). Hence his curiosity to see and hear the man who had raised such commotion and was remodelling to such an extent the whole Jewish life.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 22. I would also hear the man myself] A spirit of curiosity, similar to that of Herod, Lu 23:8.

As Herod, the father of this Agrippa, had been so active an instrument in endeavouring to destroy Christianity, having killed James, and was about to have put Peter to death also, had not God sent him to his own place, there is no doubt that Agrippa had heard much about Christianity; and as to St. Paul, his conversion was so very remarkable that his name, in connection with Christianity, was known, not only throughout Judea, but through all Asia Minor and Greece. Agrippa, therefore might naturally wish to see and hear a man of whom he had heard so much.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. I would also. By this we may gather that Agrippa did so desire to hear Paul, that he was ashamed to make his desire known, lest Festus should think that he came for some other end than to salute him. And it may be that not only curiosity did move him to be desirous to hear Paul, but because he did hope to profit by hearing him. Notwithstanding, we may easily gather by this how cold his desire was, because he suffered many days to pass before he showeth any sign of his desire, because he was more in love with earthly commodities, which he counted better. Neither durst he make any words; neither did he pass for uttering any speech until such time as Festus did of his own accord will him so to do. So that the holy minister of Christ is brought forth as on a stage, that a profane man may cheer up his guest, save only that Festus will be holpen with the advice of Agrippa and his company, that he may let Caesar understand how diligent he is. But the matter was turned to another end by the secret providence of God. Neither need we doubt but that such report went abroad as made much for the confirmation of the godly; and it may be also that some of the hearers were touched, and did conceive seed of faith, which did afterward bring forth fruit in due time. But admit none of them did embrace Christ sincerely and from his heart, this was no small profit, that the unskillful were appeased after that the malice of the enemies was discovered, that they might not be inflamed with such hatred against the gospel. Impiety was made ashamed, and the faithful did gather new strength, so that they were confirmed more and more in the gospel.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(22) I would also hear the man myself.—Better, I also was myself wishing; the phrase implying that the wish was not now formed for the first time.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. I would also hear the man myself] Rev. Ver. “I also could wish [marg. was wishing] to hear, &c.” The marginal rendering here given is the most literal and appears to bring out the meaning best. What Agrippa means to say is that he had for some time been wishing to see and hear St Paul.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then Agrippa said to Festus,.... After he had given him the above account:

I would also hear the man myself; Agrippa being a Jew by profession, and knowing more of these things than Festus did, and very likely had heard much concerning Jesus Christ; and if not of the apostle, yet however of the Christian religion; and therefore he was very desirous, not only out of curiosity to see the man, but to hear him; and get some further information and knowledge about the things in dispute, between the Jews and Christians, in which Festus was very ready to gratify him:

tomorrow, said he, thou shall hear him: and sooner things could not well be prepared for an affair of this kind, and for so grand a meeting.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

22 Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. To morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him.

Ver. 22. I would also hear the man] More for his mind’s sake, and to see what he would say for himself, than out of any desire to learn from him. So Herod desired to see Christ, as a man would see some magician act his feats, and make him sport.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then Agrippa said ... - Agrippa doubtless had heard much of the fame of Jesus, and of the new sect of Christians, and probably he was induced by mere curiosity to hear what Paul could say in explanation and defense of Christianity. This wish of Agrippa gave occasion to the noblest defense which was ever made before any tribunal, and to as splendid eloquence as can be found in any language. See Act 26:23.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Agrippa has the same curiosity of hearing Paul, as Herod formerly had of seeing Jesus. The apostle’s name had, no doubt, become famous enough to reach the ears, and arrest the attention of Agrippa. Curiosity is certainly not the best motive a person can bring with him ot he investigation of religious truth: still it may occasionally become productive of good. The king was half persuaded to embrace the Christian faith. A better motive, or more serious attention, may induce some to embrace the truth, which accident may first have discovered to them. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Agrippa being well acquainted with the Jewish religion, if not a Jew, could not but have heard of our Saviour, his doctrine, death, and resurrection; and yet makes this desire but out of curiosity; as Herod desired to hear John Baptist, Mar 6:20, and to see our Saviour, Luk 23:8.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. I would—The Greek imperfect tense, here, implying continuity of action, seems to signify that Agrippa had long had a wish to hear Paul. This wish is a very striking parallel to his own great-uncle’s long desire to see Jesus. (Luk_23:8.)

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And for then, A.V.; I also could wish to hear for I would also hear, A.V.; saith for said, A.V. I also could wish (ejboulomhn); but the A.V.. "I would" quite sufficiently expresses the imperfect tense (ich wollte) and the indirect wish intended. Meyer well compares hujcomhn (Rom_9:3) and hqelon. (Gal_4:20)

Vers. 22-27. Power, degeneracy, and consecration.

That was a striking scene which is suggested to our imagination by these verses. The sacred narrative does not, indeed, waste words on a description of it, but it supplies enough to place the picture before our eyes (see Farrar"s "Life of St. Paul," in loc. ). It invites our attention to three subjects. We have

I THE REPRESENTATIVE OF WORLDLY POWER. "At Festus"s commandment" (ver. 23). The Roman procurator may not have been present with "great pomp," but he could afford to dispense with glitter and show; for he had authority in his hand he represented the power of the world. He was a citizen of the kingdom which had "in it of the strength of. (Dan_2:41) He was a successor of another Roman who had lately said, confidently enough, "Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?". (Joh_19:10) As a Roman ruler, he felt that he held a sway over those around him, to which they could lay no claim and which they were unable to disturb. Human power is:

1. Coveted by many thousands.

2. Within the reach of very few; it is therefore continually sought and missed, and the failure to attain it is a source of a large amount of human disappointment and unhappiness.

3. Much less enjoyed, when realized, than its possessor anticipated; for it proves to be limited and checked by many things invisible from without, but painful and irritating when discovered and endured.

4. Soon laid down again. The breath which makes can unmake; men are often giddy on the height and they stagger and fall; years of busy activity quickly pass, and then comes sovereign death which strikes down power beneath its feet.

II THE REPRESENTATIVE OF SPIRITUAL DEGENERACY. (Ver. 23.) Both brother and sister, Agrippa and Bernice, were instances of this. They "saw the better thing and approved; they followed the worse." They "believed the prophets"; (Act_26:27) they knew the holy Law of God, but, instead of keeping it, instead of living before God and before the world in piety, in purity, in heavenly wisdom, they sacrificed everything to worldly advancement, to earthly honors, and even to unholy pleasure. How pitiable they seem to us now! That" great pomp" of theirs does but serve to make their moral littleness the more conspicuous. To rise in outward rank or wealth at the expense of character and by forfeiture of principle is:

1. Grievous in the sight of God.

2. Painful to all those whose judgment is worth regarding.

3. A most wretched mistake, as well as a sin.

4. An act, or series of acts, on which the agents will one day look back with deep and terrible remorse.

III THE REPRESENTATIVE OF CHRISTIAN CONSECRATION. "Paul was brought forth" (ver. 23), he "had committed nothing worthy of death"(ver. 25), but yet all multitude of the Jews "(ver. 24) were "crying out that he ought not to live any longer?" By his attachment to the truth and his devotion to the cause of Jesus Christ, he had placed himself there in captivity, charged with a capital offence, the object of the most bitter resentment of his countrymen. He had done nothing to deserve this; he had only taught what he honestly and rightly believed to be the very truth of God. He accepted his position, as a persecuted witness for Christ, with perfect resignation; he would not, on any consideration, have changed places with that Roman judge or those Jewish magnates. Christian consecration is:

1. An admirable thing, on which the minds of the worthiest will ever delight to dwell, lifting its subject far above the level of earthly power or worldly dignity.

2. Acceptable service in the estimation of Christ; to it the fullest Divine approval and the largest share of heavenly reward are attached. C.

Interest in the prisoner" for Christ.

For the necessary accounts of Agrippa and Bernice, see the Expository portions of this Commentary. We only dwell on Agrippa"s interest in St. Paul, as giving him an opportunity to preach the gospel before kings. Gerok gives the following outline as suggestive of a descriptive discourse, from which general practical lessons may be drawn: The audience-chamber of the governor at Caesarea may be regarded from three points of view.

I IT WAS A DRAWING-ROOM OF WORLDLY GLORY, by reason of the splendor of the assembled nobility.

II IT WAS A LECTURE-ROOM OF HOLY DOCTRINE, by reason of the testimony made by the apostle.

III IT WAS A JUDGMENT-HALL OF DIVINE MAJESTY, by reason of the impression produced by the apostolic discourse. The speech and its effects will be dealt with in the succeeding chapter. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Paul presented before Agrippa:

v. 22, Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. tomorrow, said he, thou shalt hear him.

v. 23. And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains and principal men of the city, at Festus’ commandment Paul was brought forth.

v. 24. And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man about whom all them multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer.

v. 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.

v. 26. Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O King Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have somewhat to write.

v. 27. For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.

Agrippa was naturally interested in Paul, the great teacher of Christianity, just as his relative, some thirty years before, had been desirous of seeing Jesus, Luk 23:8. His family had always held the same relation to Christ and the Gospel. His grandfather had attempted to kill Jesus at Bethlehem in the slaughter of the innocents, his uncle had murdered John the Baptist and mocked Jesus, his father had slain James the apostle and oppressed the Church. Agrippa would probably not have gone one step out of his way to see or hear Paul, but at this unexpected opportunity to, become acquainted with the doctrine of the Nazarenes he was truly pleased. So he expressed his wish that he might hear the man himself, with the understanding that he would then be enabled to render a proper opinion; and he received the promise of Festus that this opportunity would be given him the next day. At the appointed time, therefore, Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, with an extraordinary, Oriental show of splendor, very likely attired in all their regal finery and attended by a full retinue of servants, all this in the same city in which their father, upon a similar occasion, had been stricken by God and had been eaten by worms. The distinguished visitors were received and conducted, and thus entered into the hall appointed for this informal hearing, hardly the judgment-hall, since a formal trial was out of the question. The brilliancy of the occasion, which was in the nature of a reception, was enhanced by the presence of chiliarchs and of the most distinguished men of the city, surely the most brilliant audience which Paul, whom Festus now ordered to be brought in, had ever faced. Although Agrippa knew the purpose of the assembly, the governor now made a formal speech, addressed to him and to all men that were present, presenting to them the man who was causing all this excitement among the Jews. They saw before them this man, concerning whom the entire multitude of the Jews had had a conference with him, had made complaint to him, both in Jerusalem and in Caesarea. They had loudly voiced their opinion that he should no longer live. But Festus had come to the conclusion that Paul had done nothing worthy of death, and now the prisoner himself had appealed to Caesar, the Roman emperor, to the name that was given divine honor by the Romans. And so Festus had judged that he would send him. It was a solemn, impressive occasion, and the governor made the most of it by stressing its importance and exaggerating his part in the drama. But the difficulty confronting him, as he further explained, one that placed him in a bad predicament, was this, that he had nothing definite to write to his lord, the emperor, concerning Paul. For this reason he had brought him forth before this illustrious assembly and especially before King Agrippa, in order that he might, after some sort of an examination had been held, have something precise to write. For since the charge of treason had been contradicted by Paul with great emphasis, the question still remaining seemed partly obscure and partly absurd. And all this was done since it seemed unreasonable, senseless, to the governor that any one sending a man bound as a prisoner should not indicate, in the accompanying letter, what reasons he had for this step. The situation surely was awkward. He was about to send Paul to Rome, to appear in the emperor’s court, though he had not one charge against him; and at the same time he must be sent, since he had appealed to Caesar. Agrippa would therefore probably be able to help him, that he might draw up such letters in the case as not to appear a fool in Nero’s eyes. Thus Paul obtained the chance to testify of Christ before this great and magnificent assembly. And thus in many other cases sinners of all classes have the opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which alone will save their souls. O that every one of them would but hear!

Summary.Paul, arraigned before Festus, finds it necessary to appeal to Caesar, after which his case is laid before the visiting Agrippa.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here, 1. King Agrippa’s curosity to see and hear St. Paul: he was born and bred up amongst the Jews, and probably understood something of the Christian religion; and possibly had heard much of Paul, and therefore desired to see him, as Herod desired to see Christ, and to hear John the Baptist, only to gratify his curiosity, not to be advantaged by his ministry.

Observe, 2. How contemptuously the Holy Ghost speaks of all the pomp, retinue, and state, which Festus, Agrippa, and Bernice, appeared in, at the time and place of hearing: he calls it fancy, so the original word signifies, intimating, that all the pomp, gaiety, and glory of the world, is nothing but fancy, a dream, and a shadow, having no real existence, but a being in imagination only.

Observe, 3. That truth and innocency shine forth the more splendidly by the greater opposition that is raised against them. The more malicious the Jews were in accusing Paul, the more did his innocency appear; and the more was he acquitted and discharged by his judges.

Thus we see the providence of God wrought all matters for St. Paul’s justification, and for the Jews’ reprehension; Festus had nothing to write to Cesar, no crime to inform him of against the apostle.

Thence learn, That although God sometimes permits his servants to be loaden with slanders and reproaches, yet he will find a time to clear their innocency, and cause their very judges, if not their accusers, to proclaim them guiltless. I find, saith Festus, that he hath committed nothing worthy of death.

It is no small mercy to have our innocency vindicated; for God to clear up our righteousness as the light, and our just dealing as the noonday; and to free our reputation from those blemishes which the uncharitable suspicions, or rash censures of men, have cast upon us.

There is no spot so unbeautiful as that upon our credit, saving only a spot upon our consciences. God made the apostle’s enemies here do him right, and his name was clothed with honour in the estimation of his very adversaries.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. It is not probable that this was the first time that Agrippa had heard either of Paul or of Jesus. No doubt he had heard much of both, and had some curiosity to hear more. The singular circumstances which now surrounded Paul added much to his curiosity, and afforded the means of gratifying it. (22) " Then Agrippa said to Festus, I wish to hear the man myself. To-morrow, said he, you shall hear him. "

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. ἔφη omitted with אAB. Vulg. has ‘dixit.’

ὁ δὲ omitted with אAB. Vulg. does not represent it.

22. ἐβουλόμην καὶ αὐτὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώτου ἀκοῦσαι, I was wishing [Rev. Ver. ‘could wish’] also to hear the man myself. Agrippa intimates that he knew something of the Apostle and his labours, as indeed was not unlikely, and that in consequence he had for some time been desirous to see and hear St Paul.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22.] ἐβουλόμην does not (as Calv.) imply any former wish of Agrippa to hear Paul. It is, as Meyer explains it, a modest way of expressing a wish, formed in this case while the procurator was speaking, but spoken of by Agrippa as if now past by, and therefore not pressed. We say somewhat similarly, ‘I was wishing.’ See ref. Rom. and note there. Cf. Aristoph. Av. 1027: ἐκκλησιάσαι δʼ οὖν ἐδεόμην οἴκοι μένων: and see other examples in Bernhardy, Syntax, p. 373 ff. Agrippa, as a Jew, is anxious to hear Paul’s defence, as a matter of national interest. The procurator’s ready consent is explained, ver. 26.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.