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“So,” he said, “let your leaders[a] go down there[b] with me, and if this man has done anything wrong,[c] they may bring charges[d] against him.”

After Festus[e] had stayed[f] not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea,[g] and the next day he sat[h] on the judgment seat[i] and ordered Paul to be brought. When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him,[j] bringing many serious[k] charges that they were not able to prove.[l]

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 25:5 tn Grk “let those who are influential among you” (i.e., the powerful).
  2. Acts 25:5 tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
  3. Acts 25:5 tn Grk “and if there is anything wrong with this man,” but this could be misunderstood in English to mean a moral or physical defect, while the issue in context is the commission of some crime, something legally improper (BDAG 149 s.v. ἄτοπος 2).
  4. Acts 25:5 tn BDAG 533 s.v. κατηγορέω 1 states, “nearly always as legal t.t.: bring charges in court.” L&N 33.427 states for κατηγορέω, “to bring serious charges or accusations against someone, with the possible connotation of a legal or court context—‘to accuse, to bring charges.”
  5. Acts 25:6 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Festus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  6. Acts 25:6 tn Grk “Having stayed.” The participle διατρίψας (diatripsas) has been taken temporally.
  7. Acts 25:6 sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1.
  8. Acts 25:6 tn Grk “sitting down…he ordered.” The participle καθίσας (kathisas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
  9. Acts 25:6 tn Although BDAG 175 s.v. βῆμα 3 gives the meaning “tribunal” for this verse, and a number of modern translations use similar terms (“court,” NIV; “tribunal,” NRSV), since the bēma was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time, there is no need for an alternative translation here.sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bēma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and sometimes furnished with a seat, used by officials in addressing an assembly or making pronouncements, often on judicial matters. The judgment seat was a familiar item in Greco-Roman culture, often located in the agora, the public square or marketplace in the center of a city.
  10. Acts 25:7 tn BDAG 801 s.v. περιίστημι 1.a has “περιέστησαν αὐτὸν οἱ ᾿Ιουδαῖοι the Judeans stood around him 25:7.”
  11. Acts 25:7 tn Grk “many and serious.” The term βαρύς (barus) refers to weighty or serious charges (BDAG 167 s.v. 1).
  12. Acts 25:7 tn The term ἀποδείκνυμι (apodeiknumi) in a legal context refers to legal proof (4 Macc 1:8; BDAG 108 s.v. 3).

Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.”

After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he convened the court(A) and ordered that Paul be brought before him.(B) When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many serious charges against him,(C) but they could not prove them.(D)

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