| Acts 24 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Acts 15:22–24 in Latin (left column) and Greek (right column) inCodex Laudianus, written about AD 550. | |
| Book | Acts of the Apostles |
| Category | Church history |
| Christian Bible part | New Testament |
| Order in the Christian part | 5 |
Acts 24 is the twenty-fourth chapter of theActs of the Apostles in theNew Testament of theChristianBible. It records the period ofPaul's imprisonment inCaesarea. The book containing this chapter isanonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed thatLuke composed this book as well as theGospel of Luke.[1]
The original text was written inKoine Greek.This chapter is divided into 27 verses.
Some earlymanuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
The events in this chapter took place inCaesarea.
In the previous chapters, Paul has been accused of contra-Jewish teaching and practice: he "teaches all men everywhere against the people,the law, andthis place; and furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place".[2][3] He has responded with his own statement of defense (Acts 22) but the contents of his speech "prove too much" for his Jewish audience and they "resume their riotous behaviour" (Acts 22:22-23).[4] Paul has been detained, initially within the Roman barracks in Jerusalem, and then in Caesarea, some 110 kilometres (68 mi) from the Jewish capital.[5] He has asserted that by birth he is aRoman citizen (Acts 22:25-28), and his trial therefore needs to be undertaken in recognition of his citizenship. The narrator's intention is to progress the story of Paul's transfer to Rome for trial.[4] AsActs 23 ends, the Roman governor,Antonius Felix, is awaiting the arrival of Paul's accusers from Jerusalem in order to commence a hearing.[6] The venue of the hearing is now "much more in the Roman sphere than the Jewish".[5]
TheSanhedrin sent a delegation to Felix, bringing a professionalrhetor (KJV:orator; NRSVattorney) to make a formal rhetorical presentation on their behalf (verse 1).[5]
This "Ananias, the high priest" (verse 1;cf.23:2) wasAnanias son of Nebedaeus, who was appointed by Herod of Chalcis in AD 47, and replaced in 59.[8][4]
TheKing James Version states that "he was called forth", referring to Paul being called tohear the accusation against him.[10] Thus theNew Living Translation opens verse 2 with "Paul was called in".[11] Alternatively,the Living Bible suggests that the words refer to Tertullus being called forward.[12]
When it is his turn to speak, Paul, like Tertullus, focuses his self-defence (apologia, verse 10) on events in Jerusalem, stating that he has not been involved in disputes or riots in synagogue or temple (verse 12), and, "as Luke takes pains to show, no offence against the law can be proved against him" (verse 13).[5] "By a simple narrative, Paul overthrows the exaggerated accusation" made against him.[16]
The dignified, calm, and wise manner in which Paul speaks has been noted by several writers.[18][19] Felix's "many years" probably amounted to six or seven years.[16]
When prosecution and defense have presented their cases, Felix the procurator 'refuses to be drawn into making a judgement', first 'on the pretext of waiting for the tribune's report' (verse 22), but then 'no more is heard of this'.[5] According to custom at that time, Paul could be released at the end of Felix's term of office (verse 27), yet 'Felix deliberately leaves the case for his successor'.[5]