Section 115 of 13025:13–25:22Acts

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King James VersionActs 25:13–25:22

And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Cæsarea to salute Festus.

And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul’s cause unto the king, saying, There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix:

About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him.

To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.

Therefore, when they were come hither, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man to be brought forth.

Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed:

But had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.

And because I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters.

But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Cæsar.

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

Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.

Scripture text: King James Version, Standardized 1769 text. Public domain in the United States.About this Bible text

Acts 25:13–25:22

Festus explains the unresolved case to Agrippa

Festus reduces a living claim to a puzzle about a dead man

Agrippa and Bernice come to Caesarea to greet Festus. After some days Festus lays Paul's case before the king: a man left bound by Felix; Jerusalem leaders wanted judgment; Roman custom is not to give a person up before accusers and accused meet face to face. When they came, they brought no charge of the crimes Festus expected, but certain questions about their own religion and about one Jesus, who was dead, whom Paul asserted to be alive. Uncertain, Festus asked whether Paul would go to Jerusalem; Paul appealed to be held for the emperor. Agrippa says he would like to hear the man himself.

The governor's summary is useful for administration and thin for truth. Puzzlement reveals the limit of official framing. It does not make the misunderstanding innocent. Gossip beyond the text about Agrippa and Bernice is not invited, and a Herodian visit is not a conversion scene.

How this should shape us

Describe an unresolved case accurately before you ask for help. Do not convert official confusion into guilt, and do not shrink resurrection to a superstition just because a governor cannot categorize it.

Teach it back

Explain Acts 25:13–25:22 in your own words, naming its movement, speaker or narrator role, one source-controlled detail, one uncertainty, one affected person, and one conclusion the passage does not authorize.

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Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and unit coverage.

Acts 25:13–25:22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition

Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control, without pretending one edition is a complete apparatus.

SBLGNT official text, Acts 25:13-25:22

STEP Bible Data

Supports: Morphology and lexical cross-check for words explicitly discussed in this unit.

STEP Bible Data, TAGNT rows for Acts 25:13-25:22

NET Bible First Edition Notes: Acts

Supports: Verse-attached textual, translation, language, geography, chronology, and historical notes actually printed for the unit.

NET Bible First Edition Acts PDF, printed pp. 2104-2205, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to 25:13–25:22

Acts of the Apostles Course and Study Guides

Supports: Introductory critical orientation to the unit's place in Luke-Acts, with contested judgments retained as interpretations.

Yale Bible Study Acts course, course unit 'The Gospel, the Romans, the Jews,' Acts 24-28 study guide

The Acts of the Apostles

Supports: One complete confessional commentary reading, independently checked against the text and critical controls.

Thompson, online Acts commentary, heading and paragraphs explicitly covering Acts 25:13–25:22

The Jewishness of Luke-Acts: How Recent Scholarship Has Challenged the View that Luke-Acts Is Pro-Gentile and Anti-Jewish

Supports: Abstract-supported control for Jewish continuity and Gentile inclusion in Acts 25:13–25:22, not a settlement of every conflict scene.

Smith, JTS 72.2 (2021), pp. 738-765, official abstract and bibliographic record

The Provincial Contexts of Paul's Imprisonments: Law Enforcement and Criminal Procedure in the Roman East

Supports: Roman law-enforcement comparison with explicit local variation and limits on reconstructing procedure.

Brelaz, JSNT 43.4 (2021), complete open HTML, section 1 and the named provincial, custody, citizenship, hearing, or conclusion paragraphs bearing on Acts 25:13–25:22

Sources for This Section

These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and unit coverage.

Exact location: Acts 25:13–25:22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus

Open source ↗

Greek textual evidence

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition

Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos

Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010

Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control, without pretending one edition is a complete apparatus.

Exact location: SBLGNT official text, Acts 25:13-25:22

Open the Acts Greek text file ↗

Lexical and grammatical evidence

STEP Bible Data

Tyndale House Cambridge

Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026

Supports: Morphology and lexical cross-check for words explicitly discussed in this unit.

Exact location: STEP Bible Data, TAGNT rows for Acts 25:13-25:22

Open source ↗

open translation and translator notes

NET Bible First Edition Notes: Acts

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, 2006

Supports: Verse-attached textual, translation, language, geography, chronology, and historical notes actually printed for the unit.

Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Acts PDF, printed pp. 2104-2205, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to 25:13–25:22

Open source ↗

open university bible study course

Acts of the Apostles Course and Study Guides

Yale Divinity School faculty

Yale Bible Study, 2019

Supports: Introductory critical orientation to the unit's place in Luke-Acts, with contested judgments retained as interpretations.

Exact location: Yale Bible Study Acts course, course unit 'The Gospel, the Romans, the Jews,' Acts 24-28 study guide

Open source ↗

open confessional commentary

The Acts of the Apostles

Alan J. Thompson

The Gospel Coalition, 2023

Supports: One complete confessional commentary reading, independently checked against the text and critical controls.

Exact location: Thompson, online Acts commentary, heading and paragraphs explicitly covering Acts 25:13–25:22

Open source ↗

peer reviewed article abstract and metadata

The Jewishness of Luke-Acts: How Recent Scholarship Has Challenged the View that Luke-Acts Is Pro-Gentile and Anti-Jewish

Joshua Paul Smith

The Journal of Theological Studies 72.2, 2021

Supports: Abstract-supported control for Jewish continuity and Gentile inclusion in Acts 25:13–25:22, not a settlement of every conflict scene.

Exact location: Smith, JTS 72.2 (2021), pp. 738-765, official abstract and bibliographic record

Open source ↗

peer reviewed open access scholarly article

The Provincial Contexts of Paul's Imprisonments: Law Enforcement and Criminal Procedure in the Roman East

Cedric Brelaz

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 43.4, 2021

Supports: Roman law-enforcement comparison with explicit local variation and limits on reconstructing procedure.

Exact location: Brelaz, JSNT 43.4 (2021), complete open HTML, section 1 and the named provincial, custody, citizenship, hearing, or conclusion paragraphs bearing on Acts 25:13–25:22

Open source ↗

Acts 25:13–25:22, King James Version

Festus reduces a living claim to a puzzle about a dead man

How this should shape us

Teach it back

Go deeper

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition

STEP Bible Data

NET Bible First Edition Notes: Acts

Acts of the Apostles Course and Study Guides

The Acts of the Apostles

The Jewishness of Luke-Acts: How Recent Scholarship Has Challenged the View that Luke-Acts Is Pro-Gentile and Anti-Jewish

The Provincial Contexts of Paul's Imprisonments: Law Enforcement and Criminal Procedure in the Roman East