X-Dreamers
Bible chapter guide
Acts 24
The orator Tertullus accuses Paul before Felix. Paul answers that he worships the God of his fathers and hopes in the resurrection. Felix, hoping for a bribe, often talks with him and leaves him in custody for two years.
Summary written for the Labs; read the chapter itself for the full text.
What happens in this chapter
Five days after Paul reaches Caesarea, the high priest Ananias comes down with some elders and a speaker named Tertullus, who flatters Felix and calls Paul a plague and a ringleader of the Nazarenes. Paul answers that he went up to Jerusalem to worship only twelve days before, that no one found him arguing or stirring up a crowd, and that he serves the God of his fathers and hopes in the resurrection. Felix puts off a decision until the commander Lysias comes. Later he and his wife Drusilla send for Paul, but when Paul speaks of righteousness, self-control and the coming judgement Felix is afraid and dismisses him, and for two years he keeps Paul in custody, hoping for a bribe.
What the lab shows, and where to look
The lab has only one stop for this chapter, and it is a long one: 'Caesarea: two years in custody' on the route to Rome in Paul's Roads, dated about AD 57–59. The more interesting view is Letters. Open Philippians and Colossians: each lists Caesarea among the places it may have been written, side by side with Rome, and gives the basis and evidence level of each option. Drag the timeline to see which letters existed by then.
- Caesarea: two years in custody (To Rome) · Paul's Roads
- Philippians · Paul's Roads
- Colossians · Paul's Roads
Questions people ask
When was Paul held at Caesarea?
Probably about AD 57 to 59. Acts says the custody lasted two years and ended when Porcius Festus succeeded Felix (24:27), and Festus' arrival is usually dated to AD 59 or 60 from Roman and Jewish sources. The voyage to Rome followed that autumn.
Did Paul write any letters from Caesarea?
Possibly, but Rome is the traditional answer. Paul was held two years at Caesarea with friends allowed to visit him (24:23, 27), so a minority places some of the prison letters there. The lab rates Philippians from Caesarea as plausible and Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon from Caesarea as speculative.
Who was Drusilla?
Acts calls her Felix's wife and a Jewess (24:24). Josephus (Antiquities 20.141–143) says she was a daughter of Herod Agrippa I, and so a sister of the King Agrippa and Bernice who appear in the next chapter, and that she left her first husband to marry Felix.
See it in the Labs
- Paul's RoadsCaesarea: two years in custody (To Rome) · Paul's RoadsOpen
- The Bible Time MapPaul arrested and held at Caesarea · The Bible Time MapOpen
People in this chapter
Also in this chapter
How sure can we be?
- Plausible
Paul sailed for Rome in the autumn of about AD 59 and reached it in the spring of about AD 60.
Festus' arrival in Judea, two years after Paul's arrest (24:27), is usually dated AD 59/60. The voyage began after the Fast (27:9) and resumed after three months on Malta (28:11). Two years in Rome follow (28:30).
- Plausible
Philippians written from Caesarea
Paul was held two years at Caesarea (Acts 24:27) with friends allowed to visit him (24:23); a minority reading places some prison letters there.
- Speculative
Ephesians written from Caesarea
Paul was held two years at Caesarea (Acts 24:27) with friends allowed to visit him (24:23); a minority reading places some prison letters there.
- Speculative
Colossians written from Caesarea
Paul was held two years at Caesarea (Acts 24:27) with friends allowed to visit him (24:23); a minority reading places some prison letters there.
- Speculative
Philemon written from Caesarea
Paul was held two years at Caesarea (Acts 24:27) with friends allowed to visit him (24:23); a minority reading places some prison letters there.