X-Dreamers
Bible chapter guide
Acts 25
Festus succeeds Felix and the Jewish leaders renew their charges. When Festus proposes a trial in Jerusalem, Paul appeals to Caesar. King Agrippa and Bernice arrive, and Festus lays Paul's case before them.
Summary written for the Labs; read the chapter itself for the full text.
What happens in this chapter
Three days after arriving in his province, Festus goes up to Jerusalem, where the chief priests ask him to bring Paul there, planning an ambush on the road. Festus holds the hearing at Caesarea instead, but the charges cannot be proved, and wanting to please the Jews he asks Paul whether he will go up to Jerusalem to be tried. Paul refuses: he is standing before Caesar's judgement seat, he has done nothing wrong, and no one can hand him over to them, so he appeals to Caesar. A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrive, and Festus admits to them that he has nothing definite to write to the emperor about his prisoner.
What the lab shows, and where to look
This chapter has little of its own in the lab: it all happens at 'Caesarea: two years in custody' on the route to Rome in Paul's Roads, where the appeal is one of the stop's events. Festus' arrival, about AD 59/60, is one of the anchors the lab uses to date Paul's life. From there open the whole route to Rome to see what the appeal set in motion: the voyage, the wreck and the two years under guard.
- Caesarea: two years in custody (To Rome) · Paul's Roads
- Arrest and the voyage to Rome · Paul's Roads
Questions people ask
Why did Paul appeal to Caesar?
The chapter gives the reasons. Festus, wanting to please the Jews, proposed a trial in Jerusalem, where a plot had already been laid to kill Paul on the way (25:3, 9). Paul answered that he was already before Caesar's court, had wronged no one, and could not lawfully be handed over to his accusers, and as a Roman citizen he asked to be heard by the emperor (25:10–11). Earlier the Lord had told him he must testify in Rome (23:11).
Which Caesar was it?
Nero, emperor from AD 54 to 68. Acts does not name him; it says 'Augustus' and 'Cæsar' (25:21), but the dates of Festus' governorship fall in Nero's reign. The appeal was made before the persecution of Christians in Rome that followed the fire of AD 64.
Who were Agrippa and Bernice?
King Agrippa II, great-grandson of Herod the Great, ruled lands north and east of the Sea of Galilee and part of Galilee itself, and had the right to appoint the high priest. Bernice was his sister. Festus, new to the province, wanted his help in framing the charge to send with Paul to Rome (25:26–27).