Kisah Para Rasul 25:6-9

25:6 After Festus ¹  had stayed ²  not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea, ³  and the next day he sat ⁴  on the judgment seat ⁵  and ordered Paul to be brought. 25:7 When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, ⁶  bringing many serious ⁷  charges that they were not able to prove. ⁸  25:8 Paul said in his defense, ⁹  “I have committed no offense ¹⁰  against the Jewish law ¹¹  or against the temple or against Caesar.” ¹²  25:9 But Festus, ¹³  wanting to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and be tried ¹⁴  before me there on these charges?” ¹⁵ 

[25:6]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Festus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:6]  ² tn Grk “Having stayed.” The participle διατρίψας (diatriya") has been taken temporally.

[25:6]  ³ 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.

[25:6]  map For location see Map2 C1; Map4 B3; Map5 F2; Map7 A1; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[25:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “sitting down…he ordered.” The participle καθίσας (kaqisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[25:6]  ⁵ 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 bhma was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time, there is no need for an alternative translation here.

[25:6]  sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bhma) 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.

[25:7]  ⁶ tn BDAG 801 s.v. περιίστημι 1.a has “περιέστησαν αὐτὸν οἱ ᾿Ιουδαῖοι the Judeans stood around him 25:7.”

[25:7]  ⁷ tn Grk “many and serious.” The term βαρύς (barus) refers to weighty or serious charges (BDAG 167 s.v. 1).

[25:7]  ⁸ tn The term ἀποδείκνυμι (apodeiknumi) in a legal context refers to legal proof (4 Macc 1:8; BDAG 108 s.v. 3).

[25:8]  ⁹ tn Grk “Paul saying in his defense”; the participle ἀπολογουμένου (apologoumenou) could be taken temporally (“when Paul said…”), but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the participle was translated as a finite verb and a new sentence begun here in the translation. BDAG 116-17 s.v. ἀπολογέομαι has “W. ὅτι foll. τοῦ Παύλου ἀπολογουμένου, ὅτι when Paul said in his defense (direct quot. foll.) Ac 25:8.”

[25:8]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “I have sinned…in nothing.”

[25:8]  ¹¹ tn Grk “against the law of the Jews.” Here τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[25:8]  sn The Jewish law refers to the law of Moses.

[25:8]  ¹² tn Or “against the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[25:8]  sn Paul’s threefold claim to be innocent with respect to the law…the temple and Caesar argues that he has not disturbed the peace at any level. This was the standard charge made against early Christians (Luke 23:2; Acts 17:6-7). The charges here are emphatically denied, with the Greek conjunction oute repeated before each charge.

[25:9]  ¹³ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[25:9]  ¹⁴ tn Or “stand trial.”

[25:9]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “concerning these things.”