Act 23:35 | KingComments | STEP | The transport of the prisoner begins. As befits good soldiers, they act according to the orders of their superior ( ) and pick up Paul. The first part of the journey takes place at night and is aimed at Antipatris. The next day the foot soldiers return and the horsemen continue with Paul in their midst to Caesarea. In Caesarea they go to the governor Felix and give him the letter from Claudius Lysias explaining the reason for their visit. That reason is also placed in front of him in the person of Paul. After reading the letter, Felix asks which province Paul comes from. The answer is that he comes from Cilicia, where Tarsus is also situated. That doesn’t fall under Felix’s authority, but he doesn’t see any reason to send Paul to that district. Perhaps he didn’t want to offend the Jews too much who would have to travel all the way to Cilicia to express their accusations. He tells Paul that he will interrogate him as soon as his accusers have arrived. Roman law prescribed that the accused and the accusers had to appear in court together. The accusers could then put forward their accusations, after which the accused was given the opportunity to refute them. After his communication to Paul, Felix ordered that Paul be kept in Herod’s Praetorium. The Praetorium of Herod is the palace built by Herod the Great, which was intended by the Romans as the governor’s residence.

‏ Acts 23:35

Paul Sent to Felix

The transport of the prisoner begins. As befits good soldiers, they act according to the orders of their superior (Mt 8:9) and pick up Paul. The first part of the journey takes place at night and is aimed at Antipatris. The next day the foot soldiers return and the horsemen continue with Paul in their midst to Caesarea. In Caesarea they go to the governor Felix and give him the letter from Claudius Lysias explaining the reason for their visit. That reason is also placed in front of him in the person of Paul.

After reading the letter, Felix asks which province Paul comes from. The answer is that he comes from Cilicia, where Tarsus is also situated. That doesn’t fall under Felix’s authority, but he doesn’t see any reason to send Paul to that district. Perhaps he didn’t want to offend the Jews too much who would have to travel all the way to Cilicia to express their accusations.

He tells Paul that he will interrogate him as soon as his accusers have arrived. Roman law prescribed that the accused and the accusers had to appear in court together. The accusers could then put forward their accusations, after which the accused was given the opportunity to refute them.

After his communication to Paul, Felix ordered that Paul be kept in Herod’s Praetorium. The Praetorium of Herod is the palace built by Herod the Great, which was intended by the Romans as the governor’s residence.