Acts 24:1-6

Chapter 24:1-9 presents Ananias and Tertullus, against Paul.

Verse 1: Five days after Paul was sent to Felix, Ananias the high priest, some of the elders, and an orator whose name was Tertullus, arrived in Cæsarea to make their charges against Paul.

Verses 2-3: As an orator, Tertullus’s purpose is to make a good presentation of the case against Paul. He began the accusation by first shrewdly addressing the governor, Felix. As Paul in Acts 22:1 (q.v.), Tertullus uses captatio benevolentiae (Latin, ‘winning of goodwill’). He praises the peace achieved under Felix’s rulership (“we enjoy great quietness”), his provisions toward the Jewish nation, and he expressed the gratefulness of the people to Felix for these things.

Verses 4-6a: Tertullus appreciates Felix’s clemency (kind disposition toward them, επιεικεια), and alludes to the fact that he will not be tedious by imposing on his kindness or lengthy in his address, but would rather make the case in “a few words.”[i]

The charges of the Jews against Paul are fourfold, “we have found this man” to be:

• “a pestilent fellow”
•     He is one who carries disease and death; he is a plague
• “a mover of sedition among all the Jews”
•     He is moving Jews toward rebellion; all the Jews, throughout the Roman world 
• “a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes”
•     He is – ringleader, sect, Nazarenes – certain truth presented in a negative light
• “who also hath gone about to profane the temple”
•     He profaned the temple, the immediate complaint that set off the entire affair

The first two charges are worded in a way that could be concerning to a Roman governor. A general public nuisance is something of which the sitting governor should want to take note. However, the actual “sedition” to which Paul moved “all Jews” throughout the world was toward believing their Messiah had come in the person of Jesus, who died for their sins and rose for their justification. He did not incite violence or promote any rebellion against the Roman government.

The last two charges were concerning religious issues, as Lysias had written, “whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law.”

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[i] “It was also customary to promise brevity, though such is human nature that the promise is rarely kept.” Acts. Longenecker, p. 335. He sees the praises of peace and provisions as an “appeal to Felix’s vanity.” The character of this governor was “frequent displays of ferocity, cruelty, and greed.”