And when he had read it and had asked of what province he was and understood that he was of Cilicia:
αναγνους δε ο ηγεμων και επερωτησας εκ ποιας επαρχιας εστιν και πυθομενος οτι απο κιλικιας
3 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Felix promised Paul that he would examine his case when his accusers appeared. Until then, he kept him under guard, though not in the common prison, but in Herod's praetorium, that is, in the procurator's palace, where he himself lived.
He asked what province he was from. This is not mentioned in Lysias's letter.
The governor Felix’s attitude toward the Apostle Paul was cold. He merely asked where Paul was from, and then ordered that he be kept under guard at the same house where he himself lived.
This was at the so-called Herodian praetorium, that is, the building constructed by Herod. Felix promised to examine Paul’s case when his accusers arrived, for as infantrymen they could not keep pace with Paul and his escort.
“The author of Acts later states directly that, after the examination in the presence of his accusers, the procurator ordered that the prisoner not be restricted (see Acts 24:23).
“Yet even earlier, one may suppose,” says His Grace Michael, “he was not greatly restricted in this respect, both as a Roman citizen and as an innocent man. Probably the favorable word about the prisoner in Lysias’ letter contributed to this.”
Concerning Felix, the historian Tacitus reports: “The emperor Claudius gave devastated Judea into the administration of knights or freedmen. One of the latter was Antonius Felix, who stained his rule with cruelty and plunder, and combined absolute royal power with the soul of a slave.”
He was the brother of another slave, Pallas, who through Agrippa’s favor seized into his hands the administration of Rome and the whole empire.
Despite the support of his all-powerful brother, Felix wished to give his rule a certain national foundation. He married Drusilla, the daughter of Herod Agrippa and wife of Azizus, king of Emesa, whom she abandoned.
But his harsh character, corrupt life, greed, baseness, and courting of the people, in a word, everything about him repelled others.
After two years of Felix’s rule, Nero recalled him. Had it not been for his powerful brother, he would have paid with his head for his vile despotism in governing Judea.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 13 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS