Acts 25:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

When Festus arrived in Jerusalem, he was met with the same outcry. Paul's death was demanded not only by the mob, but also by delegations of the chief representatives of Jerusalem, led by Ishmael Ben-Fabi, the new high priest.

The Jews always used their characteristic cleverness to take advantage of every newly arrived governor's inexperience. They tried, as far as possible, to incline him in their favor before he had settled into his position and while he naturally wished to make a favorable impression on all.

But Festus was not among those base and weak procurators ready to commit a crime merely to gain popularity. The Palestinian Jews soon found that they were dealing with a man in no way disposed to indulge them.

The people, with their hierarchs at their head, asked him for their first favor. They wanted him not to remove the Apostle Paul's case from their jurisdiction, but to bring the prisoner to Jerusalem. There they wished to subject him once more to the judgment of the Sanhedrin. This time every measure would be taken to keep him from evading judgment by stirring up theological disputes among them.

In reality, these ritualists were far less troubled by murder than by ceremonial defilement. They had already arranged that, if Festus granted their request, their hired assassins would immediately finish off the Apostle Paul on the road.

Festus, however, penetrated their evil designs and declined to consent to their request. He used the plausible pretext that, since the Apostle Paul was now in Caesarea, he would immediately return there and fully hear their complaints.

Since the Jews continued to insist on their request, Festus gave them a haughty and purely Roman answer. He said that it was not the Roman custom to sacrifice a man's life for the benefit of his accusers. Therefore he must confront the accused personally with his accusers and give the accused full opportunity for defense.

The high priest and his accomplices saw that they could gain nothing by intimidating Festus or flattering him. They therefore had to content themselves once more with forming the most influential delegation possible, in order to succeed in the accusation.

"I think," says Saint John Chrysostom, "that Festus was staying with those who wished to incline him to their side. They persuaded him and asked it as a favor. But why, if Paul deserved to die according to justice? Yet their plot was evident even to him. They asked him for a favor and wanted him to pronounce sentence on Paul. But he refused them."

Saint John Chrysostom believes that Paul's enemies would not have been unwilling to go themselves to Caesarea, had Festus not anticipated them. "What are you afraid of? What do you fear? It is plainly said: he is kept under guard. Can he, then, escape?"