What does Acts 25:13 Mean?

Study Notes

Agrippa
This ( Acts 5:13 ) was Herod Agrippa II., son of the Herod Agrippa I. of Acts 12:1 , and great-grandson of Herod the Great.

Bernice, or Berenice, was the sister of Herod Agrippa II. Acts 5:13 .

Herod the king

Called Herod the Great, son of Antipater, an Idumean Genesis 36:1 (See Scofield " Genesis 36:1 ") and Cypros, an Arabian woman. Antipater was appointed procurator of Judea by Julius Caesar, B.C. 47. At the age of fifteen Herod was appointed to the government of Galilee. B.C. 40 the Roman senate made him king of Judea. An able, strong, and cruel man, he increased greatly the splendour of Jerusalem, erecting the temple which was the centre of Jewish worship in the time of our Lord.

Verse Meaning

This King Agrippa was Marcus Julius Agrippa II, the son of Herod Agrippa I ( Acts 12:1-11), the grandson of Aristobulus, and the great grandson of Herod the Great ( Matthew 2:1). ^[1] Herod the Great had tried to destroy the infant Jesus. One of his sons, Antipas, Agrippa II"s great uncle, beheaded John the Baptist and tried our Lord. Agrippa II"s father, Agrippa I, executed James , the son of Zebedee and the brother of John. He also imprisoned Peter and died in Caesarea (ch12). His Song of Solomon , Agrippa II, is the man Paul now faced. He had grown up in Rome and was a favorite of Emperor Claudius. He was the last in the Herodian dynasty and was the best of the Herods. [source][source]

[source]

At the time he visited Festus, Agrippa was the king whom Rome had appointed over the territory northeast of the Judean province. He lived in Caesarea Philippi (Dan of the Old Testament) that he renamed Neronias in honor of Nero. Agrippa was about30 years old at this time, and his sister, Bernice (Lat. Veronica), was one year younger. He ruled this region from A.D50 to70. Drusilla, Felix"s wife, was Agrippa and Bernice"s younger sister. [source][source]

[source]

Agrippa and Bernice evidently visited Festus on this occasion to pay their respects to the new governor of their neighboring province. Agrippa and Bernice were essentially favorable to the Jews. They both tried to avert the Roman massacre of the Jews in A.D66-70. ^[2] [source]

Context Summary

Mark the difference with which these two men regarded our Lord. To the one, He was the supreme object of his affection and his life; to the other, He was "one Jesus." Notice also that Paul had made clear his belief that Jesus was alive. Evidently the risen Christ had been the burden of Paul's preaching. Even Festus had come to understand that, although he would not accept it as true.

The Apostle's audience on the morrow was the most dignified and influential that he had addressed up to this point. As the Lord told Ananias that Saul had been chosen to bear His name before Gentiles and kings and the Children of Israel, so it came to pass. See Acts 9:15. There is no doubt that Paul was lifted far above the thought or fear of man by the consciousness that the Lord was standing by to strengthen him, so that through him the gospel might be fully known. Let us view every circumstance in our experience as the lamp-stand on which to place the lamp of testimony. It is a good thing to ask, "How far will this promote my Lord's business?" [source]

Chapter Summary: Acts 25

¹  The Jews accuse Paul before Festus
⁸  He answers for himself,
¹¹  and appeals unto Caesar
¹⁴  Afterwards Festus opens his matter to king Agrippa;
²³  and he is brought forth
²⁵  Festus clears him of having done anything worthy of death