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Acts 25:9
ESV But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, "Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?"
NIV Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?"
NASB But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, replied to Paul and said, 'Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges?'
CSB But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, replied to Paul, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem to be tried before me there on these charges?"
NLT Then Festus, wanting to please the Jews, asked him, 'Are you willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there?'
KJV But Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul, and said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me?
NKJV But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before me concerning these things?”

What does Acts 25:9 mean?

Porcius Festus replaced Governor Felix around AD 58. Felix had been such a cruel, corrupt ruler that he was recalled to Rome after many complaints from his people. That happened under the rule of the infamously depraved Nero. Festus is reportedly a good ruler—fair and reasonable—and even destroyed the Sicarii assassins Felix had used to do his dirty work.

Practically the first order of business Festus attends to after arriving at his new post is to go to Jerusalem to meet with the Sanhedrin—the Jewish religious and cultural leaders. They immediately ask for a favor. Paul has been under house arrest in the capital, Caesarea Maritima, ever since Felix refused to rule on his trial two years prior (Acts 24:22–27). The Sanhedrin asks Festus to return Paul to Jerusalem for a new trial. Festus requests they first send representatives to present their charges at a hearing in Caesarea (Acts 25:1–5).

At the hearing, Festus takes his place on the tribunal seat, establishing that this is an official, legal trial and he is acting in his official capacity. Things get murkier, however, when he realizes the Sanhedrin doesn't have a case. The charges are serious, but they have no witnesses and no evidence. Paul easily refutes their claims, and Festus is stuck (Acts 25:6–8). How can he please the Sanhedrin when there's no legal cause?

He asks nicely. He asks Paul if he wouldn't mind going to Jerusalem for a new trial. Paul has none of it. He replies, "I am standing before Caesar's tribunal, where I ought to be tried" (Acts 25:10). Paul is a Roman citizen and has the right to choose where he will be tried. The alleged crime happened in Jerusalem. The governor's seat is in Caesarea. Paul is a native of Tarsus. All these places are under Festus's jurisdiction. Paul gets to choose which of these three places the trial may occur, and he chooses here and now.

Paul has reason to. The reason he is in Caesarea and not Jerusalem is that two years prior the Sanhedrin had conspired with forty other men to trick the Roman army tribune to bring Paul out into the open so they could kill him (Acts 23:12–15). Paul may suspect they will try again—and they plan to (Acts 25:3). Paul resorts to his last card: he appeals his case to Caesar (Acts 25:11), meaning he wants the case taken to a higher court. He does escape the Sanhedrin's death plot and win his freedom from Caesarea, but nearly dies in a shipwreck, gets bitten by a viper, and spends another two years under house arrest in Rome (Acts 27—28).
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