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10 Paul replied,[a] “I am standing before Caesar’s[b] judgment seat,[c] where I should be tried.[d] I have done nothing wrong[e] to the Jews, as you also know very well.[f]

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 25:10 tn Grk “said.”
  2. Acts 25:10 tn Or “before the emperor’s” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).
  3. Acts 25:10 tn Although BDAG 175 s.v. βῆμα 3 gives the meaning “tribunal” for this verse, and a number of modern translations use similar terms (“court,” NIV; “tribunal,” NRSV), since the bema was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time, there is no need for an alternative translation here. Here of course Paul’s reference to “Caesar’s judgment seat” is a form of metonymy; since Festus is Caesar’s representative, Festus’ judgment seat represents Caesar’s own.sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bēma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and sometimes furnished with a seat, used by officials in addressing an assembly or making pronouncements, often on judicial matters. The judgment seat was a familiar item in Greco-Roman culture, often located in the agora, the public square or marketplace in the center of a city.
  4. Acts 25:10 tn That is, tried by an imperial representative and subject to Roman law.
  5. Acts 25:10 sn “I have done nothing wrong.” Here is yet another declaration of total innocence on Paul’s part.
  6. Acts 25:10 tn BDAG 506 s.v. καλῶς 7 states, “comp. κάλλιον (for the superl., as Galen, Protr. 8 p. 24, 19J.=p. 10, 31 Kaibel; s. B-D-F §244, 2) ὡς καί σὺ κ. ἐπιγινώσκεις as also you know very well Ac 25:10.”