For if I have done wrong and have committed anything worthy of death, I don’t refuse to die; but if none of those things is true that they accuse me of, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar!”
Parallel Translations
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For if I have done wrong and have committed anything worthy of death, I don’t refuse to die; but if none of those things is true that they accuse me of, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar!”
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If I have hurte them or committed eny thinge worthy of deeth I refuse not to dye. If none of these thinges are where of they accuse me no man owght to delyver me to them. I appeale vnto Cesar.
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For if I haue done wrong, or committed any thing worthie of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof they accuse me, no man, to pleasure them, can deliuer me to them: I appeale vnto Caesar.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Acts 25:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Acts 28:19 But when the Jews spoke against it, I was constrained to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything about which to accuse my nation.
- Acts 26:32 Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
- Psalms 7:3-5 Yahweh, my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands, if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me (yes, I have delivered him who without cause was my adversary), let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it; yes, let him tread my life down to the earth, and lay my glory in the dust.
- Acts 25:25 But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and as he himself appealed to the emperor I determined to send him,
- Acts 25:21 But when Paul had appealed to be kept for the decision of the emperor, I commanded him to be kept until I could send him to Caesar.”
- Joshua 22:22 “The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, the Mighty One, God, Yahweh, he knows; and Israel shall know: if it was in rebellion, or if in trespass against Yahweh (don’t save us today),
- 1 Samuel 12:3-5 Here I am. Witness against me before Yahweh, and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Of whose hand have I taken a bribe to make me blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.” They said, “You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything from anyone’s hand.” He said to them, “Yahweh is witness against you, and his anointed is witness today, that you have not found anything in my hand.” They said, “He is witness.”
- 1 Samuel 27:1 David said in his heart, “I will now perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in all the borders of Israel. So shall I escape out of his hand.”
- Job 31:21 if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate,
- Job 31:38-40 If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together; if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life, let briers grow instead of wheat, and stinkweed instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.
- Acts 16:37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly without a trial, men who are Romans, and have cast us into prison! Do they now release us secretly? No, most certainly, but let them come themselves and bring us out!”
- Acts 18:14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If indeed it were a matter of wrong or of wicked crime, you Jews, it would be reasonable that I should bear with you;
- Acts 22:25 When they had tied him up with thongs, Paul asked the centurion who stood by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and not found guilty?”
- Acts 25:10 But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also know very well.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out, and don’t please God, and are contrary to all men,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 11. I appeal unto Caesar. After that he hath…
11. I appeal unto Caesar. After that he hath professed that he doth not refuse to die if he be found guilty, he freely useth such helps as he could find at the hands of men. Wherefore, if we be at any time brought into like straits, we must not be superstitious, but we may crave help of the laws and politic order. Because it is written, that magistrates are made and appointed by God to the praise of the godly (Romans 13:3; and 1 Peter 2:13). Neither was Paul afraid to go to law under an unbelieving judge; for he which appealeth commenceth a new action.
Therefore, let us know that God, who hath appointed judgment-seats, doth also grant liberty to his to use the same lawfully. Therefore, those mistake Paul who think that he doth flatly condemn the Corinthians, (1 Corinthians 6:1) because they require help of the magistrate for defense of their right, seeing he reproveth in that place a manifest fault, to wit, because they could suffer no wrong, and because they were too much set upon suing one another, whereby they caused the gospel to be evil spoken of.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 11 For if I be an offender, or have…
11 For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar.
Ver. 11. I appeal to Coesar] Who though a lion, 2Ti 4:17, yet I hope to be tutus sub umbra leonis, against a manifest violence of a corrupt judge, notoriously forestalled and preoccupated. Iudex, locusta civitatis est, malus. (Scaliger.)
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain If I be an offender; if I have injured…
If I be an offender; if I have injured the Jews, and my fault be worthy of death, such as by law deserves death, I beg no favour.
No man may deliver me unto them; according to law, (which the Romans did punctually observe), before sentence was passed.
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I appeal unto Caesar: it was lawful for any that had that privilege of the Roman citizens, to appeal; neither might they be tried against their wills in any province out of Rome. Now Paul might appeal unto Caesar:
1. To make Caesar more favourable unto himself, and to other Christians.
2. Because he thought it more safe for himself and for the church.
3. He was in part admonished to do it by Christ himself, who had told him that he must bear witness of him at Rome, Act 23:11.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For if I be an offender,.... Against the law…
For if I be an offender,.... Against the law of Moses, or the temple at Jerusalem, or Caesar the Roman emperor:
or have committed anything worthy of death; by the laws of the Romans, as sedition, murder, &c.
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I refuse not to die; signifying that he did not decline going to Jerusalem, either through any consciousness of guilt, or fear of death; for if anything could be proved against him, that was of a capital nature, he did not desire to escape death; he was ready to die for it; this was no subterfuge, or shift, to evade or defer justice:
but if there be none of these things; to be found, or proved, and made to appear:
whereof these accuse me; pointing to the Jews, that came down to be his accusers, and had laid many and grievous charges against him:
no man may deliver me unto them; not justly, or according to the Roman laws; suggesting that Festus himself could not do it legally;
I appeal unto Caesar; to this the apostle was induced, partly by the conduct of the governor, who seemed inclined to favour the Jews; and partly by the knowledge he might have of their intention to lie in wait for him, should he go up to Jerusalem; and chiefly by the vision he had had, which assured him that he must bear witness of Christ at Rome, Act 23:11.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 11. For if I be an offender] If…
Verse 11. For if I be an offender] If it can be proved that I have broken the laws, so as to expose me to capital punishment, I do not wish to save my life by subterfuges; I am before the only competent tribunal; here my business should be ultimately decided.
No man may deliver me unto them] The words of the apostle are very strong and appropriate. The Jews asked as a favour, χαριν, from Festus, that he would send Paul to Jerusalem, Ac 25:3. Festus, willing to do the Jews χαριν, this favour, asked Paul if he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged, Ac 25:9. Paul says, I have done nothing amiss, either against the Jews or against Caesar; therefore no man με δυναται αυτοις χαρισασθαι, can make a PRESENT of me to them; that is, favour them so far as to put my life into their hands, and thus gratify them by my death. Festus, in his address to Agrippa, Ac 25:16, admits this, and uses the same form of speech: It is not the custom of the Romans, χαριζεσθαι, gratuitously to give up any one, c. Much of the beauty of this passage is lost by not attending to the original words. See Clarke on Ac 25:16.
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I appeal unto Caesar.] A freeman of Rome, who had been tried for a crime, and sentence passed on him, had a right to appeal to the emperor, if he conceived the sentence to be unjust but, even before the sentence was pronounced, he had the privilege of an appeal, in criminal cases, if he conceived that the judge was doing any thing contrary to the laws. ANTE sententiam appellari potest in criminali negotio, si judex contra leges hoc faciat.-GROTIUS.
An appeal to the emperor was highly respected. The Julian law condemned those magistrates, and others having authority, as violaters of the public peace, who had put to death, tortured, scourged, imprisoned, or condemned any Roman citizen who had appealed to Caesar. Lege Julia de vi publica damnatur, qui aliqua potestate praeditus, Civem Romanum ad Imperatorem appellantem necarit, necarive jusserit, torserit, verberauerit, condemnaverit, in publica vincula duci jusserit. Pauli Recept. Sent. lib. v. t. 26.
This law was so very sacred and imperative, that, in the persecution under Trajan, Pliny would not attempt to put to death Roman citizens who were proved to have turned Christians; hence, in his letter to Trajan, lib. x. Ep. 97, he says, Fuerunt alii similis amentiae, quos, quia cives Romani erant, annotavi in urbem remittendos. 'There were others guilty of similar folly, whom, finding them to be Roman citizens, I have determined to send to the city." Very likely these had appealed to Caesar.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For if I be an offender - If I…
For if I be an offender - If I have injured the Jews so as to deserve death. If it can be proved that I have done injury to anyone.
I refuse not to die - I have no wish to escape justice. I do not wish to evade the laws, or to take advantage of any circumstances to screen me from just punishment. Paul’s whole course showed that this was the noble spirit which actuated him. No true Christian wishes to escape from the laws. He will honor them, and not seek to evade them. But, like other people, he has rights; and he may and should insist that justice should be done.
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No man may deliver me unto them - No man shall be allowed to do it. This bold and confident declaration Paul could make, because he knew what the law required, and he knew that Festus would not dare to deliver him up contrary to the law. Boldness is not incompatible with Christianity; and innocence, when its rights are invaded, is always bold. Jesus firmly asserted his rights when on trial Joh 18:23, and no man is under obligation to submit to be trampled on by an unjust tribunal in violation of the laws.
I appeal unto Caesar - I appeal to the man emperor, and carry my cause directly before him. By the Valerian, Porcian, and Sempronian laws, it had been enacted that if any magistrate should be about to beat, or to put to death any Roman citizen, the accused could appeal to the Roman people, and this appeal carried the cause to Rome. The law was so far changed under the emperors that the cause should be carried before the emperor instead of the people. Every citizen had the right of this appeal; and when it was made, the accused was sent to Rome for trial. Thus, Pliny Eph. 10, 97 says that those Christians who were accused, and who, being Roman citizens, appealed to Caesar, he sent to Rome to be tried. The reason why Paul made this appeal was that he saw that justice would not be done him by the Roman governor. He had been tried by Felix, and justice had been denied him, and he was detained a prisoner in violation of law, to gratify the Jews; he had now been tried by Festus, and saw that he was pursuing the same course; and he resolved, therefore, to assert his rights, and remove the cause far from Jerusalem, and from the prejudiced people in that city, at once to Rome. It was in this mysterious way that Paul’s long-cherished desire to see the Roman church, and to preach the gospel there, was to be gratified. Compare notes on Rom 1:9-11. For this he had prayed long Rom 1:10; Rom 15:23-24, and now at length this purpose was to be fulfilled. God answers prayer, but it is often in a way which we little anticipate. He so orders the train of events; he so places us amidst a pressure of circumstances, that the desire is granted in a way Which we could never have anticipated, but which shows in the best manner that he is a hearer of prayer.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain I appeal to Cæsar--The right of appeal to the…
I appeal to Cæsar--The right of appeal to the supreme power, in case of life and death, was secured by an ancient law to every Roman citizen, and continued under the empire. Had Festus shown any disposition to pronounce final judgment, Paul, strong in the consciousness of his innocence and the justice of a Roman tribunal, would not have made this appeal. But when the only other alternative offered him was to give his own consent to be transferred to the great hotbed of plots against his life, and to a tribunal of unscrupulous and bloodthirsty ecclesiastics whose vociferous cries for his death had scarcely subsided, no other course was open to him.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 11. Refuse not to die—I accept the penalty which…
11. Refuse not to die—I accept the penalty which the law of the empire decides.
Deliver me—Make a gracious present of me. He insists upon Roman law and justice instead of being bandied about by the favour of one party to another.
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Appeal unto Cesar—By this memorable sentence the apostle irrevocably transfers himself to Rome.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 11. For if I be an offender] The best…
11. For if I be an offender] The best MSS. have not “For.” Read, with Rev. Ver., “If then I am a wrong-doer.” He has asserted that he was innocent so far as the Jews are concerned. If there be anything against him, it is for the civil jurisdiction of Rome, not for the religious tribunal at Jerusalem, to decide upon.
no man may deliver me unto them] The full idea of the verb is expressed by the margin of the Rev. Ver., “no man may grant me by favour.” The use of this word confirms the notion that St Paul saw through what the governor was doing. The word “may” represents the Greek “is able,” and therefore the “can” of the Rev. Ver. is to be approved. There is no power anywhere which can give me up to them.
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I appeal unto Cesar] The final tribunal being the hearing of the Emperor himself.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (11) No man may deliver me unto them.—Literally, no…
(11) No man may deliver me unto them.—Literally, no man may give me up to them as a favour. The words show that he saw through the simulated fairness of the procurator, and did not shrink from showing that he did so.
I appeal unto Cæsar.—The history of this right of appeal affords a singular illustration of the manner in which the republic had been transformed into a despotic monarchy. Theoretically the emperor was but the imperator, or commander-in-chief of the armies of the state, appointed by the senate, and acting under its direction. Consuls were still elected every year, and went through the shadowy functions of their office. Many of the provinces (see Notes on Act_13:7; Act_18:12), were directly under the control of the senate, and were accordingly governed by proconsuls. But Augustus had contrived to concentrate in himself all the powers that in the days of the republic had checked and balanced the exercise of individual authority. He was supreme pontiff, and as such regulated the religion of the state; permanent censor, and as such could give or recall the privileges of citizenship at his pleasure. The Tribunicia potestas, which had originally been conferred on the tribunes of the plebs so that they might protect members of their order who appealed to them against the injustice of patrician magistrates, was attached to his office. As such he became the final Court of Appeal from all subordinate tribunals, and so, by a subtle artifice, what had been intended as a safeguard to freedom became the instrument of a centralised tyranny. With this aspect of the matter St. Paul had, of course, nothing to do. It was enough for him that by this appeal he delivered himself from the injustice of a weak and temporising judge, and made his long-delayed journey to Rome a matter of moral certainty.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain If then I am a wrong, doer for for…
If then I am a wrong, doer for for if I be an offender, A.V. and T.R.; and for or, A.V.; if none of those things is true for if there be none of these things, A.V.; can give me up for may deliver me, A.V. I refuse not; ouj paraitoumai. Here only in the Acts, and three times in Luke 14. Elsewhere, four times in the pastoral Epistles, and twice in Hebrews. Frequent in classical Greek. No man can give me up (carisasqai); as ver. 16, "to hand over as a matter of complaisance." St. Paul saw at once the danger he was in from Festus"s inclination to curry favor with the Jews. With his usual fearlessness, therefore, and perhaps with the same quickness of temper which made him call Ananias "a whited wall," he said, "No man (not even the mighty Roman governor) may make me over to them at their request, to please them," and with the ready wit which characterized him, and with a knowledge of the rights which the Lex Julia, in addition to other laws, conferred on him as a Roman citizen, he immediately added, I appeal unto Caesar.
Appeal to Caesar.
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In introducing this subject, the difficulty in which Festus was placed should be shown. His predecessor had just been recalled, through the opposition of these very Jews who were now seeking a favor from him, and to resist them in their first request would be sure to excite a strong prejudice against him. So even Festus attempted the weakness of a compromise. He saw that the matter was not one with which a Roman tribunal could concern itself. It was really a locally religious dispute. So he thought he could meet the case by persuading Paul to go to Jerusalem to be tried, under the security of his protection. But the apostle knew the Jews much better than Festus did. Perhaps he was quite wearied out with these vain trials and this prolonged uncertainty. It seems that he suddenly made up his mind to claim his right of appeal as a Roman citizen, which would secure him from the machinations of his Jewish enemies. There are times when Christians may appeal to their citizen rights in their defense. This may be illustrated from such a case as that of the Salvation Army, and their right of procession through the streets. In times of religious persecution men have properly found defense and shelter in a demand for legal and political justice. Their hope has often lain in having their cases removed from the heated passionate atmospheres of religious courts to the calm atmospheres of strictly legal ones, though even our law-courts do not always keep due calmness when questions related to religion are brought before them. In this incident we may notice
I ST. PAUL"S SAFETY AS A ROMAN. Explain the privileges of Roman citizenship. No governor could give him up to the Jews apart from his own consent (ver. 16). Recall the circumstances under which Paul"s citizenship had proved his defense.
II ST. PAUL"S RIGHT AS A ROMAN PRISONER. A right of appeal from any inferior to the supreme court at Rome over which the emperor presided. Theoretically, this was a safeguard to justice, but in practice it proved rather a furtherance of injustice. The apostle was not likely to know all that was involved in his appeal. "There is obviously something like a sneer in the procurator"s acceptance of St. Paul"s decision. He knew, it may be, better than the apostle to what kind of judge the latter was appealing, what long delays there would be before the cause was heard, how little chance there was of a righteous judgment at last." The appeal must have been a surprise to all who heard it.
(1) To Paul"s friends, who lost the last hope of having him released to them.
(2) To Paul"s enemies, who knew that he was now altogether beyond their reach. And
(3) to Festus, who felt that the prisoner recognized his inability to follow out what he knew to be the right, and who could not help being ashamed of his suggested weak compromise. Still, in this we may feel that the apostle was divinely directed, according to the promise, It shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak." Through this appeal Providence opened the way for what seemed to be an unlikely, and indeed almost an impossible, thing, that St. Paul should see Rome, and even dwell there as a Christian teacher. We are often showing that circumstances work out Divine providences; we need also to see that the free actions of men, freely taken, work out the Divine providences quite as certainly. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain See notes on verse 10
See notes on verse 10
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Though if I have done wrong ... no one…
Though if I have done wrong ... no one may hand me over to them
Paul is stating a hypothetical situation. If he were guilty, he would accept the punishment, but he knows that he is not guilty. (See: Hypothetical Situations)
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if I have done what is worthy of death
"if I have done some wrong that deserves the death penalty"
if their accusations are nothing
"if the charges against me are not true"
no one may hand me over to them
Possible meanings are 1) Festus does not have the legal authority to hand Paul over to these false accusers or 2) Paul was saying that if he has done nothing wrong, the governor should not give into the request of the Jews.
I appeal to Caesar
"I ask that I go before Caesar so he can judge me"
with the council
This is not the Sanhedrin that is referred to as "council" throughout Acts. This is a political council in the Roman government. AT: "with his own government advisors"
translationWords
die
accuse
hand
Caesar
council
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.