Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days he ascended from Cæsarea to Jerusalem.
Porcius Festus had newly arrived as governor of the province with his seat at Caesarea, and three days after his arrival he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. That journey placed his meeting with the Jewish leaders at the very beginning of his administration. They promptly pressed him about Paul's case and asked that Paul be brought to Jerusalem.
Their request for the transfer concealed a plan to kill Paul on the way by ambush on the road to Jerusalem. Festus refused to move him and kept Paul's hearing and trial at Caesarea. That decision preserved Paul's life. In its larger setting this opening belongs to the account of Paul in chains facing a criminal's death while Nero ruled a world empire, illustrating faith in God's word standing against human power and policy serving evil.
Porcius Festus had newly arrived as governor of the province with his seat at Caesarea, and three days after his arrival he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. That journey placed his meeting with the Jewish leaders at the very beginning of his administration. They promptly pressed him about Paul's case and asked that Paul be brought to Jerusalem.
Their request for the transfer concealed a plan to kill Paul on the way by ambush on the road to Jerusalem. Festus refused to move him and kept Paul's hearing and trial at Caesarea. That decision preserved Paul's life. In its larger setting this opening belongs to the account of Paul in chains facing a criminal's death while Nero ruled a world empire, illustrating faith in God's word standing against human power and policy serving evil.