Note 8 at Ac 24:27: Paul had been imprisoned before (Ac 16:23) but just overnight. Paul was not beaten this time, and he was not isolated from his friends (Ac 24:23). But this imprisonment must have been a much stronger trial of Paul's faith.

Paul had a burning desire in his heart to preach the Gospel, and his imprisonment kept him from doing that in person. He did redeem this time by writing many of his "prison epistles," but this confinement must have been frustrating. The thing that kept Paul from despairing was that he was more committed to God than to the work that God had called him to. No doubt his personal relationship with the Lord was what sustained him.

Note 9 at Ac 24:27: Porcius Festus succeeded Felix (see note 2 at Ac 23:24) as procurator of Judea. Scholars disagree on the exact time that Festus came to power, but they all place the time around A.D. 58-60. Festus died in office, two years after taking the post.

History portrays Festus in a much better light than his predecessor, Felix, but he had a very difficult situation to govern. The assassins that Felix had used to kill the Jewish high priest (see note 2 at Ac 23:24) were growing in numbers and plundering Judea. Festus eventually slaughtered many of these men in a military campaign. This, however, did nothing to stop the growing unrest in Judea, and it was just a short four to six years later when a full-fledged rebellion broke loose. It was finally extinguished when the Roman general Titus destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70 (see note 4 at Lu 19:43).

Festus' place in Scripture comes through his dealings with the Apostle Paul. Festus convened another hearing in Caesarea, at the request of the Jews, to review Paul's case (Ac 25:1-6). When Festus asked Paul if he was willing to travel to Jerusalem and stand a religious trial, Paul appealed to Caesar (Ac 25:11). Festus authorized Paul's appeal to travel to Rome and be tried by Caesar.

On another occasion, when Paul was speaking of his faith before King Agrippa and Bernice (Ac 26), Festus cried out with a loud voice that Paul must be mad (Ac 26:24). This reveals a callousness on Festus' part toward the things of God, a callousness that Felix didn't have (Ac 24:25).