Paul Escorted To Caesarea Series

The letter was probably carried by one of the centurions that Lysias placed in charge of the troops. The other would have returned to Jerusalem with the foot soldiers. The empire (except perhaps for Egypt) had no postal service except for official government business; most people send letters via persons who were traveling, or (for official imperial business) by the Roman military’s imperial post.

The question I have, and perhaps you may be thinking the same thing, “Where is James, the elders, and the Jerusalem church at this time?” Did they have a sigh of relief that Paul was gone at last? Who could guarantee that the fanatical zealots, out for Paul’s blood, might not turn now in rage on the church? It would surely be best; to sit quietly and refrain from championing Paul and drawing unwanted attention to themselves. And as for Paul’s Gentile companions, well, it would be best, too, if they slipped away from Jerusalem to Caesarea, perhaps (where indeed we again see Luke and Aristarchus later); or maybe they should simply go back home to their own countries.

34 And when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province he was. And when he understood that he was of Cilicia;

At this point in the narrative, Luke gave no hint about Felix’s shortcomings. Everything is related in formal, official language to emphasize that Paul’s transfer to Caesarea was very much a protective move on the part of the Roman officials. Felix’s question about Paul’s native province was aimed at determining whether he had legal jurisdiction over Paul in his role as Judean procurator. The rules of procedure required that this should be the first question asked. This little interchange between Felix and Paul reflects criminal law at that time. The practice had been to try criminals in the province in which their crime was committed, but by the beginning of the second century A.D., and almost certainly earlier, the possibility existed of sending the accused for trial to his own province. “The point,” then, “of the question put to Paul, in mid-first century, was not to protect the rights of the accused . . . but to enable the procurator . . . to avoid a tiresome affair altogether, if he felt inclined, either by expelling an accused person from a province to which he did not belong, or by a refusal of jurisdiction.”

During the reign of Claudius, both Judea and Cilicia were under the single provincial administration of the imperial legate of Syria.

35 I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall.

As an official within that administrative unit, Felix determined that it was within his authority to give Paul a formal hearing—“I will hear thee,” said Felix—he would have a full hearing. In the meantime Paul was confined to the praetorium; a former palace built by Herod the Great which now served as the Roman headquarters. This was his real “handing over to the Gentiles” that Agabus had foretold (21:11). In the story line, “thine accusers” should be the Diaspora Jews from Asia who because of a misunderstanding had charged Paul with defiling the temple by bringing Gentiles into its inner courts which were reserved for Jews (21:27-30).