Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

FESTUS, PORCIUS

(Gk. Pórkios Phḗstos)

The governor (procurator) of the Roman province of Judea ca. 59 to 62 c.e. Festus is mentioned in connection with the decision to send Paul to Rome for formal trial (Acts 24–26). When Jewish leaders presented charges against Paul, at first Festus refused to send him to Jerusalem for trial. However, after a hearing in Caesarea, the provincial capital, Festus was about to change his mind when Paul took the case out of his hands by appealing as a Roman citizen to be tried before the emperor (Nero). Festus was uncertain how to charge Paul, and when Herod Agrippa II, the client king of northern and eastern Palestine, paid Festus a visit, he asked Agrippa to help. Festus interrupted Paul’s defense and accused him of being insane, but Paul denied this and appealed to the king to substantiate his claim. However, neither wanted to hear anything else from Paul, and both they and their advisors agreed that Paul had done nothing worthy of death and could have been released if he had not appealed to the emperor.

Josephus describes Festus as an honest and conscientious administrator who nevertheless was unable to keep order despite taking vigorous action against the sicarii (the “dagger men”; Ant. 20.8.10; Acts 21:38, “assassins”). Festus sided with Agrippa in a dispute with Jerusalem priests, who had built a high wall to prevent Agrippa from observing temple proceedings from his nearby palace tower. Festus died in office and was succeeded by Albinus.

James A. Brooks

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

FESTUS, PORCIUS

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)