Acts 24:4

Notwithstanding, that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency a few words.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) That I be not further tedious . . .—Better, that I may not detain thee too long. Here again we note the tact of the sycophant. He speaks as if obliged to restrain himself from the further panegyrics which his feelings would naturally prompt.

Of thy clemency . . .—The Greek word expresses the idea of equitable consideration. The epithets of the hired orator stand in striking contrast with the “righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come,” of which the Apostle afterwards spoke to the same ruler.

Benson Commentary

Acts 24:4-9. Notwithstanding, that I be not further tedious — Ινα δε μη επι πλειον σε εγκοπτω, that I may not trouble thee any further, by trespassing either on thy patience or modesty. The eloquence of Tertullus was as bad as his cause; a lame introduction, a lame transition, and a lame conclusion! Did not God confound the orator’s language? I pray that thou wouldest hear — What we have to offer; of thy clemency — With thy usual candour and well-known goodness. For we have found this man a pestilent fellow — Or rather, a pestilence, or plague, as λοιμος signifies; a man infecting others with pernicious principles, and spreading mischief wherever he comes; and a mover of sedition among all the Jews — Rendering them disaffected to the government, and exciting them to rise in rebellion against it; and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes — A term of reproach, which, it seems, was given to the disciples of Christ even at that early period. Who also hath gone about to profane the temple —

By bringing heathen into it. “Tertullus artfully mentions this, as the most express fact he had to charge upon him, as he knew that the Romans allowed the Jews a power of executing, even without forms of law, any person who should be found in such an act of profanation; and he seems to have intended to make a merit of their moderation, that they intended, nevertheless, fairly to have tried him, and not to have destroyed him on the spot, as Lysias had justly charged them with attempting to do. And it is observable, that Tertullus nowhere expressly avows so much as a design to have put Paul to death, though it was undoubtedly intended.” — Doddridge. Thus, after a fawning preface, Tertullus prefers charges against Paul, for which there was not the shadow of a foundation, except that he was a leading person among the Nazarenes, or Christians. For that he had moved the Jews to sedition against the government, or that he went about to profane the temple, was utterly false; (see Acts 21:28;) and so it was also, that they took him to judge him according to their law; for they took him by violence, and drew him out of the temple, and went about to kill him without any judicial process. In short, the whole accusation, together with the circumstances by which the orator aggravated it, were all mere fictions, of which he offered no proof whatever, only that (Acts 24:9) the Jews — Namely, the high-priest and the elders; assented, saying that these things were so.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

24:1-9 See here the unhappiness of great men, and a great unhappiness it is, to have their services praised beyond measure, and never to be faithfully told of their faults; hereby they are hardened and encouraged in evil, like Felix. God's prophets were charged with being troublers of the land, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that he perverted the nation; the very same charges were brought against Paul. The selfish and evil passions of men urge them forward, and the graces and power of speech, too often have been used to mislead and prejudice men against the truth. How different will the characters of Paul and Felix appear at the day of judgement, from what they are represented in the speech of Tertullus! Let not Christians value the applause, or be troubled at the revilings of ungodly men, who represent the vilest of the human race almost as gods, and the excellent of the earth as pestilences and movers of sedition.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Be not further tedious unto thee - By taking up your time with an introduction and with commendation.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2-4. Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, &c.—In this fulsome flattery there was a semblance of truth: nothing more. Felix acted with a degree of vigor and success in suppressing lawless violence [Josephus, Antiquities, 20.8.4; confirmed by Tacitus, Annals, 12.54].

by thy providence—a phrase applied to the administration of the emperors.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Be not further tedious unto thee; hinder thee, or take thee away from other occasions: this is another artifice of an orator, to promise brevity, especially when he speaks to men of employment or business.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Notwithstanding, that I be not further tedious unto thee,.... Suggesting, that he could say a great deal more under this head, but, for brevity sake, should omit it; and because he would not tire his patience, and hinder business going forward:

I pray thee, that thou wouldst hear us of thy clemency a few words; he praises him for his humanity and good nature, and for his patience in hearing causes, and promises him great conciseness in the account he should give him; and entreats that, according to his wonted goodness, he would condescend to hear what he had to lay before him; all which was artfully said to engage attention to him.

Geneva Study Bible

Notwithstanding, that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency a few words.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Acts 24:4. That, however, I may not longer (by a more lengthened discourse than I shall hold) detain thee, keep thee from thy business. On ἐγκόπτειν, see Valckenaer, Schol. p. 600 f. ἐπὶ πλεῖον, as in Acts 20:9; Jdt 13:1. See on Acts 4:17. Comp. Plat. Rep. p. 572 B: ἐπὶ πλέον ἐξήχθημεν εἰπεῖν.

λεξόντων is not to be supplied with συντόμως (Kuinoel, Olshausen, and others), but it contains the definition of measure to ἀκοῦσαι. The request for a hearing of brief duration is, at the same time, the promise of a concise discourse.

τῇ σῇ ἐπιεικ.] with thy (thine own peculiar) clemency (see on 2 Corinthians 10:1).

Expositor's Greek Testament

Acts 24:4. δέ: autem, “innuit plura dici potuisse in laudem Felicis,” Bengel.—ἐγκόπτω, impedire, as if Felix was so busy in his reforms that Tertullus would not interrupt him, but see critical note, cf. Romans 15:22, Galatians 5:7.—ἐπὶ πλεῖον, cf. Acts 4:17, Acts 20:9; in 2 Timothy 2:16; 2 Timothy 3:9, with the opposite verb προκόπτω.—συντόμως: so in classical Greek, with λέγειν, εἰπεῖν; in Jos., c. Apion., i., 1, 6, with γράψαι and διδάσκειν, see Wetstein on Romans 9:28, cf. 2Ma 2:31, for the adjective and for the adverb, Proverbs 13:23, 3Ma 5:25; “est hæc communis oratorum promissio” (Blass).—ἐπιεικείᾳ: only in Luke and Paul, see 2 Corinthians 10:1, “pro tua dementia,” Vulgate, derived from εἴκω, cedo, it properly might be rendered yieldingness; equity as opposed to strict law; so Aristotle sets the ἐπιεικής against the ἀκριβοδίκαιος, Eth. Nic., v., 10, 6. It is often joined with φιλανθρωπία, πραότης. Its architype and pattern is to be found in God, cf. Wis 12:18, 2Ma 2:22; 2Ma 10:4 R., Psalm 85:5, and so also in Psalms of Solomon, Acts 5:14. The word also occurs, Bar 2:27, Song of the Three Children, Acts 24:19 (Dan., LXX and Theod. 3:42), where it is used of God, also in Wis 2:19, 3Ma 3:15; 3Ma 7:6. For a valuable account of the word see Trench, Synonyms, i., p. 176 ff.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

4. be not … tedious] The notion in the verb is that of stopping a person’s way and so hindering him. Tertullus would imply that Felix was so deeply engaged in his public duties that every moment was precious.

Bengel's Gnomen

Acts 24:4. Δὲ, but) He implies that more might have been said in praise of Felix. Understand μὲν, indeed, in Acts 24:3, to answer to δὲ here.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 4. - But for notwithstanding, A.V.; I entreat thee for I pray thee, A.V.; to hear for that thou wouldest hear, A.V. Of thy clemency (τῇ σῇ ἐπιεικείᾳ). The word is rendered "gentleness" in 2 Corinthians 10:1, where alone it occurs in the New Testament; ἐπιείκης is most frequently rendered "gentle" (l Timothy 3:3 (R.V.); Titus 3:2; James 3:17; 1 Peter 2:18). A few words. The Greek has συντόμως, briefly, concisely, found only here in the New Testament, but common in classical Greek and especially in medical writers, where it means "rapidly," "in a short time." Acts 24:4

Vincent's Word Studies

Be tedious (ἐγκόπτω)

See on hindered, 1 Peter 3:7. The meaning is, rather, "that I may not further hinder thee, or detain thee.

Clemency (ἐπιεικείᾳ)

See on gentle, 1 Peter 2:18.

A few words (συντόμως)

Lit., concisely. From συντέμνω to cut down or cut short.