They asked Festus as a favor to transfer Paul to Jerusalem (planning to ambush and kill him on the way).
Parallel translations
- WEB asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem; plotting to kill him on the way.
- KJV And desired favour against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him.
- BSB to grant them a concession against Paul by summoning him to Jerusalem, because they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.
- NKJV asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem—while they lay in ambush along the road to kill him.
- NASB requesting a concession against Paul, that he might have him brought to Jerusalem (at the same time, setting an ambush to kill him on the way).
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
They ask Festus as a favor to bring Paul to Jerusalem, secretly plotting to ambush and kill him on the way. Their request masks a murderous scheme.
Overview
The leaders revive the earlier plot to assassinate Paul during transit (Acts 23:12-15), cloaking their intent in a polite request. Their willingness to murder exposes the depth of their hostility. God's providence will again thwart the conspiracy through Festus's decision, preserving Paul for the witness still to come.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Acts 9:24but their plot became known to Saul. They watched the gates both day and night that they might kill him,
- Acts 23:12–15When it was day, some of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.
- Acts 9:2and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
- Rom 3:8Why not (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), “Let us do evil, that good may come?” Those who say so are justly condemned.
- Jer 18:18Then they said, “Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”
- Mark 6:23–25He swore to her, “Whatever you shall ask of me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.”
- Ps 64:2–6Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the noisy crowd of the ones doing evil;
- Jer 38:4Then the princes said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death; because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them: for this man doesn’t seek the welfare of this people, but harm.”
- John 16:3They will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.
- Luke 23:8–24Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad, for he had wanted to see him for a long time, because he had heard many things about him. He hoped to see some miracle done by him.
- Acts 26:9–11“I myself most certainly thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
- Ps 140:1–5For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. Deliver me, Yahweh, from the evil man. Preserve me from the violent man;
- 1 Sam 23:19–21Then the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, “Doesn’t David hide himself with us in the strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the desert?
- Ps 37:32–33The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to kill him.
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 25:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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