When Paul arrived, the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem gathered around and made many serious accusations they couldn’t prove.
Parallel translations
- WEB When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing against him many and grievous charges which they could not prove,
- KJV And when he was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove.
- BSB When Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges that they could not prove.
- NKJV When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about and laid many serious complaints against Paul, which they could not prove,
- NASB After Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many, and serious, charges against him which they could not prove,
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
The Jews from Jerusalem surround Paul and level many serious charges they cannot prove. Their accusations again lack evidence.
Overview
As before, the prosecution heaps up grave but unsubstantiated charges against Paul. Their inability to prove anything exposes the case as driven by hostility rather than fact. The repeated failure of evidence quietly testifies to Paul's innocence and to the baselessness of the opposition to the gospel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Acts 24:13Nor can they prove to you the things of which they now accuse me.
- Acts 25:24Festus said, “King Agrippa, and all men who are here present with us, you see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews petitioned me, both at Jerusalem and here, crying that he ought not to live any longer.
- Acts 24:5–6For we have found this man to be a plague, an instigator of insurrections among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
- Luke 23:2They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting the nation, forbidding paying taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”
- Luke 23:10The chief priests and the scribes stood, vehemently accusing him.
- Ps 27:12Don’t deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen up against me, such as breathe out cruelty.
- Matt 5:11–12“Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
- Acts 21:28crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place. Moreover, he also brought Greeks into the temple, and has defiled this holy place!”
- Ps 35:11Unrighteous witnesses rise up. They ask me about things that I don’t know about.
- Mark 15:3–4The chief priests accused him of many things.
- 1 Pet 4:14–16If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed; because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified.
- Matt 26:60–62and they found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward,
- Ezra 4:15that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will see in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful to kings and provinces, and that they have started rebellions within it in the past. That is why this city was destroyed.
- Esth 3:8Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different than other people’s. They don’t keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not for the king’s profit to allow them to remain.
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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 25:7 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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