Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
I was constrained to appeal . . . not that I had aught to accuse my nation of—"I am here not as their accuser, but as my own defender, and this not of choice but necessity." His object in alluding thus gently to the treatment he had received from the Jews was plainly to avoid whatever might irritate his visitors at the first; especially as he was not aware whether any or what information against him had reached their community.
Paul called the chief of the Jews together—Though banished from the capital by Claudius, the Jews enjoyed the full benefit of the toleration which distinguished the first period of Nero's reign, and were at this time in considerable numbers, wealth, and influence settled at Rome. We have seen that long before this a flourishing Christian Church existed at Rome, to which Paul wrote his Epistle (see on Acts 20:3), and the first members of which were probably Jewish converts and proselytes. (See Introduction to Romans.)
yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans—the Roman authorities, Felix and Festus.
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Acts 28:19:
Philippians 1:7
1 Timothy 3:14
Hebrews 12:3
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