Commanding his accusers to come unto thee: by examining of whom thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things, whereof we accuse him.

having commanded his accusers to come to thee; of whom thou canst thyself, in examining him, know the certainty of all these things of which we accuse him.

Commanding his accusers to come to thee: by examining whom, thou thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things of which we accuse him.

having commanded his accusers to come to thee, from whom thou mayest be able, thyself having examined, to know concerning all these things of which we accuse him;'

And from whom you will be able, by questioning him yourself, to get knowledge of all the things which we say against him.

ordering his accusers to come to you. From them, you yourself will be able, by judging about all these things, to understand the reason that we accuse him."

and you will be able, by examining him on all these points, to satisfy yourself as to the charges which we are bringing against him."

Having made inquiry. A good [1] request, that the governor do not give sentence before he thoroughly examine and know the matter; and that he do not condemn Paul before he be lawfully convict. But how dare they put in these conditions, seeing their own consciences do accuse them of unjust dealing? I answer, that they had witnesses in readiness; and that they do not offer themselves to prove the matter until they do call them; [2] though there were another end. For they did hope that Felix would be so persuaded with such glorious words, [3] that he would turn over unto them the man whom they did accuse for a condemned man, whom they might handle at their pleasure. In sum, the more fierce they be upon him, and the more they were puffed up with some affiance they had in themselves, they think they shall get the upper hand by this means, because the party arraigned shall have no license granted to defend himself. Thus do false accusers boldly boast that their matter is plain, that they may blind the eyes of the judges.

Footnotes

1 - "AEqua," just, equitable.

2 - "Nec se ad probandum offerre nisi suo arbitrio," and that they do not offer proof unless he decide that it shall be taken.

3 - "Ampullis," bombast.

Commanding his accusers - Acts 23:30.
By examining of whom - That is, the Jews who were then present. Tertullus offered them as his witnesses of the truth of what he had said. It is evident that we have here only the summary or outline of the speech which he made It is incredible that a Roman rhetorician would have on such an occasion delivered an address so brief, so meagre, and so destitute of display as this. But it is doubtless a correct summary of his address, and contains the leading points of the accusation. It is customary for the sacred writers, as for other writers, to give only the outline of discourses and arguments. Such a course was inevitable, unless the New Testament had been swelled to wholly undue proportions.

Commanding his accusers to come, etc. - Here Tertullus closes his opening and statement of the case; and now he proceeds to call and examine his witnesses; and they were no doubt examined one by one, though St. Luke sums the whole up in one word - The Jews also assented, saying, that these things were so. Whoever considers the plan of Tertullus's speech, will perceive that it was both judicious and artful. Let us take a view of the whole: -
1. He praises Felix to conciliate his favor.
2. He generally states the great blessings of his administration.
3. He states that the Jews, throughout the whole land, felt themselves under the greatest obligations to him, and extolled his prudent and beneficent management of the public affairs every where.
4. That the prisoner before him was a very bad man; a disturber of the public peace; a demagogue of a dangerous party; and so lost to all sense of religion as to attempt to profane the temple!
5. That, though he should have been punished on the spot, yet, as they were ordered by the chief captain to appear before him, and show the reason why they had seized on Paul at Jerusalem, they were accordingly come; and, having now exhibited their charges, he would,
6. proceed to examine witnesses, who would prove all these things to the satisfaction of the governor.
7. He then called his witnesses, and their testimony confirmed and substantiated the charges. No bad cause was ever more judiciously and cunningly managed.

Commanding his accusers to come unto thee,.... But this was not done till after Paul had set forth his case before the people, upon the stairs leading to the castle: and after he had pleaded his own cause before the sanhedrim; and after the chief captain had had intelligence of the Jews lying in wait to kill him: Tertullus would insinuate that the captain was blameworthy, that he hindered a legal process against Paul; and that it was owing to him, that this trouble was given the governor, as well as the high priest and elders, who by his orders came down from Jerusalem to Caesarea; and that had it not been for him this affair might have been finished with more dispatch, and less trouble.
By examining of whom; not the accusers, but either the chief captain, as some think, or rather Paul:
thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things whereof we accuse him; so impudent was Tertullus, and of such effrontery and assurance, that he feared not to say, that the governor, by examining Paul himself, would easily come to the knowledge of the things he was accused of, and plainly see that he was guilty of them; so that there would be no need of their attestations, or of producing witnesses against him.

Commanding his accusers to come unto thee--Here they insinuate that, instead of troubling Felix with the case, he ought to have left it to be dealt with by the Jewish tribunal; in which case his life would soon have been taken.
by examining whom--Lysias, as would seem (Acts 24:22).
thyself mayest, &c.--referring all, as if with confidence, to Felix.