Whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds.

ACTS 23:29KJV
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Acts 23:29 (KJV)

What does Acts 23:29 mean?

Acts 23:29 gives a Roman commander’s assessment of the accusations against Paul. The commander says the dispute concerns questions about Jewish law, and that he has found no charge serious enough to justify putting Paul to death or keeping him in custody.

The commander, Claudius Lysias, makes this statement in a letter to Felix, the Roman governor. His account matters because Felix is about to receive Paul’s case. “Bonds” refers to confinement as a prisoner.

The Greek behind Acts 23:29

  • “questions” — ζήτημα (zētēma): This word can mean matters under dispute or debate. Here it describes the subjects of disagreement about Jewish law.
  • “charge” — ἔγκλημα (enklēma): The word carries the sense of a formal accusation. The commander is assessing what accusation could justify holding or executing Paul.

Why Acts 23:29 matters

  • The verse reports the commander’s assessment, not a final ruling by Felix. The words “I perceived” present what Lysias concluded before the governor heard the case.
  • The reference to “their law” places the disagreement within Jewish law as Lysias understood it. His wording comes from the perspective of a Roman official writing to another Roman official.
  • Lysias’s conclusion helps explain why the later hearing matters. Paul’s accusers would still have an opportunity to present their case before Felix, as Acts 24 describes.

Where else these words appear

“charge” Greek G1462 · used in 2 verses

  • Acts 25:16 To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.

“questions” Greek G2213 · used in 5 verses

  • Acts 15:2 When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.
  • Acts 18:15 But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters.
  • Acts 25:19 But had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.

“accused” Greek G1458 · used in 7 verses

  • Acts 19:38 Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another.
  • Acts 23:28 And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into their council:
  • Acts 26:7 Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.

“bonds” Greek G1199 · used in 20 verses

  • Mark 7:35 And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.
  • Acts 26:29 And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
  • Colossians 4:18 The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen. Written from Rome to Colossians by Tychicus and Onesimus.