Agrippa

AI summary: Agrippa matters because the cross references present him as one of the highest-ranking hearers of Paul's testimony before Rome takes the apostle further on. He listens with knowledge of Jewish custom and prophetic expectation, assesses Paul's case with Festus, and famously stops short of a decisive response. The scene uses Agrippa to stage the gospel before power that understands much yet does not yield. Taken together, the material presents this Agrippa as a cultivated royal auditor whose near engagement with Paul's message sharpens the pathos of refusal.¹

Son of the foregoing, was born at Rome, A.D. 27. He was the brother of Bernice and Drusilla. The Emperor Claudius (A.D. 48) invested him with the office of superintendent of the Temple of Jerusalem, and made him governor (A.D. 50) of Chalcis. He was afterwards raised to the rank of king, and made governor over the tetrarchy of Philip and Lysanias (Acts 25:13; 26:2, 7). It was before him that Paul delivered (A.D. 59) his speech recorded in Acts 26. His private life was very profligate. He died (the last of his race) at Rome, at the age of about seventy years, A.D. 100. ³