Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 24:26

"He hoped withal that money would be given him of Paul: wherefore also he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him." — Acts 24:26 (ASV)

He also hoped that money would be given to him by Paul.—The Greek text says “hoping also,” continuing from the previous verse, and so places this fact in more immediate connection with the procurator’s conduct. This greed for gain, in the very act of administering justice, was the root evil of his weak and wicked character. He had seized upon the word “alms” in Acts 24:17. St. Paul, then, was not without resources. He had money himself, or he had wealthy friends; could not something be obtained from one or both for the freedom the prisoner would naturally desire?

He sent for him more often, and conversed with him.—It is not difficult to imagine the character of these interviews: the suggestive hints—half-promises and half-threats—of the procurator, the steadfast refusal of the prisoner to purchase the freedom he claimed as a right, and his fruitless attempts to bring about a change for the better in his judge’s character.