Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 28:18

"who, when they had examined me, desired to set me at liberty, because there was no cause of death in me." — Acts 28:18 (ASV)

Who, when they had examined me...—It is possible that we have here only the summary of a fuller narrative, and that he gave an outline of the proceedings that had taken place between his first seizure and his appeal to the emperor. What he states, however, was fully warranted by the facts.

No Roman magistrate had ever condemned him. Agrippa and Festus had decided that he might have been released (Acts 26:32). He had been constrained to appeal to Caesar in self-defence, to avoid the danger of being handed over to a prejudiced tribunal or to plots of assassination (Acts 25:8–10). But, as it was, he did not come, as other appellants so often came, with counter-accusations. On all such matters his lips were sealed, and his motive now was to remove any unfavourable impressions which reports from Judea might have left on the minds of his hearers.