Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 26:31

"and when they had withdrawn, they spake one to another, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds." — Acts 26:31 (ASV)

Paul had had the last word, and his light touch at the end of his response evidently broke up the meeting. With it Agrippa dismissed the proceedings and with Festus and Bernice strode out of the audience chamber to discuss the situation. Agrippa had presumably heard enough to instruct Festus what he should write in his report to Rome. Their conclusion was that Paul had done nothing that in Rome’s eyes merited death or imprisonment, and Agrippa was heard to comment, “This man could have been set free, if he had not appealed to Caesar.” This comment should not be taken to mean that a provincial governor could not free a prisoner after an appeal to Caesar .

In this situation, however, Paul’s status was not a question of law only but also of politics. With these words, Luke concludes his apologetic motif in Acts and vindicates both Paul and Christianity from any suspicion of sedition.