John Calvin Commentary Acts 24:19

"who ought to have been here before thee, and to make accusation, if they had aught against me." — Acts 24:19 (ASV)

Certain Jews. This is an incomplete statement; yet the meaning is clear: these men from Asia, as it would seem, had caused a disturbance without reason, and he complains of their absence. It is as if he were saying, 'You who accuse me of so many things do not know how the matter stands; instead, you bring before the governor's judgment seat a story that was rashly believed.'

But those who are to blame for the matter, and who fanned the flames, do not appear. After Paul has turned back [retorted] the accusation upon others and taken good courage, he now appeals to the adversaries who are present, asking them to state freely anything they know against him. However, I disagree with Erasmus and the old interpreter regarding the participle σταντος, as they translate it in the present tense. They also interpret the word συνεδριον, or council, as the governor's session, which I believe is far from Paul’s meaning.

For his meaning, in my judgment, is that he was ready to give an account of all things in their council. Furthermore, they knew nothing then that they could lay to his charge, because they only began to stir due to this one statement: when he said that he was being judged concerning the resurrection of the dead. That is, he suffered all this trouble for no other reason than because he hoped for the resurrection of the dead.

From this it appears that they are now inventing a new accusation without reason, because if there had been any fault in him, they would not have concealed it then. It is likely that they had further discussion, and that the focus of their discussion narrowed, because we will see elsewhere that they did contend about Christ. However, Luke’s purpose was only to declare how well Paul had cleared himself of his accusers' false accusations.