Tetrarch Agrippa heard Paul's defense and found no grounds for his imprisonment.
Agrippa, also known as Herod Agrippa II, was the great-grandson of Herod the Great. He ruled over various territories in Judea during the time of Paul's imprisonment in Caesarea. Agrippa, along with his sister Bernice, visited Festus, the Roman governor. Festus presented Paul's case to Agrippa, who expressed his desire to hear Paul. (Act.25.13-27)
The next day, Paul appeared before Agrippa and Bernice and made his defense, recounting his conversion and ministry. Agrippa, familiar with Jewish customs and controversies, listened intently. Paul appealed to Agrippa's belief in the prophets and challenged him to believe in Christ. Agrippa replied, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?" (Act.26.1-28).
Paul before Festus, Agrippa II, and Bernice
RoleStated in the textAfter two years under Felix, Paul appealed to Caesar before Festus. King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea and heard him in a formal audience, and Agrippa said Paul might have been set free had he not appealed to Caesar.
Sources: Scripture
Agrippa I's three children in Acts
FamilyWidely acceptedJosephus says Agrippa I was the father of Agrippa II, Bernice, and Drusilla. The NT names Agrippa, Bernice, and Drusilla in Acts 24-26 without spelling out that they are siblings.
Sources: Scripture · Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews
Agrippa II and Bernice
FamilyWidely acceptedActs pairs "Agrippa the king and Bernice" without explaining their relation. Josephus identifies her as his sister, who lived with him and later with Titus.
Where the text shows it: Acts 25:13 — Agrippa the king and BerniceActs 25:23 — Entered with great pomp Sources: Scripture · Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews
Drusilla, Felix's wife and Agrippa II's sister
FamilyWidely acceptedActs says Drusilla was Jewish. Josephus says she was a sister of Agrippa II who left her first husband for Felix. So Paul spoke before Felix, Drusilla, and then two years later her brother.
Where the text shows it: Acts 24:24 — Drusilla, who was JewishActs 26:1 — Agrippa gives Paul leave to speak Sources: Scripture · Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
12 verses in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s G0067