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.

Having learned venality as a slave in the court of an emperor, Felix pursued the vice with a singleness of heart. As Ramsay said, "As Felix was a man of wealth, brother of the richest man in Rome, and the husband of a princess, he could not have thought of a paltry bribe."[34] Pallas his brother was a millionaire, a friend and favorite of the Emperor Claudius. Ramsay also thought that Paul had come into possession of considerable wealth at this time; but this is not by any means certain. We are not told how Felix managed to convey to Paul the message that some money might loosen up the wheels of justice, but we are sure what Paul's response would have been: he would have given him "another sermon on righteousness, self-control, and judgment to come"![35]

Regarding the results of Paul's repeated preaching to Felix, Dummelow said, "The result was that Felix trembled, but delayed his repentance; and that Drusilla was made an irreconcilable enemy."[36] Another result that might be observed in what is recorded here is that for the Christians of all ages, the giving of a bribe is as sinful and reprehensible as the taking of a bribe; otherwise, Paul's friends would doubtless have raised the necessary money to procure his release.

And communed with him ... Campbell said that this word is used only four times in the Christian scriptures. "It indicates familiar conversation."[37] The quaint comment of Lange sums up the situation which confronted Paul thus:

When avarice has taken deep root in the hearts of men invested with authority, justice is sold for them by money; and the innocent receive no aid unless they pay for it, while the guilty who have bribed the judge, escape punishment.[38]

[34] Sir William M. Ramsay, op. cit., p. 292.

[35] Orrin Root, op. cit., p. 183.

[36] J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 849.

[37] Alexander Campbell, Acts of Apostles (Austin, Texas: Firm Foundation Publishing House), p. 164.

[38] John Peter Lange, op. cit., p. 428.