Verse 24
And as he thus made his defence, Festus saith with a loud voice, Paul, thou art mad; thy much learning is turning thee mad.
As Walker declared: "Festus had advertised his ignorance at the beginning of the hearing; but in this interruption, he headlined it."[33] There is no light to the blind, no music to the deaf; and "This poor fool thought that because he could not understand Paul's sermon, no one could."[34]
With a loud voice ... is "another detail, revealing the eyewitness of the scene described."[35]
By this loud cry charging Paul with madness, Festus betrayed the total lack of spiritual discernment which is always the mark of the carnal man. A typically cynical subaltern of Rome, he decided to break up a meeting with which he had no sympathy at all. It must have been a great shock to him that his royal guests were getting the message, and that they were deeply and favorably impressed with it.
[33] W. R. Walker, op. cit., p. 91.
[34] Ibid.
[35] A. C. Hervey, op. cit., p. 267.
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