Acts 24:1

1. After five days Reckoned, doubtless, after the completion of the last transaction, namely, Paul’s arrival in Cesarea. Both Paul’s and Luke’s standpoint is at Cesarea.

Ananias the high priest It is probably true that the rebuke of Paul in the Sanhedrin (Acts 22:3) rankled in the breast of the high priest; but it is also probable that the reports brought in from various directions at that Passover of the growth of Christianity, the diminution of the synagogues, and Paul’s leadership in the work, had produced in the rulers a strong sense of the necessity of striking him down. It is now the head of the Jewish State confronting the chief leader of the Christian Church before the Pagan court, (three great religions in triangular contact,) demanding his sacrifice.

Elders The high priest is the prosecutor; the rest are his retinue.

Orator… Tertullus A diminutive of Tertius; it is lengthened also into Tertullianus. The Greek for orator is ρητωρ , rhetor; (whence our word rhetoric,) originally meaning any public speaker, came to signify a professional pleader. In all the provinces there were numbers of Greek and Roman lawyers who made a living by managing the cases of the natives before the Roman courts. Indeed, it was the custom for young Roman lawyers to practice thus awhile in the provinces as a training for a higher practice in Rome. In Paul’s trial the only language understood by all was no doubt the Greek.