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Bible Dictionaries
Tertullus
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or Tertullus, a diminutive of Tertius, was the name of the ‘orator’ employed by the Jews to lay their case against St. Paul before Felix (Acts 24:1). The term ‘orator’ indicates that the man belonged to the class of hired pleaders often employed in the provincial courts by those ignorant alike of Roman law and of the Latin tongue, in which as a rule all judicial procedure was carried on (but see Lewin, St. Paul, ii. 156). The speech delivered by Tertullus and briefly summarized in Acts 24 shows us the devices employed by such special pleaders. He seeks to conciliate the judge by flattering, if not very truthful, allusions to his actions as governor, particularly to his having established peace in the province (v. 2), no doubt a reference to the suppression of the bands of robbers that infested the country (Jos. Ant. XX. viii. 5, Bellum Judaicum (Josephus) II. xiii. 2). He carefully selects the points in the prisoner’s career fitted to create the impression that St. Paul was a danger to the Roman rule-an exciter of sedition, a leader of a sect, a profaner of the Temple (vv. 5, 6). In all probability Tertullus was a Roman, and not a Jew, as has been supposed by Blass (Com. in loc). It was customary for budding Roman pleaders to practise for a time in the provinces. The fact that in his speech Tertullus uses the plural form and speaks of ‘our law’ does not by any means prove Jewish birth or nationality. The advocate naturally speaks from the point of view of his clients.
Literature.-R. J. Knowling, Expositor’s Greek Testament , ‘Acts,’ 1900, p. 476; T. Lewin, Life and Epistles of St. Paul3, 2 vols., 1875, ii. 156 ff.; article ‘Tertullus’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) ; F. W. Blass, Acta Apostolorum, 1896, in loc.; H. H. Wendt and H. A. W. Meyer, Acts8, 1899, in loc.
W. F. Boyd.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Tertullus'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/t/tertullus.html. 1906-1918.
