Acts 24:15

Hope. See on Rom. 5:4, 5. Without the hope of the resurrection and a future life, both Christianity and Judaism lose their meaning (see 1 Cor. 15:14, 32; Titus 2:13; 1 John 3:3). Hope is one of the great Christian virtues (Ps. 146:5; Zech. 9:12; 1 Cor. 13:13; Gal. 5:5; Heb. 6:19; 1 Peter 1:3). For those who have no hope and are “without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12), life can at best be but a futile experience.

Allow. Gr. prosdechomai, “to admit,” “to expect.” Apparently Paul speaks of his accusers — the Pharisees among them, at least — present in the courtroom (see ch. 23:6). The Jews, generally, believed in the resurrection (see Isa. 26:20; Dan. 12:2, 13; cf. 2 Macc. 7:9; Enoch 91:10; Psalms of Solomon 3:16 [see Vol. V, pp. 86, 87, 90]).

Ofthe dead. Textual evidence favors (cf. p. 10) the omission of these words. The Jews were almost unique among the people of that day for the certainty with which they taught the resurrection of the body. The idea of a future life was less distinct in some ways to the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Persians, and the Greeks (see ch. 17:32). The Platonists, and even the Roman Stoics, had no clear-cut teaching concerning life after death, and the Cynics and the Epicureans rejected the idea.

Unjust. Paul’s doctrine was not only that the just, or righteous, should be raised (1 Cor. 15:51-54; 1 Thess. 4:16), but also the unrighteous (cf. Dan. 12:2). The resurrection would be separate for each category, even as the rewards were distinct (Rom. 2:5-10). John points out that the two resurrections are separated by 1,000 years of time (Rev. 20:3-10). Paul’s mention of the resurrection of the unjust must have challenged the conscience of Felix (see on Acts 23:24; 24:2).