The days of the purification
rite which Paul observed (Acts 21:26) lasted only until a sacrifice was
offered. Paul's Jewish adversaries vowed not to eat or drink anything until they
had killed Paul (Acts 23:12; 23:14; 23:21); clearly they intended to eat
afterwards. Likewise, Festus ordered Paul to be "kept" (πηρεισθαι,
i.e., in Caesarea, as opposed to Jerusalem where the Jews wanted him tried, and
in anticipation of his imminent journey to Rome where Paul wished to be tried) until
he could send him to Rome (Acts 25:21); once he left for Rome he was no
longer kept in Caesarea. (Eric D. Svendsen, "Who
is My Mother? The Role and Status of the Mother of Jesus in the New Testament
and in Roman Catholicism" [PhD Dissertation;
Potchefstroom University and Greenwich School of Theology, November 2001], 36)
