The emperor’s malice against Paul was heightened by the fact that members of the imperial household, and also other persons of distinction, had been converted to Christianity during his first imprisonment. For this reason he made the second imprisonment much more severe than the first, granting him little opportunity to preach the gospel; and he determined to cut short his life as soon as a plausible pretext could be found for so doing. Nero’s mind was so impressed with the force of the apostle’s words at his last trial that he deferred the decision of the case, neither acquitting nor condemning him. But the sentence was only deferred. It was not long before the decision was pronounced which consigned Paul to a martyr’s grave. Being a Roman citizen, he could not be subjected to torture, and was therefore sentenced to be beheaded. {3SP 436.3}

Kejseres onde hensigter imod Paulus blev større af at kejserens hof, og også andre anseelige mennesker, var blevet omvendt til kristendommen ved hans første fængsling. Af den grund gjorde han (437) den anden fængsling meget vanskeligere end den første, og gav ham kun lidt anledning til at forkynde evangeliet; og han besluttede at afskære sit liv lige så snart der var en god grund til det. Neros sind var så indprentet af apostlenes dragende ord, ved hans sidste trængsel at han udskød sagen, og hverken frikendte eller fordømte ham. Men dommen blev blot udskudt. Der gik ikke lang tid før den beslutning blev udtalt, som overgav Paulus til en martyrs grav. Som en romersk borger, kunne han ikke underlægges tortur, og blev derfor dømt til halshugning.