10 Which thing G3739 I G4160 also G2532 did G4160 in G1722 Jerusalem: G2414 and G2532 many G4183 of the saints G40 did G2623 I G1473 shut up G2623 in prison, G5438 having received G2983 authority G1849 from G3844 the chief priests; G749 and G5037 when they G846 were put to death, G337 I gave G2702 my voice G5586 against them.
Then G1161 Ananias G367 answered, G611 Lord, G2962 I have heard G191 by G575 many G4183 of G4012 this G5127 man, G435 how much G3745 evil G2556 he hath done G4160 to thy G4675 saints G40 at G1722 Jerusalem: G2419 And G2532 here G5602 he hath G2192 authority G1849 from G3844 the chief priests G749 to bind G1210 all G3956 that call G1941 on thy G4675 name. G3686
And I G3739 persecuted G1377 this G5026 way G3598 unto G891 the death, G2288 binding G1195 and G2532 delivering G3860 into G1519 prisons G5438 both G5037 men G435 and G2532 women. G1135 As G5613 also G2532 the high priest G749 doth bear G3140 me G3427 witness, G3140 and G2532 all G3956 the estate of the elders: G4244 from G3844 whom G3739 also G2532 I received G1209 letters G1992 unto G4314 the brethren, G80 and G2532 went G4198 to G1519 Damascus, G1154 to bring G71 them which were G5607 there G1566 bound G1210 unto G1519 Jerusalem, G2419 for to G2443 be punished. G5097
But G1161 now G3570 I go G4198 unto G1519 Jerusalem G2419 to minister G1247 unto the saints. G40 For G1063 it hath pleased them G2106 of Macedonia G3109 and G2532 Achaia G882 to make G4160 a certain G5100 contribution G2842 for G1519 the poor G4434 saints G40 which G3588 are at G1722 Jerusalem. G2419
And I G2504 said, G2036 Lord, G2962 they G846 know G1987 that G3754 I G1473 imprisoned G2252 G5439 and G2532 beat G1194 in every G2596 synagogue G4864 them that believed G4100 on G1909 thee: G4571 And G2532 when G3753 the blood G129 of thy G4675 martyr G3144 Stephen G4736 was shed, G1632 I G846 also G2532 was G2252 standing by, G2186 and G2532 consenting G4909 unto his G846 death, G336 and G2532 kept G5442 the raiment G2440 of them that slew G337 him. G846
And G1161 Saul, G4569 yet G2089 breathing out G1709 threatenings G547 and G2532 slaughter G5408 against G1519 the disciples G3101 of the Lord, G2962 went G4334 unto the high priest, G749 And desired G154 of G3844 him G846 letters G1992 to G1519 Damascus G1154 to G4314 the synagogues, G4864 that G3704 if G1437 he found G2147 any G5100 of this way, G3598 whether G5037 they were G5607 men G435 or G2532 women, G1135 he might bring them G71 bound G1210 unto G1519 Jerusalem. G2419
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Acts 26
Commentary on Acts 26 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 26
Ac 26:1-32. Paul's Defense of Himself before King Agrippa, Who Pronounces Him Innocent, but Concludes That the Appeal to Cæsar Must Be Carried Out.
This speech, though in substance the same as that from the fortress stairs of Jerusalem (Ac 22:1-29), differs from it in being less directed to meet the charge of apostasy from the Jewish faith, and giving more enlarged views of his remarkable change and apostolic commission, and the divine support under which he was enabled to brave the hostility of his countrymen.
1-3. Agrippa said—Being a king he appears to have presided.
Paul stretched forth the hand—chained to a soldier (Ac 26:29, and see on Ac 12:6).
3. I know thee to be expert, &c.—His father was zealous for the law, and he himself had the office of president of the temple and its treasures, and the appointment of the high priest [Josephus, Antiquities, 20.1.3].
hear me patiently—The idea of "indulgently" is also conveyed.
4, 5. from my youth, which was at the first … at Jerusalem, know all the Jews; which knew me from the beginning—plainly showing that he received his education, even from early youth, at Jerusalem. See on Ac 22:3.
5. if they would—"were willing to"
testify—but this, of course, they were not, it being a strong point in his favor.
after the most straitest—"the strictest."
sect—as the Pharisees confessedly were. This was said to meet the charge, that as a Hellenistic Jew he had contracted among the heathen lax ideas of Jewish peculiarities.
6, 7. I … am judged for the hope of the promise made … to our fathers—"for believing that the promise of Messiah, the Hope of the Church (Ac 13:32; 28:20) has been fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth risen from the dead."
7. Unto which promise—the fulfilment of it.
our twelve tribes—(Jas 1:1; and see on Lu 2:36).
instantly—"intently"; see on Ac 12:5.
serving God—in the sense of religious worship; on "ministered," see on Ac 13:2.
day and night, hope to come—The apostle rises into language as catholic as the thought—representing his despised nation, all scattered thought it now was, as twelve great branches of one ancient stem, in all places of their dispersion offering to the God of their fathers one unbroken worship, reposing on one great "promise" made of old unto their fathers, and sustained by one "hope" of "coming" to its fulfilment; the single point of difference between him and his countrymen, and the one cause of all their virulence against him, being, that his hope had found rest in One already come, while theirs still pointed to the future.
For which hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews—"I am accused of Jews, O king" (so the true reading appears to be); of all quarters the most surprising for such a charge to come from. The charge of sedition is not so much as alluded to throughout this speech. It was indeed a mere pretext.
8. Why should it be thought a thing incredible … that God should raise the dead?—rather, "Why is it judged a thing incredible if God raises the dead?" the case being viewed as an accomplished fact. No one dared to call in question the overwhelming evidence of the resurrection of Jesus, which proclaimed Him to be the Christ, the Son of God; the only way of getting rid of it, therefore, was to pronounce it incredible. But why, asks the apostle, is it so judged? Leaving this pregnant question to find its answer in the breasts of his audience, he now passes to his personal history.
9-15. (See on Ac 9:1, &c.; and compare Ac 22:4, &c.)
16-18. But rise, &c.—Here the apostle appears to condense into one statement various sayings of his Lord to him in visions at different times, in order to present at one view the grandeur of the commission with which his Master had clothed him [Alford].
a minister … both of these things which thou hast seen—putting him on a footing with those "eye-witnesses and ministers of the word" mentioned in Lu 1:2.
and of those in which I will appear to thee—referring to visions he was thereafter to be favored with; such as Ac 18:9, 10; 22:17-21; 23:11; 2Co 12:1-10, &c. (Ga 1:12).
17. Delivering thee from the people—the Jews.
and from the Gentiles—He was all along the object of Jewish malignity, and was at that moment in the hands of the Gentiles; yet he calmly reposes on his Master's assurances of deliverance from both, at the same time taking all precautions for safety and vindicating all his legal rights.
unto whom now I send thee—The emphatic "I" here denotes the authority of the Sender [Bengel].
18. To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light—rather, "that they may turn" (as in Ac 26:20), that is, as the effect of their eyes being opened. The whole passage leans upon Isa 61:1 (Lu 4:18).
and from the power of Satan—Note the connection here between being "turned from darkness" and "from the power of Satan," whose whole power over men lies in keeping them in the dark: hence he is called "the ruler of the darkness of this world." See on 2Co 4:4.
that they may receive forgiveness … and inheritance among the sanctified by faith that is in me—Note: Faith is here made the instrument of salvation at once in its first stage, forgiveness, and its last, admission to the home of the sanctified; and the faith which introduces the soul to all this is emphatically declared by the glorified Redeemer to rest upon Himself—"FAITH, even THAT WHICH IS IN Me." And who that believes this can refrain from casting his crown before Him or resist offering Him supreme worship?
19-21. Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision—This musical and elevated strain, which carries the reader along with it, and doubtless did the hearers, bespeaks the lofty region of thought and feeling to which the apostle had risen while rehearsing his Master's communications to him from heaven.
20. showed … to them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem—omitting Arabia; because, beginning with the Jews, his object was to mention first the places where his former hatred of the name of Christ was best known: the mention of the Gentiles, so unpalatable to his audience, is reserved to the last.
repent and return to God, and do works meet for repentance—a brief description of conversion and its proper fruits, suggested, probably, by the Baptist's teaching (Lu 3:7, 8).
22, 23. having obtained help—"succor."
from God—"that [which cometh] from God."
I continue—"stand," "hold my ground."
unto this day, witnessing, &c.—that is, This life of mine, so marvellously preserved, in spite of all the plots against it, is upheld for the Gospel's sake; therefore I "witnessed," &c.
23. That Christ should suffer, &c.—The construction of this sentence implies that in regard to the question "whether the Messiah is a suffering one, and whether, rising first from the dead, he should show light to the (Jewish) people and to the Gentiles," he had only said what the prophets and Moses said should come.
24. Festus said with a loud voice—surprised and bewildered.
Paul, thou art beside thyself, much learning doth make thee mad—"is turning thy head." The union of flowing Greek, deep acquaintance with the sacred writings of his nation, reference to a resurrection and other doctrines to a Roman utterly unintelligible, and, above all, lofty religious earnestness, so strange to the cultivated, cold-hearted skeptics of that day—may account for this sudden exclamation.
25, 26. I am not mad, most noble Festus, but, &c.—Can anything surpass this reply, for readiness, self-possession, calm dignity? Every word of it refuted the rude charge, though Festus, probably, did not intend to hurt the prisoner's feelings.
26. the king knoweth, &c.—(See on Ac 26:1-3).
27-29. believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest—The courage and confidence here shown proceeded from a vivid persuasion of Agrippa's knowledge of the facts and faith in the predictions which they verified; and the king's reply is the highest testimony to the correctness of these presumptions and the immense power of such bold yet courteous appeals to conscience.
28. Almost—or, "in a little time."
thou persuadest me to be a Christian—Most modern interpreters think the ordinary translation inadmissible, and take the meaning to be, "Thou thinkest to make me with little persuasion (or small trouble) a Christian"—but I am not to be so easily turned. But the apostle's reply can scarcely suit any but the sense given in our authorized version, which is that adopted by Chrysostom and some of the best scholars since. The objection on which so much stress is laid, that the word "Christian" was at that time only a term of contempt, has no force except on the other side; for taking it in that view, the sense is, "Thou wilt soon have me one of that despised sect."
29. I would to God, &c.—What unequalled magnanimity does this speech breathe! Only his Master ever towered above this.
not only … almost … but altogether—or, "whether soon or late," or "with little or much difficulty."
except these bonds—doubtless holding up his two chained hands (see on Ac 12:6): which in closing such a noble utterance must have had an electrical effect.
30-32. when he had thus spoken, the king rose—not over-easy, we may be sure.
32. This man might have been set at liberty if he had not appealed to Cæsar—It would seem from this that such appeals, once made, behooved to be carried out.