Actschapter 26
32 verses · Luke · about AD 62 · Acts
We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
Introduction
Luke, Acts, Acts Overview.
Luke records this speech as the fullest of Paul's defences, given before a king, a governor and the leading men of Caesarea. Paul speaks to a ruler who knew the customs of the Jews and the words of the prophets. He tells the story of his conversion for the third time in the book, and he shapes it for this hearer. Listen for what Paul says he was sent to do. Listen also for how the hearing ends, with a question put to the king and a verdict given in private. Read it as a witness who argues for the resurrection before those who hold power over his life.
Context
- Who
- Theophilus and Gentile readers, hearing Paul's fullest account of his own conversion and commission.
- What
- Paul's defence before Herod Agrippa II, the story of his life, conversion and commission, Festus's outburst, Paul's appeal to the king, and the officials' agreement that he had done nothing to deserve death.
- Where
- Caesarea, in the audience hall of the governor's palace, before Agrippa, Bernice, Festus, the military commanders and the leading men of the city.
- When
- About AD 59, a few days after the arrival of Agrippa and Bernice, while Paul waited to be sent to Rome.
- Why
- To show that Paul's gospel was the fulfilment of what Moses and the prophets foretold, and that the rulers who heard him found him innocent.
Historical context
This is a hearing, not a trial. The case is already bound for Rome; Festus needs charges to send with the prisoner and hopes an expert audience will supply them. The pomp Luke describes, the procession, the assembled tribunes and civic notables, is the theatre of provincial power.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
Agrippa's Jewish credentials are the point. He controlled the temple treasury and appointed high priests, and Paul appeals to him as a man who knows the prophets and the recent history of Judea: none of this was done in a corner.
The saying about kicking against the goads is a Greek proverb, not a Hebrew one. A goad was the sharpened stick used to drive oxen; an animal that kicked back only drove it deeper. Paul is quoting the risen Jesus using a phrase this Greek-educated audience would know instantly.
Festus's outburst that great learning has driven Paul mad reflects a Roman aristocrat's reflex about a bodily resurrection. Greeks could accept the soul surviving; a body coming out of a grave sounded like a scholar who had read himself into nonsense.
Significance
The first readers got the mission statement of the whole book in Paul's mouth: sent to open eyes, to turn people from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they might receive forgiveness and a place among those who are sanctified.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
And they got the verdict twice over. Agrippa tells Festus the man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar. Rome's own judgment on the Christian message, given by its own officials, is that it is not a crime.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Before Agrippa: My Manner of Life From My Youth
Acts 26:1-3
The word fortunate names a real advantage, since Agrippa the Second was acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Festus the Roman lacked that knowledge entirely.
Acts 26:1
“Then Paul stretched forth the hand - See the notes on Act 21:40. This was the usual posture of orators or public speakers. The ancient statues are commonly made in this way, with the right hand extended. The dress of the ancients favored this. The long and loose robe, or outer garment, was fastened usually with a hook or clasp on the right shoulder, and thus left the arm at full liberty.”
I consider myself fortunate: John Chrysostom reads Paul's gladness as the mark of a clear conscience, since a guilty man fears a judge who knows the facts. Chrysostom adds that the appeal to Caesar already stood, so this court had no power to condemn him. Paul answers every charge all the same.
Acts 26:2
“I think myself happy - As if he had said, This is a peculiarly fortunate circumstance in my favor, that I am called to make my defense before a judge so intelligent, and so well acquainted with the laws and customs of our country. It may be necessary just to observe that this Agrippa was king of Trachonitis, a region which lay on the north of Palestine, on the east side of Jordan, and south of Damascus. For his possessions, see on Act 25:13 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 26:2
“Luke useth indeed a word of excusing; yet such a one as is nothing inconvenient whensoever there is any account given of doctrine. Furthermore, because Paul knew well that Festus did set light by all that which should be taken out of the law and prophets, he turneth himself unto the king, who he hoped would be more attentive, seeing he was no stranger to the Jewish religion.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
all the Jewish customs and controversies: Agrippa had charge of the temple and its treasury and the right to appoint the high priest, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note from Josephus. Albert Barnes takes the controversies as the disputes among Pharisees, Sadducees and scribes. Paul could praise that knowledge honestly.
Acts 26:3
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Acts 26:4-5
how I have lived from: Paul says the Jews know he lived from his youth as a Pharisee, the strictest sect of our religion. The words if they are willing point at the accusers, who could vouch for his former standing and now refuse to speak. Philippians 3:5 states the same pedigree.
Acts 26:4
"All the Jews know; they have known about me for a long time." This means: the Jews know the truth, but do not want to testify to it, and willfully lie and sin against him.
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on Actspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 26:4
“My manner of life, etc. - The apostle means to state that, though born in Tarsus, he had a regular Jewish education, having been sent up to Jerusalem for that purpose; but at what age does not appear; probably about twelve, for at this age the male children were probably brought to the annual solemnities. See on Luk 2:41 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
the strictest sect of our religion: The word for sect is the one the accusers used as a slur at 24:14, though Bede notes it could then name a respected party. Clarke lists the three parties of the day as Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes. Barnes adds that their strictness reached to the elders' traditions.
Acts 26:5
“Which knew me - Who were well acquainted with me. From the beginning - ἄνωθεν anōthen. Formerly; or from the very commencement of my career. Who were perfectly apprised of my whole course. If they would testify - If they would bear witness to what they know. That after the most straitest - The most rigid; the most strict, not only in regard to the written Law of God, but to the traditions of the elders.”
Acts 26:6-8
my hope in the promise: Paul says he stands on trial for his hope in the promise God made to the fathers. The twelve tribes earnestly serve God day and night hoping to realize it, so the trial concerns Israel's own hope. The next verse names that promise: God raises the dead.
Acts 26:6
“And now I stand, and am judged,.... Before the Roman governor, and in the presence of Agrippa: for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers; either for the hope of righteousness, life, and salvation, by the Messiah; who was promised to the Jewish fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and others; see Gen 22:18 or for the hope of the resurrection of the dead, and eternal life; of which there are various testimonies in the writings of the Old Testament, committed to the people of the Jews.”
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 26:6
This was said to meet the charge, that as a Hellenistic Jew he had contracted among the heathen lax ideas of Jewish peculiarities. 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."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Acts 26:6
“For the hope of the promise - This does not appear to mean, the hope of the Messiah, as some have imagined, but the hope of the resurrection of the dead, to which the apostle referred in Act 23:6 (note), where he says to the Jewish council, (from which the Roman governor took him), of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question: see the notes there. And here he says, I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise, etc., and to which, he says, Act 26:7, the twelve tribes hope to come.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
our twelve tribes: Wesley notes many from the ten northern tribes had returned over the centuries, so the nation still counted itself twelve, as James 1:1 does. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown find the irony: the hope all Israel prays for is the charge Jews bring. The sedition charge has fallen away here.
Acts 26:7
“Unto which promise - To the fulfillment of which promise they hope to come; that is, they hope and believe that the promise will be fulfilled, and that they will partake of its benefits. Our twelve tribes - This was the name by which the Jews were designated. The ancient Jewish nation had hoped to come to that promise; it had been the hope and expectation of the nation. Long before the coming of the Messiah, ten of the twelve tribes had been carried captive to Assyria, and had not returned, leaving but the two tribes of Benjamin and Judah.”
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 26:7
“Our twelve tribes - For a great part of the ten tribes also had at various times returned from the east to their own country, James i, 1; Worshipping continually night and day - That is, this is what they aim at in all their public and private worship.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 26:7
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
consider it incredible: The question is plural, and Albert Barnes takes it as addressed to the whole room, Festus and his company above all. Adam Clarke reasons that anyone who believes in an almighty God cannot call resurrection impossible. The Sadducees denied it all the same.
Acts 26:8
“That God should raise the dead? - As Agrippa believed in the true God, and knew that one of his attributes was omnipotence, he could not believe that the resurrection of the dead was an impossible thing; and to this belief of his the apostle appeals; and the more especially, because the Sadducees denied the doctrine of the resurrection, though they professed to believe in the same God.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 26:8
“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?”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Acts 26:9-11
oppose the name of Jesus: Paul confesses he once set out to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This third telling adds what chapters 9 and 22 omit, that he cast his vote against believers when they were condemned to death. He tried to make them blaspheme and, raging, went even to foreign cities.
Acts 26:9
“I verily thought - I indeed μὲν men supposed. Paul here commences the account of his conversion, and states the evidence on which he judged that he was called of God to do what he had done. He begins by saying that it was not because he was originally disposed to be a Christian, but that he was violently and conscientiously opposed to Jesus of Nazareth, and had been converted when in the full career of opposition to him and his cause. With myself - I thought to myself; or, I myself thought.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 26:9
“He thought he did God good service in persecuting those who called on the name of Jesus Christ. Note, It is possible for those to be confident they are in the right who yet are evidently in the wrong; and for those to think they are doing their duty who are wilfully persisting in the greatest sin.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
I cast my vote against them: The plural suggests more believers than Stephen were killed, though Luke names no others, as Barnes and Clarke observe. Barnes reads the vote loosely, as Paul's approval of the sentences, since he holds that Paul was no member of the Sanhedrin. Wesley reads it as joining those who condemned them.
Acts 26:10
“Many of the saints - From what is said in this verse, it seems that Paul, before his conversion, was invested with much power: he imprisoned the Christians; punished many in various synagogues; compelled them to blaspheme - to renounce, and, perhaps, to execrate Christ, in order to save their lives; and gave his voice, exerted all his influence and authority, against them, in order that they might be put to death; and from this it would seem that there were other persons put to death besides St. Stephen, though their names are not mentioned.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 26:10
“I shut up many of the saints - Men not only innocent, but good, just, holy. I gave my vote against them - That is, I joined with those who condemned them.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 26:10
“Which thing I also did in Jerusalem,.... The metropolis of Judea, where he had had his education, and was well known; here he consented to the death of Stephen, and held the clothes of the witnesses while they stoned him; and here he haled men and women out of their houses, and committed them to prison, and made havoc of the church of Christ, and destroyed the faith, and those that professed it, as much as in him lay.”
I tried to make them blaspheme: John Wesley holds that only some of them yielded. Albert Barnes explains the blasphemy as denying that Jesus was the Messiah and calling Him a deceiver. Adam Clarke takes the foreign cities as places beyond Jewish jurisdiction, Damascus among them.
Acts 26:11
“And I punished them oft ... - See Act 22:19. And compelled them to blaspheme - To blaspheme the name of Jesus by denying that he was the Messiah, and by admitting that he was an impostor. This was the object which they had in view in the persecution. It was not to make them blaspheme or reproach God, but to deny that Jesus was the Messiah, and to reproach him as a deceiver and an impostor.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 26:11
“I compelled them - That is, some of them; to blaspheme - This is the most dreadful of all! Repent, ye enemies of the Gospel. If Spira, who was compelled, suffered so terribly, what will become of those who compel, like Saul, but do not repent like him.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
The Heavenly Vision and the Commission He Received
Acts 26:12-14
with the authority and commission: About noon on the Damascus road, a light brighter than the sun shone around Paul. Only this account says all fell to the ground. Here the voice speaks in Hebrew and adds the proverb about kicking against the goads, a figure from Greek literature.
Acts 26:12
“Whereupon as I went to Damascus - See the whole account of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus explained at large, in the notes on Act 9:2 (note), etc.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 26:12
“Then again the witnesses, those who were with him: next he shows what just cause he had to be persuaded, both from the light, and from the prophets, and from the results, and from the things which have now taken place. See accordingly, how both from the prophets, and from these particulars, he confirms the proof to them. For that he may not seem to be broaching some novelty, although he had great things to say, yet he again takes refuge with the prophets, and puts this as a question for discussion.”
John Chrysostom · written before 407 · Homily on Acts 52patristic
Acts 26:12
“See this passage explained in the notes on Act 9:5, etc.”
brighter than the sun: Paul addresses the king by title. Wesley and Gill read it as a call for his full attention at the height of the story. Theophylact explains the comparison: the sun is the brightest thing the senses know, so Paul uses it as the nearest likeness for a greater light.
Acts 26:13
“At midday, O king,.... So in Act 12:6. This circumstance is omitted in Act 9:3. King Agrippa is called upon by the apostle, to excite his attention to what he was about to relate, it being very wonderful, and of great importance. I saw in the way; that is, to Damascus, when near the city; a light from heaven; which descended from thence: above the brightness of the sun; it was a greater light than that, or otherwise it could not have been discerned at noon, or have had the effect it had upon Saul, and his company.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 26:13
“O King - Most seasonably, in the height of the narration, does he thus fix the king's attention. Above the brightness of the sun - And no marvel. For what is the brightness of this created sun, to the Sun of righteousness, the brightness of the Father's glory?”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
in Hebrew: Wesley notes Paul was no longer speaking Hebrew, as he had in chapter 22, so he names the language the voice used. Christ spoke that tongue on earth and from heaven. Gill sets this falling beside 9:7, where the men stood speechless, and reconciles the two in his note there.
Acts 26:14
“And when we were all fallen to the earth,.... Saul, and the men that were with him, for fear of the divine Majesty, who by this extraordinary light was thought to be present: the other narratives only relate Saul's falling to the earth; how this is to be reconciled to their standing speechless, in Act 9:7; see Gill on Act 9:7. I heard a voice speaking unto me, &c. See Gill on Act 10:4. See Gill on Act 10:5.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 26:14
“In the Hebrew tongue - St. Paul was not now speaking in Hebrew: when he was, chap. xxiii, 7, he did not add, In the Hebrew tongue. Christ used this tongue both on earth and from heaven.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 26:15-16
The answer “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” identifies Christ with the church Paul was dragging to prison, as at 9:4 and 22:8. It is the ground of the teaching that Christ suffers in His members.
Acts 26:15
“And I said, who art thou, Lord? and he said,.... Or "the Lord said", as the Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions read, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest; the Syriac and Ethiopic versions read, "Jesus of Nazareth"; See Gill on Act 9:5.”
a servant and as a witness: Adam Clarke notes that these words and the two verses after them stand in neither road account, at 9:1-9 or 22:6-11. Albert Barnes explains why Paul gives them here, since they show his authority for preaching to the Gentiles. Only Paul saw Christ in the light, as Matthew Henry notes.
Acts 26:17-18
rescue you from your own people: Paul is sent to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Darkness is paired with Satan's power and light with God, making the mission a rescue.
Acts 26:17
“Delivering thee from the people - The Jews and the Gentiles, to whom, both Jews and Gentiles, I now send thee - Paul gives them to know, that the liberty he enjoys even in bonds, was promised to him, as well as his preaching to the Gentiles. I, denotes the authority of the sender. Now, the time whence his mission was dated.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
to open their eyes: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the turning as the result of opened eyes, so the light comes first and the change follows. Albert Barnes sets the language beside Colossians 1:13, where believers are rescued from the dominion of darkness. Christ met His persecutor with a commission, as John Chrysostom notes.
Acts 26:18
“To open their eyes - To be the instrument of informing their understanding in the things of God. To turn them from darkness to light - From heathenism and superstition to the knowledge and worship of the true God. From the power of Satan unto God - Της εξουσιας του Σατανα, From the authority and domination of Satan; for as the kingdom of darkness is his kingdom, so those who live in this darkness are under his dominion; and he has authority and right over them.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 26:18
“None can be happy that are not holy; nor shall any be saints in heaven that are not first saints on earth. Fourthly, We need no more to make us happy than to have our lot among those that are sanctified, to fare as they fare; this is having our lot among the chosen, for they are chosen to salvation through sanctification. Those who are sanctified shall be glorified.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Acts 26:18
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Acts 26:19-21
not disobedient to the heavenly vision: Paul says he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. He preached in Damascus and Jerusalem, then in Judea, and then to the Gentiles, the order of 1:8. He called hearers to repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance.
Acts 26:19
“Heavenly visions have a commanding power over earthly counsels, and it is at our peril if we be disobedient to them; yet if Paul had conferred with flesh and blood, and been swayed by his secular interest, he would have done as Jonah did, gone any where rather than upon this errand; but God opened his ear, and he was not rebellious.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 26:19
“From that time - Having received power to obey, I was not disobedient - I did obey, I used that power, Gal. i, 16. So that even this grace whereby St. Paul was influenced was not irresistible.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
deeds worthy of their repentance: Adam Clarke fills in the order from Galatians 1:17-18, where Paul spent about three years in Damascus and Arabia before going up to Jerusalem. Albert Barnes adds that Paul may have preached to Gentiles in Arabia in those years. John Chrysostom draws the argument: such teaching makes an unlikely rebel.
Acts 26:20
“But showed first unto them of Damascus - He appears to have preached at Damascus, and in the neighboring parts of Arabia Deserta, for about three years; and afterwards he went up to Jerusalem. See Gal 1:17, Gal 1:18; and see the note on Act 9:23. That they should repent - Be deeply humbled for their past iniquities, and turn to God as their Judge and Savior, avoiding all idolatry and all sin; and thus do works meet for repentance; that is, show by their conduct that they had contrite hearts, and that they sincerely sought salvation from God alone.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 26:20
“This was what John preached, who was the first gospel preacher, Matt. iii. Those that profess repentance must practise it, must live a life of repentance, must in every thing carry it as becomes penitents. It is not enough to speak penitent words, but we must do works agreeable to those words.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
seized me in the temple courts: Clarke gives four reasons for the attack, among them the rising of the Jesus they had crucified and salvation offered to Gentiles. Gill names the Jews from Asia of 21:27 as the men who seized him. Henry notes they attacked him in the act of worship.
Acts 26:21
“For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple,.... He means the Asiatic Jews, who finding him in the temple, laid hold on him, and dragged him out of it: and, as he says, went about to kill me; for no other reason, but for preaching to the Gentiles, and for preaching the above doctrines to them: what he refers to is in Act 21:27.”
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 26:21
“For these causes the Jews - went about to kill me - These causes may be reduced to four heads: - 1. He had maintained the resurrection of the dead. 2. The resurrection of Christ, whom they had crucified and slain. 3. That this Jesus was the promised Messiah. 4. He had offered salvation to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Acts 26:21
“He suffered ill, not only for doing well himself, but for doing good to others. They attempted to kill him; it was his precious life that they hunted for, and hated, because it was a useful life; they caught him in the temple worshipping God, and there they set upon him, as if the better place the better deed.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Acts 26:22-23
had God’s help to this day: Paul says he testifies to small and great alike, saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen. The suffering Messiah, the resurrection and the light for the Gentiles all stand in Moses and the prophets.
Acts 26:22
“In like manner, before Agrippa also, he says that he was advancing "none other things than those which the prophets had announced." He was therefore maintaining just such a resurrection as the prophets had foretold.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On the Resurrection of the Fleshpatristic
the first to rise from the dead: Theophylact explains the word first: others had been raised before, yet they died again, while Christ rose never to die. Chrysostom notes Paul's restraint, since before this court he says the Christ would suffer without charging his hearers with the killing. Clarke adds that many Jews resisted a suffering Messiah.
Acts 26:23
“That Christ - That the Messiah expected by the Jews should be a suffering Messiah. Should suffer - Should lead a painful life, and be put to death. See the notes on Act 17:3; compare Dan 9:27; Isa 53:1-12. And that he should be the first ... - This declaration contains two points: (1) That it was taught in the prophets that the Messiah Would rise from the dead. On this, see the proof alleged in Act 2:24-32; Act 13:32-37. (2) That he would be the first that should rise.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 26:23
"Having risen first from the dead." Jesus was the first to rise and no longer dies, whereas those raised by Him or by His disciples died again in expectation of the future general resurrection.
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on Actspatristic
Almost Thou Persuadest Me to Be a Christian
Acts 26:24-26
Festus exclaimed in a loud voice: Festus exclaimed that Paul's great learning was driving him mad. Paul answers that the king knows about these matters, for it was not done in a corner. That phrase is the center of the defense, claiming the crucifixion and its aftermath as public Jerusalem history.
Acts 26:24
“Nay, Festus, it is thou that art beside thyself. That strikest quite wide of the mark. And no wonder: he saw that nature did not act in Paul; but the grace that acted in him he did not see.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
most excellent Festus: Most excellent was the formal title of a governor's office, as Wesley and Clarke explain, the same title given Felix at 23:26 and 24:3. Clarke notes that Paul gives it without a trace of anger at being called insane. He calls the calm reply the best proof of sanity.
Acts 26:25
“I am not mad - I am not deranged. There are few more happy turns than what Paul gives to this accusation of Festus. He might have appealed to the course of his argument; he might have dwelt on the importance of the subject, and continued to reason; but he makes an appeal at once to Agrippa, and brings him in for a witness that he was not deranged. This would be far more likely to make an impression on the mind of Festus than anything that Paul could say in self-defense.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 26:25
“I am not mad, most excellent Festus - The style properly belonging to a Roman propretor. How inexpressibly beautiful is this reply! How strong! yet how decent and respectful!”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
not done in a corner: Wesley suggests that this very freedom of speech was part of what Festus took for madness. Barnes notes that Agrippa had lived many years in the region and could hardly have missed the public events of Jesus' life and death. Chrysostom adds that the message had spread across the world.
Acts 26:26
“But Paul explains the reason for which he turned his speech to the king. Then, showing that this doctrine had become everywhere in the inhabited world, he added: "this has not been done in a corner," speaking about the cross and the resurrection of Christ.”
Oecumenius · written before 550 · Commentary on Actspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 26:26
“For the king knoweth of these things - St. Paul having refuted Festus, pursues his purpose, returning naturally, and as it were, step by step, from Festus to Agrippa. To whom I speak with freedom - This freedom was probably one circumstance which Festus accounted madness.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 26:27-29
do you believe the prophets?: Agrippa asks whether Paul can persuade him in such a short time to become a Christian. Paul's answer reaches everyone present: he wishes all who hear him may become what he is, except for these chains.
Acts 26:27
“King Agrippa - This bold personal address is an instance of Paul’s happy manner of appeal. He does it to bring in the testimony of Agrippa to meet the charge of Festus that he was deranged. Believest thou the prophets? - The prophecies respecting the character, the sufferings, and the death of the Messiah. I know that thou believest - Agrippa was a Jew; and, as such, he of course believed the prophets.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 26:27
“King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? - He that believes these, believes Paul, yea, and Christ. The apostle now comes close to his heart. What did Agrippa feel when he heard this?”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
in such a short time: The Greek reads in a little, which Oecumenius takes as a short teaching in few words. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown add that if Christian still carried contempt, the king meant Paul would soon make him one of a despised sect. Wesley places Agrippa halting between Festus and Paul.
Acts 26:28
“Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian! - See here, Festus altogether a heathen, Paul alogether a Christian, Agrippa halting between both.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 26:28
“Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian - Εν ολιγῳ με πειθεις ΧριϚιανον γενεσθαι. This declaration was almost the necessary consequence of the apostle’s reasoning, and Agrippa’s faith. If he believed the prophets, see Act 26:22, Act 26:23, and believed that Paul’s application of their words to Christ Jesus was correct, he must acknowledge the truth of the Christian religion; but he might choose whether he would embrace and confess this truth, or not. However, the sudden appeal to his religious faith extorts from him the declaration, Thou hast nearly persuaded me to embrace Christianity.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Acts 26:28
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."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Barnes and Wesley read Paul's wish as a prayer, owning that only God makes a Christian. Chrysostom notes the man who calls himself a prisoner of Christ in his letters spares these hearers his chains, since they were still weak. Clarke thinks he held up the chain as he spoke.
Acts 26:29
“I would to God - I pray to God; I earnestly desire it of God. This shows: (1) Paul’s intense desire that Agrippa, and all who heard him, might be saved. (2) His steady and constant belief that none but God could incline people to become altogether Christians. Paul knew well that there was nothing that would overcome the reluctance of the human heart to be an entire Christian but the grace and mercy of God.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 26:29
“Paul gently corrects this mistake; intimating, it is the gift and the work of God; that all that hear me - It was modesty in St. Paul, not to apply directly to them all; yet he looks upon them and observes them; were such as I am - Christians indeed; full of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 26:30-32
the king and the governor rose: The king and the governor agreed in private that Paul had done nothing worthy of death or imprisonment. Agrippa says Paul could have been released had he not appealed to Caesar, and the appeal sends him toward the city promised at 23:11.
Acts 26:30
“And when he had thus spoken,.... These words are omitted in the Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions: the king rose up; from the judgment seat; that is, King Agrippa: and the governor; the Roman governor, Festus: and Bernice: the sister of King Agrippa: and they that sat with them; either in council, or to hear; the chief captains, and principal inhabitants of Caesarea.”
John Gill observes that Roman law as yet made no crime of being a Christian, so the verdict rested on the facts alone. John Wesley notes they judged Paul's whole manner of life. He adds that a kind opinion of a preacher falls short of what God asks.
Acts 26:31
“And when they were gone aside,.... Into some apartment adjoining to the judgment hall: they talked between themselves; that the common people might not hear their debates, and the result of them, and what were their sentiments concerning Paul and his case: saying, this man doth nothing worthy of death, or of bonds; according to the Roman laws; for as yet there were no laws among the Romans against the Christians as such, or against their professing and preaching Christ.”
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 26:31
“This man doeth nothing worthy of death - This was the conclusion to which they had come after hearing all that the Jews had to allege against him. It was the result of the whole investigation; and we have, therefore, the concurring testimony of Claudius Lysias Act 23:29, of Felix Acts 24, of Festus Act 25:26-27, and of Agrippa, as to the innocence of Paul. More honorable and satisfactory testimony of his innocence he could not have desired.”
Acts 26:31
“This man doth nothing worthy of death, or of bonds - They speak of his whole life, not of one action only. And could ye learn nothing more than this from that discourse? A favourable judgment of such a preacher, is not all that God requires.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Adam Clarke explains that the appeal, once registered, bound the case to go forward to Rome. John Chrysostom sees providence in it, since Paul would go in chains as his Lord had been numbered with the transgressors (Luke 22:37). The voyage begins at 27:1.
Acts 26:32
“Then said Agrippa, etc. - The king himself, who had participated in the strongest emotions on the occasion, feels himself prompted to wish the apostle’s immediate liberation; but this was now rendered impracticable, because he had appealed to Caesar; the appeal was no doubt registered, and the business must now proceed to a full hearing.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
How this psalm is built
The form: A defence speech before a king, with an opening address at 26:2 to 3, Paul's life as a Pharisee at 26:4 to 11, the third account of his conversion and commission at 26:12 to 18, his obedience at 26:19 to 23, and the exchange with Festus and Agrippa at 26:24 to 32, as the text of Acts 26, counted classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The conversion told three times | This third telling of Paul's meeting with Jesus leaves out Ananias and gives the commission as the words of the Lord Himself. It alone includes the saying about kicking against the goads. It sets out Paul's sending to the nations in the language of the prophets, to open eyes and turn people from darkness to light.the text of Acts, compared, Acts 9:3 to 17 and 22:6 to 16 set beside Acts 26:12 to 18, with Isaiah 42:6 to 7. | Acts 26:14, Acts 26:16, Acts 26:18 |
The structure
3 more paragraphs on the patterns
Chapter 25 ended with Festus asking for help to write a charge he did not have. This chapter gives the hearing that was meant to supply it, and it becomes Paul's fullest statement of his life and mission. The speech moves from his youth and his hope, to his persecution of the church, to the commission given on the road, and to his obedience since. Festus interrupts, Paul turns to the king, and the officials confer in private. The chapter hands to chapter 27 a prisoner found innocent and bound for Rome because he had appealed.
The debate
Agrippa's reply in 26:28 has been read two ways. Older English versions read it as a king nearly persuaded, while the Berean text and most modern readers take it as a question about how quickly Paul hoped to make him a Christian. Charles Spurgeon's sermon on the verse follows the first reading. The difference turns on a short Greek phrase that can mean either in a little time or with little effort.
Keep studying
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
the text of Acts 26, counted, Acts 26:2, 26:4, 26:12, 26:19 and 26:24, where each part begins.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Bede, Retractions on Acts; J. A. Alexander, The Acts of the Apostles Explained; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.