Acts 26:27
in Acts 26King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
KJV
King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
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This verse in Acts 26
Commentary
8 notes on this verseDo you believe the prophets, King Agrippa? I know that you believe. This he speaks not in flattery, as some think, but truly. For Agrippa, as one versed in the rites and laws of the Jews, believed that the prophets spoke truth, but as a …
This site's exposition
King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets
on Acts 26:27-29
King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? Paul presses, and answers his own question, I know that thou believest, closing the trap gently rather than harshly. Agrippa's reply, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian, has been read two ways across the bench: some hold it genuine hesitation on the edge of conviction, others a deflecting half-jest turning the personal question aside before witnesses, and both readings are held by serious commentators with neither pronounced certain by the text itself. Paul's answer reaches past the king to everyone present, I would to God that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost and altogether such as I am, except these bonds, wishing his hearers his own faith while owning his chains without complaint.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"King Agrippa," he says, "believest thou"-he does not say, the Resurrection, but-"the prophets?" Then he forestalls him, and says: "I know that thou believest." "In a little" (i.e. within a little,) "almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." Paul did not understand what the phrase "in a little" meant: he thought it meant "with little cost or trouble", wherefore also he answers as to this: so unlearned was he.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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?
King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets?.... What they have said concerning the person, office, sufferings, death, and resurrection of Christ, and that what they have said is fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth? I know that thou believest; that what the prophets said were true, and are accomplished.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Believest thou the prophets? - Having made his elegant compliment and vindication to Festus, he turns to Agrippa; and, with this strong appeal to his religious feeling, says, Believest thou the prophets? and immediately anticipates his reply, and, with great address, speaks for him, I know that thou believest. The inference from this belief necessarily was: “As thou believest the prophets, and I have proved that the prophets have spoken about Christ, as suffering and, triumphing over death, and that all they say of the Messiah has been fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, then thou must acknowledge that my doctrine is true.”
The words behind it
8 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| πιστεύεις, | pisteueis | Believe you, | G4100 → | 237 times |
| βασιλεῦ | basileu | King | G935 → | 114 times |
| Ἀγρίππα, | agrippa | Agrippa, | G67 → | 11 times |
| τοῖς | tois | in the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| προφήταις; | prophetais | prophets? | G4396 → | 144 times |
| οἶδα | oida | I know | ||
| ὅτι | hoti | that | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| πιστεύεις.¶ | pisteueis | you believe. | G4100 → | 237 times |
πιστεύεις,Believe you,
pisteueisG4100 →237 times
βασιλεῦKing
basileuG935 →114 times
Ἀγρίππα,Agrippa,
agrippaG67 →11 times
τοῖςin the
toisG3588 →19766 times
προφήταις;prophets?
prophetaisG4396 →144 times
οἶδαI know
oida
ὅτιthat
hotiG3754 →1292 times
πιστεύεις.¶you believe.
pisteueisG4100 →237 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Acts
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Acts; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 52; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament.