Acts 26:3
in Acts 26especially since you are acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. I beg you, therefore, to listen to me patiently.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
especially because thou art expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.
KJV
Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.
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This verse in Acts 26
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
This site's exposition
You have permission to speak
on Acts 26:1-3
Agrippa gives Paul permission to speak for himself, and Paul stretched out his hand in the orator's gesture before he began, a scene Luke could describe because he had watched it. The word fortunate names a real advantage, since Agrippa the Second, great-grandson of Herod the Great, was acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies, a knowledge Festus the Roman lacked entirely. Paul asks only that the king hear him patiently.
This site's exposition
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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself. I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews. Especially because I know thee to be expert in all questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently." And yet, had he been conscious of guilt, he should have feared at being tried in the presence of one who knew all the facts: but this is a mark of a clear conscience, not to shrink from a judge who has an accurate knowledge of the circumstances, but even to rejoice, and to call himself happy. "I beseech thee," he says, "to hear me patiently." Since he is about to lengthen out his speech, and to say something about himself, on this account, he premises an entreaty.
Again he is ready to render an account, and that, before the man who was the best informed on the subject; and with much boldness, seeing they were not his judges to condemn him: but still, though they were not his judges, since that declaration was in force, "Unto Caesar shall thou go," he renders an account and gives full answers, "touching all the things," and not merely on one and another here and there.
The Medieval Church1 voice
"All the more so, since you know all the customs and disputed opinions of the Jews." Knowing this, Paul should have been afraid of being judged by a man who knows everything; but not to reject such a judge, who knows in detail everything that …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Nothing can be imagined more suitable or more graceful, than this whole discourse of Paul before Agrippa; in which the seriousness of the Christian, the boldness of the apostle, and the politeness of the gentleman and the scholar, appear in a most beautiful contrast, or rather a most happy union.
Especially, because I know thee to be expert in all customs,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Surely the least we can expect, when we preach the faith of Christ, is to be heard patiently. He professes that though he was hated and branded as a apostate, yet he still adhered to all that good which he was first educated and trained up in; his religion was always built upon the promise of God made unto the fathers; and this he still built upon.
His account of his origin, and education, his profession as a Pharisee, and his adherence still to that which was then the main article of his creed, in distinction from the Sadducees, the "resurrection of the dead," however in rituals he had since departed from it,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
To be expert - To be skilled or well acquainted. In all customs - Rites, institutions, laws, etc. Everything pertaining to the Mosaic ritual, etc. And questions - Subjects of debate, and of various opinions. The inquiries which had existed between the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, etc. Paul could say this of Agrippa without falsehood or flattery.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| μάλιστα | malista | Especially | G3122 → | 12 times |
| γνώστην | gnosten | acquainted | G1109 → | |
| ὄντα | onta | being | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| σε | se | you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| πάντων | panton | with all | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| τῶν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| κατὰ | kata | of | G2596 → | 468 times |
| Ἰουδαίους | ioudaious | [the] Jews | G2453 → | 192 times |
| ἐθῶν | ethon | customs | G1485 → | 12 times |
| τε | te | and | G5037 → | 213 times |
| καὶ | kai | also | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ζητημάτων. | zetematon | controversies. | G2213 → | 5 times |
| διὸ | dio | therefore | G1352 → | 53 times |
| δέομαι | deomai | I implore | G1189 → | 22 times |
| μακροθύμως | makrothumos | patiently | G3116 → | |
| ἀκοῦσαί | akousai | to hear | G191 → | 425 times |
| μου.¶ | mou | me. | G3165 → | 1936 times |
μάλισταEspecially
malistaG3122 →12 times
γνώστηνacquainted
gnostenG1109 →
ὄνταbeing
ontaG1510 →2333 times
σεyou
seG4771 →2973 times
πάντωνwith all
pantonG3956 →1235 times
τῶνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
κατὰof
kataG2596 →468 times
Ἰουδαίους[the] Jews
ioudaiousG2453 →192 times
ἐθῶνcustoms
ethonG1485 →12 times
τεand
teG5037 →213 times
καὶalso
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ζητημάτων.controversies.
zetematonG2213 →5 times
διὸtherefore
dioG1352 →53 times
δέομαιI implore
deomaiG1189 →22 times
μακροθύμωςpatiently
makrothumosG3116 →
ἀκοῦσαίto hear
akousaiG191 →425 times
μου.¶me.
mouG3165 →1936 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 13:2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
it leads to
- 1 John 4:8
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
- 1 Corinthians 13:3
If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing.
- 1 John 4:20–21
If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
- Matthew 17:20
“Because you have so little faith,” He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’…
- Matthew 21:21
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain,…
- 1 John 4:8
Through
Acts 26:7the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to realize as they earnestly serve God day and night. It is because of this hope, O king, that I am accused by the Jews.
it leads to
- James 1:1
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings.
- James 1:1
Through
Acts 6:14For we have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”
it leads to
- Hebrews 12:26–28
At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven as well.”
- Daniel 9:26
Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end…
- Hebrews 12:26–28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
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About Acts
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.