EXCURSUS A. On the Use of the Hebrew Language.by the Glorified Messiah. Bengel's remarkable words, ‘The Hebrew tongue, Christ's language on earth; His language too when He spoke from heaven,' a comment which at first seems quaint and even fantastic, is, when examined, singularly correct. We will ve... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:1. THEN AGRIPPA SAID UNTO PAUL, THOU ART PERMITTED TO SPEAK FOR THYSELF. On this occasion Agrippa, invested with the royal dignity, although only a subject monarch, sat in the president's place during the hearing. He opens the proceedings; but it is noteworthy to observe that the king does n... [ Continue Reading ]
_Paul's Defence of Christianity before King Agrippa, his Sister, and the Procurator Festus,_ 1-23. This famous _apologia_ of St. Paul consists of four divisions. The first, Acts 26:2-3, consists of a few courteous words addressed to the distinguished prince before whom he was summoned to plead his c... [ Continue Reading ]
_First Division of Paul's ‘Apologia'Introductory Address to King Agrippa,_ 2, 3. Acts 26:2. 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. This was no mere flattery. Paul says not one word in prais... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:3. ESPECIALLY BECAUSE I KNOW THEE TO BE EXPERT IN ALL CUSTOMS AND QUESTIONS WHICH ARE AMONG THE JEWS. Agrippa II., singularly enough, was especially fitted to act as judge in such a cause as that of Paul, accused of treason to the religion and sacred law of his forefathers; for he was not me... [ Continue Reading ]
_Second Division of ‘Apologia'Paul refers to his well-known early life, and his fame as a PhariseeHe has never swerved from his old Belief He touches on its central Tenets,_ 4-8. Acts 26:4. MY MANNER OF LIFE FROM MY YOUTH, WHICH WAS AT FIRST AMONG MINE OWN NATION AT JERUSALEM, KNOW ALL THE JEWS. He... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:5. WHICH KNEW ME FROM THE BEGINNING, IF THEY WOULD TESTIFY, THAT AFTER THE MOST STRAITEST SECT OF OUR RELIGION I LIVED A PHARISEE. He speaks here of what was evidently a common knowledge, viz. those details above referred to of his early bringing up. The grave and dignified members of the Sa... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:6. AND NOW I STAND AND AM JUDGED FOR THE HOPE OF THE PROMISE MADE OF GOD UNTO OUR FATHERS. In other words, Paul said: ‘I, who am well known as one trained in the severe and rigid Pharisee school, stand accused, because I press home to men the hope of the resurrection, in which hope the Phari... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:7. UNTO WHICH PROMISE OUR TWELVE TRIBES, INSTANTLY SERVING GOD DAY AND NIGHT, HOPE TO COME. Before discussing the deeply interesting and important questions suggested by these few words, which represent, no doubt, a long and elaborate portion of this ‘Apology' of St. Paul's, we will quote th... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:8. WHY SHOULD IT HE THOUGHT A THING INCREDIBLE WITH YOU, THAT GOD SHOULD RAISE THE DEAD? First, on the punctuation of this verse. Some MSS. write the words, ‘What? Is it to be thought incredible with you if God should raise the dead?' The majority, however, of the later critical expositors c... [ Continue Reading ]
_Third Division of the ‘Apologia'Paul relates the strange Incident in his life which induced him, a Pharisee Teacher, for ever to throw in his lot with the despised Nazarenes The crucified Nazarene Himself appeared to him, surrounded with an unearthly GloryHe tells Agrippa what the Being, who crosse... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:10. WHICH THING I ALSO DID IN JERUSALEM. Probably referring here especially to his share in the martyrdom of Stephen, when ‘the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul' (Acts 7:58); when Saul was consenting unto his death (Acts 8:1); and also to his condu... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:11. AND I PUNISHED THEM OFT IN EVERY SYNAGOGUE, AND COMPELLED THEM TO BLASPHEME. This alludes, no doubt, not only to the many synagogues in Jerusalem (see chap. Acts 6:9, and note), but also to the synagogues situated in the many different places whither he was sent by the Sanhedrim in his w... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:12. WHEREUPON, AS I WENT TO DAMASCUS WITH AUTHORITY AND COMMISSION FROM THE CHIEF PRIESTS. This is the third account contained in the ‘Acts' of St. Paul's conversion (see the general remarks and comment on chap. Acts 9:3-18). Of these three, the first is woven into the general history of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:13. A LIGHT FROM HEAVEN, ABOVE THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE SUN, SHINING ROUND ABOUT ME AND THEM WHICH JOURNEYED WITH ME. It has just been mentioned that this blaze of glory suddenly shone round the Pharisee and his company at midday. The comparison, then, of the strange great light he remembered s... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:14. AND WHEN WE WERE ALL FALLEN TO THE EARTH. See note on Acts 9:7, where the apparent discrepancy between the two accounts is discussed. I HEARD A VOICE SPEAKING UNTO ME, AND SAYING IN THE HEBREW TONGUE. On the use of the Hebrew tongue on this solemn occasion, see the Excursus at the end... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:16. BUT RISE, AND STAND UPON THY FEET. These words introduce a portion of the interview passed over in the two other accounts of the ‘appearance.' Commentators have been apparently somewhat perplexed here, owing to the similarity of the words of the glorified Lord which follow here with the... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:17. DELIVERING THEE FROM THE PEOPLE, AND FROM THE GENTILES, UNTO WHOM NOW I SEND THEE. The memory of these words of the Son of God armed the apostle of the future against all the terrors which awaited him, and at the same time prepared him to bear his heavy cross. It was no doubt that, trust... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:18. TO OPEN THEIR EYES, AND TO TURN THEM FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT. The beautiful words of Isaiah's prophecy of the coming Messiah and His peculiar work, seem to ring in our ears as we read these words of the glorified Redeemer. Read now in the light which the history of eighteen centuries of t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Fourth and Concluding Division of the ‘Apologia' of PaulAfter the Appearance of the Crucified to him, he at once obeyed His Voice, and went about everywhere to proclaim His Message, not merely to JewsFor this reason the Jews sought his Life; but he kept on, helped with unearthly Help, unto that ver... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:20. BUT SHOWED FIRST UNTO THEM OF DAMASCUS, AND AT JERUSALEM, AND THROUGHOUT ALL THE COASTS OF JUDÆA, AND THEN TO THE GENTILES, THAT THEY SHOULD REPENT AND TURN TO GOD. It is noticeable that the verb in the original Greek, here rendered ‘showed first,' is the imperfect, and implies a continu... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:21. FOR THESE CAUSES THE JEWS CAUGHT ME IN THE TEMPLE, AND WENT ABOUT TO KILL ME. That is first because he, Saul, once the determined relentless enemy of the ‘crucified Nazarene,' now obeyed His voice, and went about everywhere delivering the message of the ‘Crucified' with power; and second... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:22. HAVING THEREFORE OBTAINED HELP OF GOD, I CONTINUE UNTO THIS DAY. Never without Divine protection had he stood alive before that brilliant court and King Agrippa. Had not the invincible guards of the great King stood around him these past years, that frail life of his would have been long... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:23. THAT CHRIST SHOULD SUFFER, AND THAT HE SHOULD BE THE FIRST THAT SHOULD RISE FROM THE DEAD, AND SHOULD SHOW LIGHT UNTO THE PEOPLE AND UNTO THE GENTILES. In other words, ‘Protected by a Divine and invisible Guardian, I have gone about, bearing my message to the powerful and humble alike, u... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Procurator Festus interrupts Paul The Apostle's Reply to Festus, and Appeal to AgrippaThe Dialogue between Agrippa and Paul The King and Governor decide that, had not the Prisoner appealed to Cæsar, he might have been set at liberty_, 24-32. Acts 26:24. AND AS HE THUS SPAKE FOR HIMSELF, FESTUS... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:25. BUT HE SAID, I AM NOT MAD, MOST NOBLE FESTUS; BUT SPEAK FORTH THE WORDS OF TRUTH AND SOBERNESS. But the Roman governor's accusation of madness was effectively refuted by the calm, courteous words with which the prisoner at once replied to the interruption. The Roman must have listened wi... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:26. FOR THE KING KNOWETH OF THESE THINGS, BEFORE WHOM ALSO I SPEAK FREELY; FOR I AM PERSUADED THAT NONE of THESE THINGS ARE HIDDEN FROM HIM; FOR THIS THING WAS NOT DONE IN A CORNER. ‘ The Jewish king sitting on that throne, before whom I am now telling out my wondrous story, he knows whether... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:27. KING AGRIPPA, BELIEVEST THOU THE PROPHETS? I KNOW THAT THOU BELIEVEST. Paul made this appeal, not without reason, to the Jewish sovereign, who, like his father, ostentatiously avowed his belief in Judaism, and was a zealous professor of the faith; thinking, perhaps, thus to win popularit... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:28. ALMOST THOU PERSUADEST ME TO BE A CHRISTIAN. Modern commentators very generally, on the ground that no clear instance has been adduced of the Greek word ε ̓ ν ο ̓ λι ́ γω ͅ signifying ‘almost,' give up this ancient, time-honoured rendering, and translate the king's reply either _(a) With... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:29. AND PAUL SAID, 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. There is a slight difference in the reading of the older MSS. here in the Greek words translated ‘altogether,' but this hardly affects... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:30. AND WHEN HE HAD THUS SPOKEN, THE KING ROSE UP, AND THE GOVERNOR, AND BERNICE, AND THEY THAT SAT WITH THEM. Thus arising and leaving the court in order of their precedence. Such an exact detail evidently proceeds from one who had been an eye-witness of this day's proceedings. ‘They that s... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:31. AND WHEN THEY WERE GONE ASIDE, THEY TALKED BETWEEN THEMSELVES, SAYING, THIS MAN DOETH NOTHING WORTHY OF DEATH OR OF BONDS. The second of these public expressions of opinion on the part of such exalted personages as Agrippa and Festus, respecting Paul's complete innocence of the really gr... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 26:32. THEN SAID AGRIPPA UNTO FESTUS, THIS MAN MIGHT HAVE BEEN SET AT LIBERTY, IF HE HAD NOT APPEALED UNTO CÆSAR. On first thought, it would seem as though this appeal of the apostle was a disastrous step for him to have taken. But on looking deeper into that busy life-story of his, we see how,... [ Continue Reading ]