| Acts 26 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Acts 26:7–8, 20 in Greek inPapyrus 29, written in 3rd century. | |
| Book | Acts of the Apostles |
| Category | Church history |
| Christian Bible part | New Testament |
| Order in the Christian part | 5 |
Acts 26 is the twenty-sixth chapter of theActs of the Apostles in theNew Testament of theChristian Bible. It records the period ofPaul's imprisonment inCaesarea. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but Holman states that "uniform Christian tradition affirms thatLuke wrote both" this book as well as theGospel of Luke,[1] as supported by Guthrie based on external evidence.[2]
The original text was written inKoine Greek.This chapter is divided into 32 verses.
Some earlymanuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
The events in this chapter took place inCaesarea.
Paul took up the invitation to speak: "Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself" (Acts 26:1) with an account of his early life, conversion and faith. Luke presents two contrasting responses:
Alexander divides Paul's speech into two parts: verses 1-11 are an account of his "former life", and verses 12-23 cover the heavenlyvision he experienced, which has already been recorded inActs 9:1-18 andActs 22:6-16.[6]
Following the custom of the first century, Paul's speech begins with "a standardcaptatio benevolentiae" congratulatingAgrippa on his expert ability to judge the case (verses 2-3), followed by a reprise of his own life-story, focusing on Judaism (cf. Galatians 1:13-14), with the emphasis on Jerusalem, in his Pharisaic background (verses 4-5; cf. Acts 23:6, Philippians 3:5-6), his persecution of the Christians (verses 9-11; cf. Galatians 1:13; Philippians 3:6; 1 Corinthians 15:9) and his conversion to be the follower of Christ.[6] Paul's conversion story is repeated: Alexander suggests that the functional redundancy of the passage is an indicator of itsrhetorical importance, with slight variations and the significant addition of 'in the Hebrew language' (verse 14) showing that this time it is addressed to a Greek-speaking audience (whereas previously it was in 'Hebrew', or Aramaic; Acts 21:40). An expansion what is said by the heavenly voice here includes aproverbial saying: "It hurts you to kick against the goads", which is not found in either Acts 9:4 or 22:7, but parallels Greek writings (cf. esp.Euripides.The Bacchae, 794–5).[6]
The speech was brought to closure with a 'lively piece of dialogue' which contrasts between "madness" (verse 24) and "sober truth" (verse 25), turning into a direct challenge to Agrippa, verses 26–29).[7] The end of the speech clearly displays the real object of Paul's persuasive rhetoric: 'not exoneration but conversion', so 'all who are listening' to Paul (verse 29) are invited to 'become a Christian' (verse 28), but nonetheless it results in the reinforcement of his innocence as both Festus and Agrippa were convinced that Paul has committed no crime (verses 31–22).[7]
The phraseτὰ πολλά σε γράμματα is translated here as "great learning" rather than the possibly more literal "many books".Heinrich Meyer argues that if the latter had been the intention, the wordβιβλία or βίβλοι would probably have been used.[9]
King James Version:
New International Version:
While the first translation is the more literal, the king, a rich and secular man, is possibly speaking ironically.[12]
Methodist founderJohn Wesley preached a sermon entitled "The Almost Christian", based on this verse, atSt. Mary's, Oxford, on 25 July 1741. It is sermon 2 in hisstandard collection of sermons.[13] Wesley's companionGeorge Whitefield also preached a sermon with the same title referring to the same verse.[14]
A "Christian" (Ancient Greek:Χριστιανόν,Christianon, nominative:Christianos): this is the third mention of the term in theNew Testament. The first use was inAntioch (Acts 11:26), where the writer of Acts refers to the novelty of the term, and the term is also used byPeter in1 Peter 4:16:If anyone suffers as a Christian .... All three usages are considered to reflect a derisive element referring to the followers of Christ who did not acknowledge the emperor of Rome.[15][16]