Acts 26 Footnotes

26:3 Perhaps Agrippa had a reputation for being informed about Jewish customs and practices (and the controversies they aroused), but perhaps Paul was simply addressing him in an honorable way befitting his position in order to get a fair hearing.

26:5 Paul may have been emphasizing the strictness of the Pharisees to highlight his own background, but calling it the strictest sect (even in relation to the Essenes or Sadducees) is consistent with Josephus’s descriptions of these groups. In Antiquities 18, he said Pharisees shed themselves of all luxury.

26:10-11 What Paul did to oppose Jerusalem Christians is not known beyond his presence at the stoning of Stephen. Clearly he did more than is recorded in Acts, including going to foreign cities to persecute Christians (chap. 9 gives one instance of this).

26:14 Only here are we told that the heavenly voice spoke in a Semitic language—most likely, Aramaic—which is consistent with Paul being addressed by his Jewish name, Saul. The Lord’s words—“It is hard for you to kick against the goads”—were not Aramaic, but they probably reflected the classical literature of the time. Though some suggest Paul was troubled by a bad conscience over persecuting Christians, more likely it indicated that Paul should not resist the divine force moving him in a new direction.

26:16-18 These verses were not included in earlier conversion accounts (chaps. 9; 22), even though mention of Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles was declared to Ananias (9:15; 22:15). Many scholars think the essence of Paul’s mission was given to him during his conversion experience. This would have included his mission to the Gentiles, as well as to his own people, even if they would both ultimately reject him. Nevertheless, God had promised Paul his protection (26:22).

26:22-23 Paul insisted his message of Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection did not go beyond what was found within the OT. He probably had in mind passages such as Is 52:13–53:12.

26:24 Paul’s interruption can be interpreted variously: (1) Festus may have thought that Paul had lost his mind because of what he was saying. (2) With reference to Paul’s knowledge, it may mean that Paul’s learning or writings had driven him to speculation beyond what Festus as a judge of the facts could accept. (3) Jewish sacred writings—the OT—had driven Paul to conclusions that went beyond a naturalistic worldview. In any case, Festus was not willing to follow Paul to his logical conclusion. Perhaps Paul had moved outside Festus’s area of competence. He was a judge and not a theologian. Or Festus may have seen where Paul was going but was not prepared to adjust his life to the truth that Paul presented so compellingly. The emotion behind Festus’s interruption may be a clue that he was understanding more than he wanted to.

26:26 Paul’s declaration that what he was talking about did not take place “in a corner” indicates Paul’s public and open preaching of the gospel in synagogues and elsewhere—unlike some other religious mystery groups of the time. Only two decades had passed since Jesus’s arrest, conviction, crucifixion, and resurrection. A number of eyewitnesses of these events were available to testify to what they had experienced.

26:27 Paul asked Agrippa whether he believed the prophets, implying they had foretold Jesus’s coming. Were he a good Jew, Agrippa would have accepted the prophets and the implications regarding Jesus.

26:28 Before Paul could go further, Agrippa interrupted—perhaps in a sarcastic or jesting manner, out of anger, or seriously (in light of Paul’s logic). Given the brief amount of time or perhaps the modest amount of evidence presented, Agrippa claimed he was not ready to become a Christian.

26:32 Like Festus, Agrippa concluded there was no sustainable charge against Paul; he went further, suggesting Paul should be released. Both Roman and Jewish authorities found the charges groundless. Nevertheless, Paul’s appeal to Caesar put his case in a special category that must be discharged by Caesar himself.