Shǐtúxíngzhuàn 26:24

24 Bǎoluó zhèyàng fēnsù , fēi sī dōu dàshēng shuō , Bǎoluó , nǐ diān kuáng le bā . nǐde xuéwen taì dà , fǎn jiào nǐ diān kuáng le .

Shǐtúxíngzhuàn 26:24 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 26:24

And as he thus spake for himself
Asserting the integrity and innocence of his past life and conversation, in proof of which he appealed to the Jews themselves; setting forth the prejudices to the Christian religion he had been under; declaring the heavenly vision that had appeared to him, and the divine orders he had received; alleging, that in his ministry there was an entire harmony between him, and the writings of Moses, and the prophets, for which the Jews professed a veneration; as he was thus vindicating himself, ere he had well finished his apology,

Festus said with a loud voice;
that all might hear, and being moved with resentment at what he had heard; and it may be, he was displeased with Paul that he took so much notice of Agrippa, and so often addressed him, and appealed to him, when he scarce ever turned to, or looked at him:

Paul, thou art beside thyself;
not in thy senses, or right mind, to talk of such an appearance and vision, and especially of the resurrection of a person from the dead. This is no unusual thing for the ministers of the Gospel to be reckoned madmen, and the doctrines they preach madness and folly: our Lord himself was said to be beside himself, and to have a devil, and be mad; and so were his apostles, ( Mark 3:21 ) ( John 10:20 ) ( 2 Corinthians 5:13 ) and it is not to be wondered at that natural men should entertain such an opinion of them, since what they deliver is quite out of their sphere and reach: Festus added,

much learning doth make thee mad;
the apostle was a man of much learning, both Jewish, Greek, and Roman; and Festus perceived him to be of great reading by his making mention of Moses, and the prophets, writings which he knew nothing at all of. And as this sometimes is the case, that much reading, and hard study, do cause men to be beside themselves, he thought it was Paul's case: so the philosopher ^F6 suggests, that men of great wit and learning, and who are closely engaged in study, whether in philosophy, or politics, or poetry, or in technical affairs, are inclined to be melancholy, and phrenetic.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F6 Aristotel. Problem. sect. 30.

Shǐtúxíngzhuàn 26:24 In-Context

22 Ránér wǒ mĕng shén de bāngzhu , zhídào jīnrì hái zhàn dé zhù , duì zhe zūnguì bēijiàn lǎo yòu zuò jiànzhèng . suǒ jiǎng de , bìng bú waì hū zhòng xiānzhī hé Móxī suǒ shuō , jiānglái bì chéng de shì .

23 Jiù shì Jīdū bìxū shòu haì , bìngqiĕ yīn cóng sǐ lǐ fùhuó , yào shǒuxiān bǎ guāngmíng de dào , chuán gĕi bǎixìng hé waìbāngrén .

24 Bǎoluó zhèyàng fēnsù , fēi sī dōu dàshēng shuō , Bǎoluó , nǐ diān kuáng le bā . nǐde xuéwen taì dà , fǎn jiào nǐ diān kuáng le .

25 Bǎoluó shuō , fēi sī dōu dà rén , wǒ bú shì diān kuáng , wǒ shuō de nǎi shì zhēn shí míngbai huà .

26 Wáng yĕ xiǎodé zhèxie shì , suǒyǐ wǒ xiàng wáng fàngdǎn zhí yán , wǒ shēnxìn zhèxie shì méiyǒu yī jiàn xiàng wáng yǐncáng de . yīn dōu bú shì zaì beìdìli zuò de .