I would to God that not only thou... — It is clear that here also the English “almost” must be abandoned, and that we must take the words in a little or in a great (measure), or, with little labour and with great, as corresponding with what Agrippa had just said. Grammatically the words admit of three possible paraphrases, each of which has found advocates. We may suppose St. Paul to say — (1) “I would pray to God, not as you put it, lightly, but as fully as I can....;” or (2) “I would pray to God that, whether persuaded with little evidence or much....;” or (3) “I would pray to God that, both in a little measure and in a great....” The first two of these explanations are open to the objection that they substitute a disjunctive alternative for the natural rendering of the two copulative conjunctions. The last has the advantage of so far taking the words in their natural construction; but, on the other hand, it takes the special phrase, “in a little,” in a sense different from that in which we have seen reason to believe that Agrippa had used it. It is, however, perfectly conceivable that, for the purpose of emphasising the strong desire of his heart, St. Paul may have caught up the half-sarcastic phrase, and used it as with a new meaning.
The MSS. present two readings, in a little and in a great, and in a little and in much; but this scarcely affects the interpretation of the passage.
Except these bonds. — The words show, as has been pointed out in the Note on Acts 26:29, that the prisoner was brought into court chained, after the Roman fashion, to the soldier or soldiers who kept guard over him. We cannot read the words without feeling their almost plaintive pathos. “Such as he” — pardoned, at peace with God and man, with a hope stretching beyond the grave, and an actual present participation in the powers of the eternal world — this is what he was desiring for them. If that could be effected, he would be content to remain in his bonds, and to leave them upon their thrones.