Paul Speaks before Agrippa. It is Agrippa the vassal king, not Festus the representative of the sovereign power, who calls on Paul to speak, and to whom Paul addresses himself throughout, even after the intervention of Festus (Acts 26:24-26). In Acts 9:15 it was predicted that Paul would speak before kings, and he now does so. The speech is in elegant Greek, and abounds in classical turns and expressions, suited for such an audience. The king is not called a Jew, but complimented on his familiarity with Jewish ways and questions. Expressions are piled up to indicate that all the Jews, both in his own nation (i.e. at Tarsus) and at Jerusalem know that from his earliest days Paul was never anything but a Pharisee. To the Jewish king this might be a recommendation. He repeats that it is for believing in the Resurrection that he is prosecuted (see Acts 23:6-9), which will not bear scrutiny, since the Pharisees generally believed in it. He was prosecuted for the consequences he inferred from the resurrection of Christ, viz. that the Law was not essential to salvation. The question in Acts 8 is therefore irrelevant, though it throws light on early controversies in which the Christians may have sought to shelter their belief behind that of the Pharisees. On the story of Paul's conversion (Acts 26:9-18), see Acts 9:2 ff*. The words gave my vote against them (Acts 26:10) are not to be taken strictly; he no doubt did what he could in local synagogues to secure their punishment, but he could have no vote there nor in the Sanhedrin. He also strove to make them blaspheme, i.e. to abjure Jesus (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:23). On the power he may have had from the high priests (Acts 26:12), see Acts 9:2 *. The slight changes from the earlier versions of the story: that the whole party fell down; that the voice went on, in the proverbial expression, It is hard. pricks; that the message conveyed in ch. 9 through Ananias is here spoken by the Lord Himself; all show how much the story was repeated and how it varied in repetition. The principal facts and words are in all three versions. Paul's witness (Acts 26:16) is to be both of what is revealed to him in his first vision and of what will be revealed to him of Christ in visions yet to come, and he is (to be?) delivered (this word may also mean chosen) from Jew and Gentile alike, to be sent to both alike, to fulfil to them prophetic predictions (Jeremiah 1:7; Isaiah 35:5). Passages of later Pauline epistles are also echoed here; cf. Ephesians 2:2; Colossians 1:13. In his own account, the Gentiles are his mark; see Galatians 1:16. Agrippa is personally called on (Acts 26:19) to recognise that Paul was faithful to this charge. The statement (Acts 26:20) that he preached at Damascus and at Jerusalem and throughout all Judæ a, agrees with Acts 26:9, but can with difficulty be reconciled with Galatians 1:16 f.* That his preaching to the Jews and Gentiles was the reason of the attack made on him by the Jews in the Temple (Acts 26:21) is not the whole truth (see Acts 21:27-30). The help by which he was freed from that peril (Acts 26:22) and enabled to continue his testimony, was brought to him by Lysias, whom he is here made to recognise as an instrument of God. What he states as his Gospel is what in Luke 24:44-47 the risen Lord Himself puts in the mouths of His followers, that the prophets and Moses are fulfilled in Him, that the Christ is not only a Conqueror but a Sufferer; but special weight is laid here on the Resurrection. Christ as the first risen from the dead is the great proclaimer of light to Jew and Gentile. A parallel to this will scarcely be found in the Pauline writings (cf. 1 Peter 2:9; John 1:4; John 8:12).
Acts 26:1-23
1 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself:
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:
3 Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.
4 My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;
5 Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
6 And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers:
7 Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.
8 Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?
9 I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.
11 And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.
12 Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,
13 At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.
14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue,Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said,I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
19 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:
20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
21 For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me.
22 Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:
23 That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.