Chapter 26
Verse 1 – “Thou art permitted to speak for thyself.” The Greek says, “It is permitted for you to speak for yourself.” This is a very condescending phrase.
“Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself.” This is a customary gesture which begins a message. The word “answered” is not the word for answer at all, it is a)pologeomai [a)po = ultimate source; logeomai = to think], it means to defend one’s self against a charge.
Verse 2 – “I think.” What Paul thinks is important; it is doctrine. This is a perfect passive indicative of the verb e(geomai which in the perfect tense means to make an absolute conclusion. “I have concluded myself happy” – makarioj. He is now going to speak from the perfect inner happiness of his soul. He has been imprisoned but he has inner happiness.
“I shall answer for myself” – a)pologeomai again: “I shall defend myself.” He is not going to meet the accusations of the Jews because they were set aside at a previous court, but he is going to answer from the structure of his soul.
Verse 3 – “patiently” here means to listen with indulgence. Poise and objectivity is based upon doctrine in his soul. Doctrine in his soul gives him makarioi – perfect happiness. Because of his inner happiness Paul is courteous and poised in his opening remarks.
People think that the Holy Spirit puts something in the believer’s mind to speak. No! It is residual doctrine that resides in the soul that the Spirit uses, as with the case of Paul. The idea that you don’t have to study the Bible and all you have to do is to stand around and the Holy Spirit will give you something to say is ridiculous. If you have nothing in your soul and you open your mouth, nothing comes out. God the Holy Spirit does not use what you do not have in the mentality of your soul. You will never use all the doctrine you have in your soul at one time, there is always some doctrine left in your soul. Paul is operating on residual doctrine.
Verse 6 – “And now.” The word “now” is a contrast between his saved and unsaved condition. When he was unsaved the Pharisees commended him; now that he is a saved person they have condemned him. So the difference between commendation and condemnation is the fact that as an unsaved person he had maximum scar tissue of the soul; now he is in absolute contrast to this.
“I stand and am [being] judged” – present passive participle. He stands [i(sthmi] before this group, before Jews and Gentiles, before the Pharisees and the VIPs of the Roman empire, and he is being judged—krinw. Present tense: he keeps on being judged by the Pharisees in the Jewish crowd in the court; passive voice: he has received condemnation already; the participle indicates that there will be no change in their attitude no matter what evidence is presented. It can be seen why Paul has become the apostle to the Gentiles. The Jews have rejected his ministry and his message and are totally antagonistic toward him.
“for the hope” – this hope immediately brings up the whole issue in Jewish theology and in religion versus the truth; “of the promise made of [from] God unto our fathers [Jews of the Old Testament]” – the hope of the promise actually refers to the unconditional covenants to Israel. These covenants have an eternal life paragraph in them; they are directed toward the Jews; they tell us that Israel has a future. This is a reference to the Abrahamic covenant—Genesis 12:1-3; 13:15-16; 22:15-18; 26:3-4; Exodus 6:2-8. This is confirmed by the Palestinian covenant –Genesis 15:18. These are unconditional promises and what is referred to in this verse by “the hope of the promise.” The whole thing is brought together by the Davidic covenant which is found primarily in two passages: 2 Samuel 7:8-16; and Psalm 89:20-37. In these we have the fact that the line of David will be involved in these covenants because it is the line of David from whom Jesus Christ is descended. David is going to have a son who will reign forever, the Lord Jesus Christ. Certain things are reiterated with emphasis on eternal life in what is called the New covenant to Israel, mentioned in Jeremiah 31 and quoted at the end of the eighth chapter of Hebrews. But these are all unconditional covenants and they have never been fulfilled. Now Paul refers to them in a way in which the Jews in the court would understand, and even Herod Arippa II would understand these things since he was well versed in the theology of the Jews.
Verse 7 – the incarnation of Jesus Christ becomes an issue. “Unto which our twelve tribes, instantly” – “instantly” is an adverb which means “earnestly” – “serving day and night” – serving at the altar, the Levitical ritual. The word “God” does not occur. Serving earnestly means that the Sanhedrin were still going through the ritual of the Levitical code. They were still offering animal sacrifices, and in so doing they were expressing their rejection of the cross. Some thirty years after the cross Paul is speaking, and for these thirty years the Sanhedrin and the priests in the Sanhedrin had been blaspheming because they have been offering animal sacrifices. To offer an animal sacrifice after the cross is simply to say that the work of Christ is not efficacious. Animal sacrifices were an expression of faith and a means of communicating doctrine in the Old Testament until the time that the cross occurred historically. But now they are an expression of negative volition.
“hope to come” – the word “to come” is a present active indicative. They were actually serving for something which they desired, and that was the coming of Christ, who has already come. The word is katantaw which doesn’t mean to come at all, it means it means to arrive.
“For which hope’s sake, King Arippa, I am accused of [under the authority of] the Jews.”
Verse 8 – the issue of the resurrection. “Why should it be thought [judged: krinw] a thing incredible.” Resurrection and Paul’s teaching of resurrection is the excuse that has been sed in order to condemn him. Literally, “What should it be judged unbelievable by you.” This is because Arippa also understand resurrection from the Old Testament.
“that [if] God should raise the dead” – the word “that” is a first class condition, “if” and He has.
Paul is now a believer and he is now showing the relationship of the unconditional covenants to Israel and their future, and how they relate to Jesus Christ. He has made the issue clear that only as Jews believe in Christ do they have eternal life and the fulfilment of these covenants. He has made it clear to Israel that they are in a blasphemy, and they blaspheme because they are religious. Because they are religious they are legalistic, and therefore negative toward doctrine. In verses 9-12 he now explains how he was in the same position as these blasphemous Jews because he once was in opposition to Christianity.
Verse 9 – “I verily thought” is the word dokew, which means to make an assumption; “that I ought” – responsibility; “to do” is prassw, which means to practice, to do something which is policy; “contrary” – in opposition; “to the name [person] of Jesus of Nazareth.” He word “Nazareth” means that Jesus Christ could not be the son of David because the son of David was to come from Bethlehem. Nazareth is in Galilee, the northern part of the land which is the despised part of the land. So when they were on negative volition they called Him Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus of Galilee; but when on positive volition they recognised Him as the son of David.
Verse 10 – “Which thing I also did.” This time, poiew. He carried out his policy to stamp out Christianity. He started in Jerusalem.
“I gave my voice against” – he voted against them; he cast down his black pebble against them.
Verse 11 – “And I punished.” The word means to avenge; “compelled them to blaspheme” – there were certain believers who renounced Christ in order to stay alive.
“and being exceedingly mad against them” – present active participle of e)mmainomai [mainomai = to be psychotic (from which we get “mania”); e)m = inside], an inside psychosis. Paul, because of his religion and legalism, had so much scar tissue that he was actually in a psychotic condition.
The word “strange” means outside [cities] of Jerusalem.
Verse 12 – Paul begins to describe his conversion. This is one of the most detailed descriptions of his conversion because there was no mob. Rome protects law and order. Law and order is necessary fro true evangelism to exist.
Verse 13 – “I saw” is o(raw which means to have a panoramic view. This indicates that the light that hit Paul was more than just light. Paul kept on seeing the light which he declared immediately was from the ultimate source of heaven, a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ the Light of the world. This is not unusual because in the Old Testament the Lord Jesus Christ often manifested Himself through light; He is the shekinah glory, the burning bush, the fire by night. Cf. John 8:12.
“shining round about” – aorist active participle. The action of the aorist participle precedes the action of the main verb. This means the shining about of the light occurred before he saw. The word t shine about means that it hit the entire area.
Verse 14 – “And when we were fallen to the ground.” The word to fall here means to fall down. It is an aorist participle and it goes with the next words, “I heard.” There is a principle here that is quite important: the aorist participle action precedes the aorist indicative action indicating the main verb. First the light shone, they fell down, and then Paul heard. God was not communicating with the ones who accompanied him; God was communicating with Paul. This is a most dramatic way to reach a person who was almost completely out of it, almost completely saturated with scar tissue.
“speaking” is a present tense, linear aktionsart; “unto me” is a dative case, but here is a prepositional phrase: “I heard a voice speaking face to face with me.” Paul is blind but the voice seems to be facing him as though he is an audience of one and Jesus Christ is personally witnessing to him, which is exactly the situation. The word “speaking” is the present active indicative of the verb legw which means to form the words in the mind to communicate. But then it goes on to use another word here, lalew, which means to communicate information: “speaking unto me and saying [communicating].”
“why persecutest thou me? – present active indicative: “why do you keep on persecuting me?” “Me” is an accusative singular first person pronoun. “Me” is the light that knocks Paul to the ground, and knows Saul personally (from eternity past). And Saul has never gone around persecuting someone who can knock him off his feet, can blind him in a second, and who can make him listen.
“It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” – there is no “It is” in the original. The word “hard” is in the emphatic position here, and it is the Greek word sklhroj which means “hardening.” It indicates scar tissue and the point here is that Paul has hardening of the soul. But he was on positive volition at the point of God-consciousness, and therefore God has a responsibility to this man who has now through religion gone so negative that yukh sclerosis.
“to kick” is a present active infinitive of laktizw which is used of a horse kicking; it is used of an animal giving unreasonable resistance because he is stupid. So the word really means unreasonable or stupid resistance; the word “pricks” refers to an ox goad. We have a prepositional phrase here: he is unreasonable in his resistance [laktizw], and proj plus the accusative, “face to face with.” Pricks is kentron, an ox goad, a sharp instrument used to train horses. A goad was used for all kinds of animals. Religion had made Saul negative and he was so hardened he could not be reached in the ordinary way.
Verse 15 – “Who are you, Lord?” The word “Lord” is kurioj by which Saul of Tarsus recognises someone greater than himself, someone who has to be God.
“I am Jesus whom thou persecutest” – Jesus is the humanity of Christ. “Persecutest” is present linear aktionsart, so Saul now understands that every person he has persecuted and killed is in Jesus Christ. The very first approach to Saul of Tarsus was on positional sanctification, and it is an approach which he never forgot. Notice that Saul has no answer; he has nothing to say. He believed right there.
Verse 16 – “But rise.” Get up, stand on your own feet. Jesus is now instructing a born again believer. Paul is now going to get his commission from the Lord.
“for I have appeared unto thee” – “appeared” is the word o(raw, used three times in this verse, and it is an aorist passive indicative here; “thou hast seen” – aorist active indicative; “those things in which I will appear” – future passive indicative. So this should be translated, “I have been seen.” And this is the word for a panoramic view. So the translation should be: “I have been seen by you [for a purpose].”
“to make you a minister and a witness” – the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It means to take by the hand and prepare for action.
“and of those things in which I will appear unto thee” – future passive indicative. In the future Paul is going to receive a lot more doctrine. There will be a tremendous preparation period before he launches into his ministry. He has a lot of learning to do; “to make” would be poiew, but there is no poiew here. The verb is prosxeirizomai, [keirizomai = to take someone by the hand and teach them bit by bit; proj = face to face with] means tot take in hand and get ready for action.
Translation: “Get up, and stand on your feet: for I have been seen by you for this purpose.”
Verse 17 – the word “deliver” means to rescue, e)cairew, which means to rescue someone out of something [e)c = out from; a)irew = to lift out from]: “to rescue you from the people [the Jews], and from the Gentiles [Romans], unto whom I now send you.”
Verse 18 – The defined objectives of his responsibility; his life after salvation. “To open their eyes” – he is to present that which opens the eyes of the soul. This is an aorist active infinitive and the verb means to be enlightened. It means to receive the communication of information, and Paul is going to open their eyes by declaring the gospel. The verb is a)noigw and it means simply to open with information, to provide the gospel information, and that’s all. There is nothing here to imply that he is going to pry their eyes open. The opening of the eyes is the presentation of light, the gospel, and this enters their soul. The aorist tense is a point of time when he presents the gospel. The active voice: Paul himself will present it. The infinitive indicates that this is God’s purpose. In so presenting this information we have a second verb.
“to turn them from darkness unto light” – the word to turn, e)pistrefw [strefw = to turn; e)pi = from one status to another]. This means they are going to respond to the gospel and go from the unsaved status of darkness to light, a reference to Christ as the Light of the world.
“that [as a result of believing] they may receive” – aorist active infinitive of the verb lambanw, which always has the connotation of receiving something without deserving it—the grace concept. The active voice: they are receiving it. There is no reason for the word “may” here, they simply receive it. The aorist tense is a point of time, and in the point of time when these people approach the cross by faith in Christ [faith plus nothing else] they will receive eternal life; “forgiveness of sins” – that they may receive forgiveness of sins.” Forgiveness of sins is potential to the unbeliever. Christ died for his sins but the potentiality is never realised because of his unbelief.
“and the inheritance” – He is using words that would be meaningful to the people in the courtroom at this time. Paul knows that his audience is sin conscious, and he is also aware that many of them have been so exposed to Judaism that they understand the concept of the animal bearing the sin, representing the saviour. So he doesn’t have to go into an explanation, as he would with the Romans in Rome. He points out that those who believe have an eternal inheritance. These people are ver4y inheritance conscious. The 36 things we receive at the cross are our inheritance.
“among them which are sanctified” – who are the sanctified? This is a reference to any person who receives Christ as saviour. How does God guarantee that we will never lose our inheritance? He sets us aside, and the word “sanctified” means to set apart. He takes the 36 things that belong to your inheritance and He sets them apart forever. This is accomplished mechanically through the baptism of the Holy Spirit whereby every believer in the Church Age is entered into union with the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a perfect passive participle of the verb to sanctify, a(giazw, which means to set apart. Sanctification is in three stages, but the one in view here is positional truth, union with Christ at the point of receiving.
“by faith” is the instrumental case of the noun pistij which means a non-meritorious system of thinking which has direction. The direction of pistij is declared by a preposition—e)ij, and the direction of the faith must be toward the Lord Jesus Christ; “toward me [Christ].”
Verse 19 – Paul’s ministry. “I was not” should be “I did not become” – aorist middle indicative of ginomai which means to become something you were not previously; “disobedient” – indicating the fact that he became a believer; he did not become non-compliant, indicating his obedience to the gospel at this point; “the heavenly vision” – the means by which Paul received the gospel.
Verse 20 – “But shewed first unto them of Damascus.” To “shew” means to announce, to declare from the ultimate source of one’s self – a)paggellw. He had very little information but what information he had he communicated. Later on he is going to use didaskw, but didaskw means he is going to communicate a lot of it, and at this point he only has a little information. (When you try to communicate beyond what you know, you no longer communicate)
“that they should repent.” This is a present active infinitive of the verb metanoew [noew = to think objectively; meta = to change]. This is the verb that goes with the cognate noun nouj, the mentality of the soul. The thoughts of the soul are of various categories. Thinking categorically is dianoew; thinking according to a norm or standard or katanoew; to change one’s thought is metanoew.
When a person believes, appropriates faith, there is something that immediately precedes or is coterminous with it, and that is a change of thinking, i.e. the verb metanoew. On hearing the gospel, into the mind comes grace, and the individual changes his mind from legalism (salvation by works) to comply with the grace information of the gospel. Metanoew is almost always translated “repent,” and all it means is to change one’s mind, to change the thoughts in the nouj.[1] Metanoew has a mental connotation only, it has no emotional connotation. There is a verb for emotion, feeling sorry for something, or regret: metamalomai, which has also been translated “repent” in the KJV; it means to regret. Metanoew is a transitive verb, and a transitive verb must have a subject and it must have an object. Metanoew means the subject changes his mind about the object.
The salvation use of metanoew : In every use where it is a salvation use the subject is the unbeliever and Christ is the object, although sometimes God the Father is the object as the author of grace. Therefore repentance in salvation is a change of attitude toward Christ, prior to or coterminous with faith. This mental attitude is wrought by the Holy Spirit—He provides information which causes the change in mental attitude: John 16:8-11; 2 Timothy 2:25. The unbeliever does not repent toward sin, but toward God in salvation—stated or implied in Mark 1:15; Matthew 12:41; Luke 13:3, 5; 15:7, 10; 16:30, 31; Acts 17:30; 20:21; 26:20; Hebrews 12:17; 2 Peter 3:9.
The verb metanoew is also used for believers as the subject in phase two. In other words, there are things about which believers change their mind. In Hebrews 6:2 the believer changes his mind about human good. In Revelation 2:15, 16, 22 he changes his mind about sins. In 2 Corinthians 12:21 he changes his mind about carnality.
Metamalomai has an emotional connotation and it means to regret or feel sorry for something—Matthew 21:29, for the regret for a previous action; Matthew 27:3, the regret of Judas Isacriot; Romans 11:29, God has not regrets about salvation and spiritual gifts; Hebrews 7:21, the Father has no regrets regarding the appointment of Jesus Christ as high priest.
A change of mental attitude generally calls for a decision.
“turn to God” – present active infinitive of e)pistrefw [e)pi = toward; strefw = to turn]. The word means to turn toward something. In other words, you now make a decision. So you have all your gospel information and you change your mind. The mechanics of the decision is Acts 16:31. The change of mental attitude always means a decision—non-meritorious described in principle by e)pistrefw; described in mechanics by pisteuw.
“and do works meet for repentance” – once you have turned to God (to His plan) then you have the next step: “do works meet.” The word to do is prassw, which means to practice, to habitually do something; “work” is e)rgon, i.e. the production of divine good in the fullness of the Holy Spirit; “meet” means worthy of. Then we have the noun metanoia the cognate of the verb. In other words, after salvation the logical result of a grace salvation is a grace production. Grace production calls for the elimination of human good and calls for divine good. God provided salvation; God will provide the means to produce divine good.
Verse 21 – this objective receives opposition because it is a grace function. “For these causes” – everything that is mentioned is a grace operation.; “the Jews caught me” – seized with violence; “went about to kill me” – peiraomai means to make a good try. This is an inchoative imperfect which means to begin an action which is never completed: “and they began to attempt to kill me.” The verb to kill used here is unusual—diaxeirizw, which means they tried to pull Paul apart with their hands, to kill him with their bare hands. This is the opposition to grace.
Notice that Paul doesn’t mention his legalism in the temple. He sticks with the grace issue in salvation, the grace issue of phase two [production of divine good], with the opposition to grace, but he omits his failure because a) rebound has blotted this out; b) this is not an issue at this time. The issue is grace and therefore he sticks with the grace issue.
Verse 22 – “Having therefore obtained the help of God.” The word to obtain is tugxanw which means to acquire. This is an aorist active participle, “Having in this point of time acquired the help [assistance] of [a)po = from the ultimate source of] God.” God provided everything necessary.
“I continue” – should be “I stand,” i(sthmi. Perfect tense: “I stand at this point with the result that I will keep on standing.” He stands by the grace of God. God still has a plan for his life, therefore by grace Paul picks himself up and keeps moving; “witnessing” – present middle participle, which means to make a solemn declaration of truth. And notice the direction of all of this information.
“both to small [ordinary people] and great [people of rank and influence], saying none other things than those which the prophets [Old Testament] and Moses did say should come.” Paul “saying” is legw [he forms the words in his mouth]; what Moses and the prophets “did say” is lalew [they communicated in the Scriptures God’s plan], aorist active indicative—at the point at which they wrote it down. “Should come” means about to come. The word to come is e)rxomai, but here we have ginomai which means to come to pass, something that wasn’t but now is. It should be translated, “should come to pass.” In other words, the Old Testament prophets foretold how Christ would die on the cross, would rise again, and so on. These are the things that Paul was emphasising; these are the things the Old Testament emphasised, and the reason he is saying this is because he knows that King Arippa is a student of the Old Testament, but has not accepted Christ as saviour.
Verse 23 – Paul mentions the Lord Jesus Christ, and immediately this arouses the antagonism of the one who has charge of the meeting, as well as the procurator of the province. The one thing that antagonises them is the mention of Jesus Christ being the one who fulfils the Old Testament Scriptures.
“That Christ should suffer [be the subject of suffering].” The word to suffer is not a verb but a noun, paqhtoj, and it means to be the subject of suffering, the recipient. It refers to the cross.
“that he should be the first that should rise from the dead” – Jesus Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection. All of this is taught in the Old Testament—the death of Christ, the resurrection, the ascension, and the session. When Paul mentions the resurrection he obviously making reference to the messianic passages.
“and should shew light unto the people and to the Gentiles” – the word to show light is the Greek word kataggellw, and it doesn’t mean to show light, it means to proclaim or make an announcement according to a fixed standard. The norm or standard which Paul has in mind here is the Old Testament, because Herod Agrippa now has charge of this particular hearing. The norm or standard which Herod Agrippa has studied is the Old Testament. The “people” refers to the Jews, and the Gentiles refers to the entire Roman world. Agrippa is now presiding over the hearing but at this point Festus interrupts without waiting for Agrippa to turn the hearing back to him.
Verse 24 – “And as he thus spake.” A)pologeomai doesn’t mean to speak, it means to make a defence for one’s self. His defence is the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Festus said” – he uttered a sound, not “said.” In other words, he broke in with a loud voice. Festus has lost his poise and breaks in with a loud shout. Principle: When truth is clearly presented the world’s veneer of courtesy is rubbed off. This rudeness is designed to cut Paul right off at that moment.
“thou art beside thyself” – present active indicative of mainomai which simply means to be mad, to be insane. The present active indicative says, “You are raving mad.” “While Paul was defending himself, Festus broke in with a loud voice, Paul you are raving mad.”
“much learning doth make thee mad” – i.e. “much learning doth turn you around to madness.” “Much learning” is an attack upon Paul’s knowledge of doctrine and his obvious study. This is a name-calling device, and it has always been used of anyone who will study and assimilate Bible doctrine; “doth make thee” is incorrect, The word to do is poiew, but the word here is peritrepw [peri = around; trepw = turn] and it means to turn around. To turn around you have to have a direction, so he adds the noun mania which is our English word mania—“you are turned round toward madness.” In this way Festus tries to discredit the message of Paul.
Verse 25 – “But he said, I am not mad.” Now he uses mainomai plus the negative. He denies the charge before he begins his attack; “most noble Festus” – indicating that Paul has excellent poise under pressure.
“but speak forth the words of truth” – “speak forth” is a)pofqegomai which means to declare deep things. When he uses this word, even though he is addressing it to Festus, it is obvious that he is talking to Agrippa. This just a technical word for “I am discoursing on things dealing with the Old Testament.” The word for “words” means doctrine; “and truth” – two aspects of doctrine; “and soberness” – swfrosunh [sunh = stability based upon some structure; sofoj = the ECS], from soundness of mind. He is actually speaking from the edification complex of the soul.
Translation: “I am not insane, most noble Festus, but present a technical dissertation, words of doctrine and soundness of mind.”
Verse 26 – “For the king knoweth.” He turns from Festus and looks to Agrippa; “of these things” – this must have been a shock to Festus because when he said that the king understands what I am saying, it implies, If I am mad the king is mad! The word for “know” is a present active indicative of e)pistamai which to have a technical knowledge through a prolonged period of study; “before whom” – proj plus the accusative is “Face to face with whom.” In other words, I am face to face with an expert about what I m discussing; “I speak” – lalew, which means communicate; “freely” or “boldly.”
“for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden [escaped without being noticed]; for these things are not practised in a corner” – an idiom for saying that Arippa for many years has been the custodian in the temple, he knows the Old Testament, he has been in the temple, and these things are not practiced in a corner, they are known to all.
Verse 27 – “King Agrippa, believesth thou the prophets?” He uses the word pisteuw, the word which brings Arippa so close to salvation. He uses the Old Testament as the object. The Old Testament won’t save you. “The Prophets” is a technical word for the Old Testament. But Paul has mentioned Christ who is revealed in the Old Testament and He will save you. All Agrippa has to do is to see that and believe in the one who is revealed.
“I know that thou believest” – Paul has known for a long time now, which is why he was happy to talk to Agrippa. This statement by Paul reveals that Agrippa accepts the authority of the Old Testament but he has not accepted Christ as saviour.
Verse 28 – the reaction of Agrippa. “Then Agrippa said face to face with Paul.” Agrippa is forced to say something and he has to get himself off the hook. And then the corrected translation: “With a few words you are trying to persuade me to be a Christian?” This is really a question.
2. The King James version’s translation here is incorrect.
3. The key to what Agrippa says is found in a phrase, e)n o)ligw, which means “with a few” or “by means of a few.”
4. This was Agrippa’s sarcastic description of Paul’s speech. He has to meet this brilliant manoeuvre by Paul with sarcasm, he has nothing left.
5. Furthermore, this is Agrippa getting off the hook by describing Paul’s speech as “little” or “few.”
6. Agrippa implies that Paul’s logical trap is just a few words.
7. The verb for trying to persuade is the present active indicative of peiqw; Paul used the word pisteuw. They are very close together. Sometimes peiqw is translated “believe” or “have confidence in.” Agrippa goes from Paul’s pisteuw to peiqw, which gets him off the hook. He doesn’t say, You are trying to get me to believe, he says, You are trying to persuade me; “to make me” is an aorist active indicative of poiew—to make, to do. The aorist tense is a point of time in which he is speaking. The active voice: Paul is speaking. The infinitive mood: Paul has a purpose, to make him a Christian. It is a bad choice because Paul can’t make him a Christian. He can make clear the issue but only God can make him a Christian when he believes in Christ.
8. The word “Christian” is a word spoken in derision. Agrippa must maintain a front, he could never be openly identified as a Christian and so for political reasons he must deride and mock and use sarcasm when Christianity is stated as an issue.
9. Agrippa rejects the gospel. He thinks more of the details of life, and to accept the gospel would violate his approbation and power lust.
Verse 29 – “And Paul said.” All it says here is “Then Paul”—o( de Pauloj. Paul starts out with the conclusion of a fourth class condition. The apodosis
would be, “If you would believe, I wish you would, but you won’t.”
“I would, not only thou but all that hear me, would become with little or much effort, such as I am,” literally. “I would” is “I have a strong desire” – e)uxomai; “were” is ginomai, to become something they are not.
Verse 30 – “And when he had thus spoken” is not found in the original. It just says, “And the king jumped up” – aorist active indicative of a)nisthmi. And when the king jumped up, everyone jumped up—protocol.
Verse 31 – “And when they were gone aside.” This means to retire. They all ran off. A)naxwrew is a military word which means to retreat. “And having retreated they discussed it among themselves” – imperfect active indicative of lalew.
“saying” – present active participle of legw; “This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds [imprisonment]” – “doeth” is prassw, “practice”: “does not practice anything worthy of death or imprisonment.”
Verse 32 – “This man was constantly able to have been freed” is what they said, because they were disturbed.
“if he had not appealed to Caesar”—a pluperfect, which means he has appealed with the result that he will go on.
The decision
1. The judges [Festus and Agrippa] conclude the innocence of Paul.
2. The judges ignore the maladministration of Festus.
3. The judges did not receive Jesus Christ as saviour.
4. Therefore the judges will be judged at the great while throne.