Commentaires bibliques

Verse 1. - And for then, A.V.; his for the, A.V.; made his defense for answered for himself, A.V. Agrippa said. It was by the courtesy of Festus that Agrippa thus took the chief place. It was, perhaps, with the like courtesy that Agrippa said, impersonally, Thou art permitted, without specifying whether by himself or by Festus. Stretched forth his hand. The action of an orator, rendered in this case still more impressive by the chains which hung upon his arms. Luke here relates what he saw. Made his defense (ἀπελογεῖτο); Acts 25:8; Acts 24:10, note.

Verse 2. - That I am to make my defense before thee this day for because I shall answer for myself this day before thee, A.V.; by for of, A.V.

Verse 3. - Thou art expert for I know thee to be expert, A.V. and T.R. Expert; γνώστην, here only in the New Testament, but found in the LXX. (Daniel, i.e. Hist. of Susanna 42) applied to God, ὁ τῶν κρυπτῶν γνώστης: and 1 Samuel 28:3 and 2 Kings 21:6, as the rendering of יִדֹּעְנִי, a wizard. It is seldom found in classical Greek. According to the R.T., which is that generally adopted (Meyer, Kuinoel, Wordsworth, Alford, etc.), the accusative γνώστην ὄντα σέ is put, by a not uncommon construction, for the genitive absolute, as in Ephesians 1:18. The marginal rendering, because thou art especially expert, seems preferable to that in the text. Customs and questions. For the use of ἔθη and ζητήματα applied to Jewish customs and controversies, see Acts 6:14; Acts 16:21; Acts 21:21, etc.; and Acts 25:19, note.

Verse 4. - Then from my youth up for for my youth. A.V.; from the beginning for at the first. A.V.; and at for at, A.V. and T.R. My manner of life, etc. The same testimony of a good conscience as that in Acts 23:1 and Acts 24:16. The word βίωσις occurs only here in the New Testament. But we find the phrase, τῆς ἐννόμου βιώσεως, "the manner of life according to the Law," in the Prologue to Ecclesiasticus and in Symmachus (Psalm 38:6), though not in classical Greek. The verb βιόω occurs in 1 Peter 4:2, and not infrequently in the LXX. From my youth up, which was from the beginning among my own nation, etc., having knowledge of me from the first (in ver. 5). No appeal could be stronger as to the notoriety of his whole life spent in the midst of his own people, observed and known of all. The T.R. implies that his youth was spent at Jerusalem, according to what he himself tells us in Acts 22:3. The R.T. does so less distinctly. (For St. Paul's account of his early Pharisaism, comp. Galatians 1:13, 14; Philippians 3:5, 6.)

Verse 5. - Having knowledge of me from the first for which knew me from the beginning, A.V.; be willing to for would, A.V.; how that for that, A.V.; straitest for most straitest, A.V. Straitest (ἀκριβεστάτην); see Acts 22:3; Acts 18:26, etc. Sect (αἵρεσις); see Acts 24:14, note. He does not disclaim being still a Pharisee. On the contrary, in the next verse (ver. 6) he declares, as he had done in Acts 23:6, that it was for the chief hope of the Pharisees that he was now accused. He tries to enlist all the good feeling that yet remained among the Jews on his side.

Verse 6. - Here to be judged for and am judged, A.V. To be judged (ἕστηκα κρινόμενος); rather, I stand on my trial. The A.V. seems to give the sense well. The hope of the promise. The hope of the kingdom of Christ, which necessarily implies the resurrection of the dead. This hope, which rested upon God's promise to the fathers, Paul clung to; this hope his Sadducean persecutors denied. He, then, was the true Jew; he was faithful to Moses and the prophets; he claimed the sympathy and support of all true Israelites, and specially of King Agrippa.

Verse 7. - Earnestly for instantly, A.V.; might and day for day and night, A.V.; attain for come, A.V.; and concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, O King! for for which hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews, A.V. and T.R. Our twelve tribes. Δωδεκάφυλον only occurs here, in the Sibylline oracles, and in the prot-evangel. Jacob., 3, and in Clement's 1 Corinthians 55, but is formed, after the analogy of such words as δωδεκαετής δωδεκάμοιρος δωδεκάμηνος τετράφυλος δεκάφυλος (Herod., 5:66), and the like. The idea of the twelve tribes of Israel is part of the essential conception of the Israel of God. So our Lord (Matthew 19:28; James 1:1; Revelation 7:4, etc.). St. Paul felt and spoke like a thorough Israelite. Earnestly; ἐν ἐκτενείᾳ, only here and in 2 Macc. 14:38 (where Razis is said to have risked his body and his life for the religion of the Jews, μετᾶ πάσης ἐκτενίας, "with all vehemence," A.V.), and Jud. 4:9, where the phrase, ἐν ἐκτενίᾳ μεγάλῃ, "with great vehemency," "with great fervency," A.V., occurs twice, applied to prayer and to self-humiliation. The adjective ἐκτενής occurs in Acts 12:5; Luke 22:44; 1 Peter 4:8; and ἐκτενῶς in 1 Peter 1:22. Serving (λατρεῦον); i.e. serving with worship, prayers, sacrifices and the like. The allusion is to the temple service, with its worship by night and by day (comp. Psalm 134:1; 1 Chronicles 9:33).

Verse 8. - Why is it judged incredible with you, if for why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that, A.V.; doth for should, A.V. Why is it judged, etc. The use of d is somewhat peculiar. It cannot stand for ὅτι, but it is nearly equivalent to "whether," as in ver. 23. The question proposed to the mind is here whether God has raised the dead; and in ver. 23 whether Christ has suffered, whether he is the first to rise. In the latter case St. Paul gives the answer by his witness to the truth, affirming that it is so. In the former case he chides his hearers for giving the answer of unbelief, and saying that it is not so.