Chapter 26

Agrippa said to Paul: You are permitted to speak for yourself. Then Paul, stretching out his hand, made his defense: Concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa, I count myself fortunate that I am about to make my defense before you today, especially since you are acquainted with all the customs and disputed questions among the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently. My manner of life from my youth, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation in Jerusalem, all the Jews know; they have known me long ago, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand on trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain; and for this hope, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. Why is it judged incredible among you that God raises the dead? “I count myself fortunate that I am about to make my defense before you.” He said this not to flatter him—far from it—but wishing to gain something by his gentleness. And in part he did win over even the judge, he who until then was reckoned to be the one on trial; for in the presence of all Agrippa said: “In a little you persuade me to become a Christian.” “Especially since you are acquainted with all the customs and disputed questions among the Jews.” Now if he had had something on his conscience, he would have had reason to be afraid, being judged before one who knew everything; but not to decline such a judge, one who knew exactly all that had happened, is the mark of a clear conscience. “All the Jews know me, having known me from long ago.” That is to say, they know the truth, but they are unwilling to testify to it, lying and sinning of their own deliberate will. “According to the strictest sect I lived a Pharisee.” It should be noted that the Pharisees too are heretics, and that they examine the Scriptures more exactly than the other Jewish sects. He said “exactly,” but not “truly”; for they did not have the true knowledge of the Scriptures. Diligence, then, examines minutely and reasons things out; yet it does not for all that necessarily come to know what is real, but there are times when a man even deceives his own mind.

Acts 26:9–11. I myself, then, thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth; which I also did in Jerusalem, and I shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And throughout all the synagogues I often punished them and tried to force them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I pursued them even to foreign cities. “I thought to myself.” I supposed, he says, by my own judgment that it had to be done this way. “And being exceedingly enraged.” For driven mad by the working of the devil and of the demons, they did many absurd things like men possessed; or perhaps I raged even more than they, since I did the evil willingly.

Acts 26:12–18. And as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday along the road I saw, O king, a light from heaven, surpassing the brightness of the sun, shining around me and those journeying with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew tongue: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads. And I said: Who are you, Lord? And he said: I am Jesus, whom you persecute. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things you have seen and of those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from the people and from the nations, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in me. “Surpassing the brightness of the sun.” Bringing forward something more brilliant than the things perceived by the senses, and being unable to liken the light of Jesus to that sunlight, he says—so as to convey the appearance in a way that human hearing can receive it—that this light far surpasses the light of the sun.

Acts 26:19–20. King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but I proclaimed first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and to the nations, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance. “I was not disobedient.” By these things I was persuaded, he says; by this vision he drew me to himself, and so persuaded me not to delay. A vision is the pure contemplation that surpasses man; and this no one in the flesh can see, unless his eyes are opened by a power beyond man’s.

Acts 26:21–23. For these things the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. Having therefore obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying to small and great, saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer, and that, being first of the resurrection of the dead, he would proclaim light to the people and to the nations. “Saying nothing beyond what the prophets said.” That the prophets spoke concerning the suffering of Christ, it is superfluous to state what is already evident; but that Moses did so is clear from his saying, as in the person of Judah: “Like a lion he crouched down and slept, and like a lion’s whelp; who shall rouse him?” (Gen. 49:9). For he plainly signifies the death and resurrection of Christ; and indeed the suffering too, in what he says again: “You shall see your life hanging before your eyes” (Deut. 28:66). “And first of the resurrection of the dead.” For he was the first to rise, and dies no more. For those who were raised through him, or through his disciples, died again, awaiting the universal resurrection to come.

Acts 26:24–26. As he was making his defense, Festus said with a loud voice: You are mad, Paul; your great learning is driving you to madness. But he said: I am not mad, most excellent Festus, but I am uttering words of truth and sound mind. For the king knows about these things, before whom also I speak boldly; for I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him. “You are mad, Paul.” Since Paul was continually directing his speech to the king, Festus—as though somewhat stung, and seeing his boldness—said this out of vexation and anger. But Paul teaches the reason why he had turned his speech toward the king.

Acts 26:27–32. For this thing was not done in a corner. Do you believe the prophets, King Agrippa? I know that you believe. And Agrippa said to Paul: In a little you persuade me to become a Christian. And Paul said: I would pray to God that, whether in little or in much, not only you but also all who hear me today might become such as I am—except for these bonds. And when he had said this, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and those seated with them. And withdrawing, they spoke to one another, saying that this man does nothing worthy of death or of bonds. And Agrippa said to Festus: This man could have been set free, if he had not appealed to Caesar. “For the king knows about these things.” Here he speaks of the cross and of the resurrection—that the teaching of it has gone out into all the world. He says this to show that Agrippa knew everything, and all but says to the others as well: “You too ought to have known these things.” For this is the force of what is added: “For this was not done in a corner.” “I would pray to God, both in little and in much.” Although it was indeed worthy of glory, he said this with an eye to their supposition, and so too the words “except for these bonds.” What are you saying, blessed Paul—“apart from these bonds”? And what boldness is left to you, if you are ashamed of these and flee from them, and that before so great an assembly? Do you not everywhere in your Epistles boast of them, and call yourself a prisoner, and everywhere carry your chain about as a diadem? What then has happened now, that you pray to be rid of the bonds? It is not I myself who pray to be rid of them, he says, nor am I ashamed of them, but I am condescending to their weakness; for they cannot yet receive my boast. And I have learned from my Master not to put a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment (Mk. 2:21). For this reason I spoke thus.