Passage

Acts 26.1-2

Book: Acts · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. And Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth his hand, and made his defence: 2. I think myself happy, king Agrippa, that I am to make my defense before thee this day touching all the things whereof I am accused by the Jews:"

"3. especially because thou art expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently. 4. My manner of life then from my youth up, which was from the beginning among mine own nation and at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;" (Acts 26:1-4, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand, and made his defense. 2. “I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make my defense before you today concerning all the things that I am accused by the Jews,"

"3. especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently. 4. “Indeed, all the Jews know my way of life from my youth up, which was from the beginning among my own nation and at Jerusalem;" (Acts 26:1-4, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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;" (Acts 26:1-4, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. And Agrippa said unto Paul, 'It is permitted to thee to speak for thyself;' then Paul having stretched forth the hand, was making a defence: 2. 'Concerning all things of which I am accused by Jews, king Agrippa, I have thought myself happy, being about to make a defence before thee to-day,"

"3. especially knowing thee to be acquainted with all things, both customs and questions, among Jews; wherefore, I beseech thee, patiently to hear me. 4. 'The manner of my life then, indeed, from youth, which from the beginning was among my nation, in Jerusalem, know do all the Jews," (Acts 26:1-4, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: the Apostle Paul, addressing King Agrippa II (Herod Agrippa II, last of the Herodian dynasty) in the company of Bernice (Agrippa's sister) and Festus
Audience: Agrippa, Bernice, Festus, the military tribunes, and the principal men of Caesarea (Acts 25:23)
Location: Caesarea Maritima, the audience-chamber Festus had arranged for Agrippa's hearing of Paul
Time period: c. AD 59-60; shortly after Acts 25:8's defense before Festus

Theological reading

The verse opens the climactic set-piece apologia of the Acts narrative. The verb appears twice: Paul began making his defense (apelogeito, imperfect, naming the initiated-and-ongoing act) and I am about to make my defense (apologeisthai, infinitive, naming the task-as-task). Luke's deliberate double-deployment in two adjacent sentences signals the centrality of this scene for the apologetic-discipline-genre. The setting is the highest-political stage Paul will face short of Caesar's court: a king with extensive Jewish-religious-expertise (v. 3, "especially because thou art expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews"), his sister, the procurator, and the chief men of Caesarea. Paul's address operates on three converging registers: personal-testimony (his pre-conversion life, the Damascus-road encounter), OT-prophetic-fulfillment (Moses and the prophets foretold Christ's suffering and resurrection, vv. 22-23), and direct-Christological-appeal to Agrippa's own framework ("King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you do believe", v. 27). The model is the canonical-template for Christian-engagement with high-political-audiences: respectful-preamble, narrative-testimony, scriptural-anchor, direct-appeal to the audience's own framework.

Key words

G0626 - apologeomai, apelogeito (imperfect, "began making his defense") + apologeisthai (infinitive, "to make a defense"). The verb appears twice in two adjacent sentences, marking the scene's centrality for the apologetic-discipline-genre; third in the Lukan three-trial sequence.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.