Passage

Acts 26.9-23

Book: Acts · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"7. unto which promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. And concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, O king! 8. Why is it judged incredible with you, if God doth 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. And this I also did in Jerusalem: and I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them. 11. And punishing them oftentimes in all the synagogues, I strove to make them blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto foreign cities. 12. Whereupon as I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, 13. at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them that journeyed with me. 14. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying unto me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the goad. 15. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. 16. But arise, and stand upon thy feet: for to this end have I appeared unto thee, to appoint thee a minister and a witness both of the things wherein thou hast seen me, and of the things wherein I will appear unto thee; 17. delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I send thee, 18. to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me. 19. Wherefore, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: 20. but declared both to them of Damascus first and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judaea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance. 21. For this cause the Jews seized me in the temple, and assayed to kill me. 22. Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand unto this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses did say should come; 23. how that the Christ must suffer, and how that he first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles."

"24. And as he thus made his defense, Festus saith with a loud voice, Paul, thou art mad; thy much learning is turning thee mad. 25. But Paul saith, I am not mad, most excellent Festus; but speak forth words of truth and soberness." (Acts 26:7-25, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"7. which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving night and day, hope to attain. Concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa! 8. Why is it judged incredible with you, if God does raise the dead?"

"9. “I myself most certainly thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10. This I also did in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them. 11. Punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. 12. “Whereupon as I traveled to Damascus with the authority and commission from the chief priests, 13. at noon, O king, I saw on the way a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who traveled with me. 14. When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15. “I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16. But arise, 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 which you have seen, and of the things which I will reveal to you; 17. delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, 18. to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ 19. “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20. but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance. 21. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple, and tried to kill me. 22. Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would happen, 23. how the Christ must suffer, and how, by the resurrection of the dead, he would be first to proclaim light both to these people and to the Gentiles.”"

"24. As he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are crazy! Your great learning is driving you insane!” 25. But he said, “I am not crazy, most excellent Festus, but boldly declare words of truth and reasonableness." (Acts 26:7-25, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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. ^{day and night: Gr. night and day} 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."

"24. And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad. 25. But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness." (Acts 26:7-25, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"7. to which our twelve tribes, intently night and day serving, do hope to come, concerning which hope I am accused, king Agrippa, by the Jews; 8. why is it judged incredible with you, if God doth raise the dead?"

"9. 'I, indeed, therefore, thought with myself, that against the name of Jesus of Nazareth it behoved [me] many things to do, 10. which also I did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I in prison did shut up, from the chief priests having received the authority; they also being put to death, I gave my vote against them, 11. and in every synagogue, often punishing them, I was constraining [them] to speak evil, being also exceedingly mad against them, I was also persecuting [them] even unto strange cities. 12. 'In which things, also, going on to Damascus, with authority and commission from the chief priests, 13. at mid-day, I saw in the way, O king, out of heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me a light, and those going on with me; 14. and we all having fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew dialect, Saul, Saul, why me dost thou persecute? hard for thee against pricks to kick! 15. 'And I said, Who art thou, Lord? and he said, I am Jesus whom thou dost persecute; 16. but rise, and stand upon thy feet, for for this I appeared to thee, to appoint thee an officer and a witness both of the things thou didst see, and of the things [in which] I will appear to thee, 17. delivering thee from the people, and the nations, to whom now I send thee, 18. to open their eyes, to turn [them] from darkness to light, and [from] the authority of the Adversary unto God, for their receiving forgiveness of sins, and a lot among those having been sanctified, by faith that [is] toward me. 19. 'Whereupon, king Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20. but to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem, to all the region also of Judea, and to the nations, I was preaching to reform, and to turn back unto God, doing works worthy of reformation; 21. because of these things the Jews, having caught me in the temple, were endeavouring to kill [me]. 22. 'Having obtained, therefore, help from God, till this day, I have stood witnessing both to small and to great, saying nothing besides the things that both the prophets and Moses spake of as about to come, 23. that the Christ is to suffer, whether first by a rising from the dead, he is about to proclaim light to the people and to the nations.'"

"24. And, he thus making a defence, Festus with a loud voice said, 'Thou art mad, Paul; much learning doth turn thee mad;' 25. and he saith, 'I am not mad, most noble Festus, but of truth and soberness the sayings I speak forth;" (Acts 26:7-25, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Argument from the Resurrection

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.