Acts 26:1a| defense| Acts 24:10;| 25:8
Acts 26:2a| accused| Acts 26:7;| 25:16
Acts 26:2b| King| Acts 9:15
Acts 26:21| defense
| See note 12 in ch. 22.
Acts 26:31| Especially
| Or, Since you are especially expert in.
Acts 26:32| familiar
| Lit., a knower of, one who is acquainted with.
Acts 26:3a| customs| Acts 6:14
Acts 26:3b| questions| Acts 25:19
Acts 26:4a| nation| Acts 24:17;| 28:19
Acts 26:5a| strictest| Acts 22:3
Acts 26:5b| sect| Acts 15:5
Acts 26:51| religion
| Or, zealous worship to God. See note 261 in James 1.
Acts 26:5c| Pharisee| Acts 23:6
Acts 26:6a| hope| Acts 23:6;| 24:15;| 28:20
Acts 26:7a| twelve| Matt. 19:28;| James 1:1
Acts 26:7b| night| Luke 2:37
Acts 26:7c| accused| Acts 26:2
Acts 26:8a| raises| Acts 2:24;| 1|Cor. 15:12
Acts 26:9a| contrary| 1|Tim. 1:13
Acts 26:9b| Nazarene| Acts 22:8
Acts 26:10a| prison| Acts 8:3;| 22:19
Acts 26:10b| authority| Acts 9:14
Acts 26:10c| cast| cf. Acts 8:1;| 22:20
Acts 26:11a| synagogues| Acts 22:19
Acts 26:11b| persecuted| Acts 8:1;| Gal. 1:13
Acts 26:111| foreign
| Lit., outside.
Acts 26:12a| journeyed| vv. 12-18: Acts 9:3-8;| 22:6-11
Acts 26:14a| Hebrew| Acts 21:40;| 22:2
Acts 26:141| Me
| See note 41 in ch. 9.
Acts 26:142| goads
| A goad on a plow is a sharp-pointed stick used to subdue and prod an ox yoked to the plow. The Lord’s word here signifies that Saul was already yoked to the plow and had no choice but to take the Lord’s yoke obediently for the carrying out of the Lord’s commission. It was hard for him to kick against the goads on the Lord’s plow.
Acts 26:151| Lord
| See note 51 in ch. 9.
Acts 26:16a| appoint| Acts 22:14
Acts 26:161b| witness| Acts 1:8
| Not only a minister but also a witness. A minister is for the ministry; a witness, for the testimony. The ministry is related mainly to the work, to what a minister does; a testimony is related to the person, to what a witness is (see notes 83 in ch. 1 and 114 in ch. 23).
Acts 26:16c| seen| Acts 22:15
Acts 26:17a| from| Acts 12:11
Acts 26:17b| Gentiles| Acts 9:15;| Rom. 11:13
Acts 26:181| open
| This was to carry out the fulfillment of God’s jubilee, the acceptable year of the Lord, proclaimed by the Lord Jesus in Luke 4:18-21 (see note 191 in Luke 4) according to God’s New Testament economy. The first item of the spiritual and divine blessings of the New Testament jubilee, which are the blessings of the gospel of God, is to open the eyes of those who are fallen and turn them from darkness to light, that they may see the divine things in the spiritual realm. To see these things requires spiritual sight and divine light.
Acts 26:18a| eyes| Luke 4:18;| Eph. 1:18
Acts 26:182b| darkness| Isa. 9:2;| Luke 1:79;| John 8:12;| 1|Pet. 2:9;| 1|John 2:8, 11
| Darkness is a sign of sin and death; light, a sign of righteousness and life (John 1:4; 8:12).
Acts 26:18c| light| Acts 26:23;| Eph. 5:8;| Col. 1:12;| John 1:4;| 9:5
Acts 26:183| authority
| The authority of Satan is Satan’s kingdom, which belongs to darkness (Matt. 12:26 and note 1).
Acts 26:184| to
| I.e., to the authority of God, to God’s kingdom, which belongs to light.
Acts 26:185d| forgiveness| Acts 5:31;| Luke 24:47
| The base of all the blessings of the New Testament jubilee.
Acts 26:186| an
| Lit., a portion; referring to a portion of an inheritance. This inheritance is the Triune God Himself with all He has, all He has done, and all He will do for His redeemed people. The Triune God is embodied in the all-inclusive Christ (Col. 2:9), who is the portion allotted to the saints as their inheritance (Col. 1:12). The Holy Spirit, who has been given to the saints, is the foretaste, the pledge, and the guarantee of this divine inheritance (Rom. 8:23; Eph. 1:14), which we are sharing and enjoying today as a foretaste in God’s New Testament jubilee, and which we will enjoy in full in the coming age and for eternity (1|Pet. 1:4). In the type of the jubilee in Lev. 25:8-13, the main blessings are the liberty proclaimed and the returning of every man to his own possession. In the fulfillment of the jubilee here, liberation from the authority of darkness and the receiving of the divine inheritance are the primary blessings (cf. note 323 in ch. 20).
Acts 26:18e| inheritance| Acts 20:32
Acts 26:187| sanctified
| Not only positionally but also dispositionally (Rom. 6:19 and note 2, 22). To be sanctified positionally is only to have a change in position and purpose; to be sanctified dispositionally is to be transformed in nature by and with the holy nature of God (2|Cor. 3:18). To be sanctified is to be saturated with God as our possession for our enjoyment today. Our sanctification will consummate in our maturity in the divine life that we may resemble God and be qualified to fully possess and enjoy Him as our inheritance in the coming age and for eternity.
Acts 26:191| vision
| Not a doctrine, a theory, a religious creed, or any theology, but a heavenly vision, in which the apostle saw the divine things concerning the dispensing of the Triune God into His chosen, redeemed, and transformed people. All his preaching in this book and his writing in his fourteen Epistles, from Romans through Hebrews, are a detailed description of this heavenly vision seen by Paul.
Acts 26:20a| Damascus| Acts 9:19-20
Acts 26:20b| Jerusalem| Acts 9:26-29;| 22:17-18
Acts 26:20c| all| Matt. 3:5;| Acts 1:8
Acts 26:20d| Gentiles| Acts 13:46
Acts 26:20e| repent| Acts 2:38;| 17:30
Acts 26:20f| turn| Acts 14:15;| 1|Thes. 1:9
Acts 26:20g| worthy| Matt. 3:8
Acts 26:21a| seized| Acts 21:27, 30
Acts 26:221a| help| Heb. 13:6
| Or, assistance. The Greek word originally meant alliance. This implies that the apostle was allied with God and realized God’s assistance in this alliance.
Acts 26:22b| stood| Eph. 6:13
Acts 26:22c| testifying| Acts 2:40;| 28:23
Acts 26:22d| prophets| Acts 10:43;| 24:14
Acts 26:22e| Moses| Luke 24:27, 44;| Acts 28:23
Acts 26:23a| suffer| Luke 24:26, 46;| Acts 3:18
Acts 26:231| to
| Lit., out of the resurrection of the dead.
Acts 26:23b| rise| Acts 2:24;| 3:15
Acts 26:232c| light| Acts 26:18
| Indicating the enlightenment of God, who is light (1|John 1:5), shining in Christ, who is the light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5), through the preaching of the gospel of the glory of Christ (2|Cor. 4:4, 6).
Acts 26:241a| insane| Mark 3:21;| 2|Cor. 5:13
| Or, raving mad (so also in the next verse).
Acts 26:25a| excellent| Acts 24:3
Acts 26:25b| Festus| Acts 24:27
Acts 26:25c| truth| 2|Cor. 6:7;| 7:14;| 12:6
Acts 26:25d| soberness| 2|Tim. 1:7;| Titus 2:6
Acts 26:261| knows
| Agrippa, a Jew by religion, knew the things of the Old Testament and of resurrection.
Acts 26:262| freely
| Or, boldly, plainly.
Acts 26:28a| Christian| Acts 11:26;| 1|Pet. 4:16
Acts 26:29a| as| 1|Cor. 7:7
Acts 26:29b| bonds| Acts 21:33
Acts 26:30a| governor| Acts 25:14
Acts 26:30b| Bernice| Acts 25:13, 23
Acts 26:30c| those| Acts 25:24
Acts 26:31a| worthy| Acts 23:29;| 25:25
Acts 26:32a| Agrippa| Acts 25:23
Acts 26:321| This
| In this section, 21:27—26:32, a long narration of the Jews’ final persecution of the apostle, the genuine characteristics of all the involved parties were made manifest: (1) the darkness, blindness, hatred, and hypocrisy of the Jewish religion; (2) the injustice and corruption of Roman politics; (3) the transparency, brightness, faithfulness, and courage of the apostle; and (4) the Lord’s encouraging care for His witness and His sovereignty over the entire situation for the carrying out of His divine purpose.
Acts 26:32b| released| Acts 28:18
Acts 26:322| not
| But without his appeal to Caesar, the apostle might have been killed by the Jews through Festus’s unjust handling of him (25:9), and thus his life might not have been preserved to that day. See note 111 in ch. 25.
Acts 26:32c| appealed| Acts 25:11;| 28:19