The big picture
Paul is a prisoner who proclaims the risen Jesus. Agrippa, a visiting king, gives him permission to speak. Festus, the Roman governor, has no clear capital charge to send with him to the emperor. Agrippa knows Jewish customs, so Paul addresses the belief at the centre of the dispute. He recounts both his former violence and the call that changed him. The hearing becomes a direct appeal to his listeners, though its outcome still leaves him bound.
In this chapter
- A Defence Built Around Shared Hope Acts 26:1-8
Agrippa allows Paul to speak.
- Paul Admits His Former Violence Acts 26:9-11
Opposing Jesus once seemed a duty to Paul.
- The Persecuted Lord Gives a Mission Acts 26:12-18
On an authorised trip to Damascus, a city to the north, Paul saw light brighter than the midday sun.
- Obedience Carries the Message Outward Acts 26:19-23
The heavenly vision required obedience, Paul tells Agrippa, and he obeyed.
- The Prisoner Appeals to His Hearers Acts 26:24-29
Festus interrupts, saying Paul's learning has made him mad.
- No Crime but No Release Acts 26:30-32
The king, governor, Bernice, Agrippa's royal companion, and the others rise and withdraw.
Central truth
Obeying Jesus and trusting God's promises has made Paul a witness, while the rulers find no crime deserving his chains.
Scripture beside the summary
Acts · King James Version · 32Acts 26:1-8
A Defence Built Around Shared Hope
Agrippa allows Paul to speak. Paul welcomes the chance because the king understands Jewish customs and disputes. He asks for patience and recalls his youth among his people in Jerusalem, their chief city. Those who know him can testify that he lived as a Pharisee, a member of a strict religious group. His present case concerns hope in God's promise to their ancestors. The twelve tribes, the divisions of his people, share that hope in their worship. Paul asks why anyone should find it beyond belief that God raises the dead.
In everyday life
An experienced sailor speaks before an inquiry chaired by someone who knows the same waters. He begins with the training and charts both accept, then asks why one disputed observation is being dismissed in advance. Shared knowledge gives the hearing a starting point. Paul's shared ground is God's promise and the hope of resurrection.
Notice
Acts 26:8 Paul places God's power at the centre of the question. Resurrection is not judged only by what people can do within ordinary experience.
Acts 26:1-8
King James Version1Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself:
2I 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:
3Especially 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.
4My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;
5Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
6And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers:
7Unto 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.
8Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?
Acts 26:9-11
Paul Admits His Former Violence
Opposing Jesus once seemed a duty to Paul. He names Jesus with Nazareth, the town linked with his earlier life. With authority from the chief priests, he imprisoned many believers. When they were killed, he gave his approval. He punished them in synagogues, Jewish worship gatherings, and tried to force them to speak against their faith. His rage drove him to pursue them in foreign cities too. This confession gives the scale of his change. He had not been a mildly doubtful observer; he had actively harmed the people whose Lord he now proclaims.
In everyday life
A truth-commission recorder listens as a former persecutor names the arrests he ordered and the deaths he approved. She keeps his admissions specific rather than reducing them to a vague regret about past mistakes. Any account of change must include those harmed. Paul names his own violence to explain what Jesus overturned in him.
Notice
Acts 26:11 Paul describes rage that crossed city boundaries. His former zeal was not confined to argument; it drove repeated coercion against people practising their faith.
Acts 26:9-11
King James Version9I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10Which 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.
11And 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.
Acts 26:12-18
The Persecuted Lord Gives a Mission
On an authorised trip to Damascus, a city to the north, Paul saw light brighter than the midday sun. All fell, and a voice addressed him in Hebrew as Saul, his other name. Jesus asked why he persecuted him. The Lord then told him to stand and appointed him a servant and witness. He would testify to what he had seen and what Jesus would later show. Sent to Gentiles, non-Jewish peoples, he would open eyes to turn them from darkness and Satan, God's enemy, toward God. Faith in Jesus would bring forgiveness and a place among God's holy people.
In everyday life
An evacuation coordinator calls a man who has been blocking an evacuation road and shows him the people his actions endanger. Instead of leaving him with exposure alone, she assigns him a task that helps clear the route for them. His role is completely reversed. Jesus appears alive to Paul and sends him to bring forgiveness through faith.
Notice
Acts 26:18 The mission joins opened eyes, a changed allegiance, forgiveness, and a shared inheritance. Paul is sent to announce more than new information about religion.
Acts 26:12-18
King James Version12Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,
13At 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.
14And 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.
15And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
16But 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;
17Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
18To 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.
Acts 26:19-23
Obedience Carries the Message Outward
The heavenly vision required obedience, Paul tells Agrippa, and he obeyed. He called people in Damascus, Jerusalem, and Judæa, the surrounding region, to repent and turn to God. Then he took the same call to Gentiles. Changed conduct should match that turn. Because of this work, opponents seized him in the temple, the main worship place, and tried to kill him. God's help has kept him witnessing to people of every rank. He claims no departure from Moses, the giver of the law, or the prophets. They foretold a suffering Christ, God's promised ruler, rising to bring light to Jews and Gentiles.
In everyday life
A water-quality inspector visits small homes and large estates with the same warning and repair plan. She does not change the message to flatter wealthy owners or spare poorer ones the truth. Resistance has not persuaded her to stop naming what the evidence requires. Paul witnesses to God's promised Christ and calls for repentance through divine help.
Notice
Acts 26:20 Repentance is followed by actions suited to it. Paul describes a turn toward God that becomes visible, rather than a claim detached from conduct.
Acts 26:19-23
King James Version19Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:
20But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judæa, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
21For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me.
22Having 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:
23That 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.
Acts 26:24-29
The Prisoner Appeals to His Hearers
Festus interrupts, saying Paul's learning has made him mad. Paul answers respectfully that he speaks truth with a sound mind. He appeals to Agrippa's knowledge: these events did not happen in secret. He asks the king about belief in the prophets. Agrippa replies that Paul almost persuades him to become a Christian; the tone of that reply is debated. Paul wishes that everyone hearing him would share his faith, but not his chains. The prisoner does not seek only to win a legal point. He wants the people judging him to receive what he has received.
In everyday life
A wheelchair advocate answers a panel's disbelief with calm evidence. She asks them to understand the freedom she has gained through support. She wants them to share that understanding without sharing the injury that brought her there. Her concern reaches beyond a favourable report. Paul seeks faith in Jesus for his hearers while excluding his chains from the wish.
Notice
Acts 26:29 Paul's wish includes the whole audience and explicitly excludes his bonds. He offers the good he knows without wishing his suffering upon those who hear him.
Acts 26:24-29
King James Version24And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.
25But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.
26For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.
27King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
28Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
29And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
Acts 26:30-32
No Crime but No Release
The king, governor, Bernice, Agrippa's royal companion, and the others rise and withdraw. In private they agree that Paul has done nothing deserving death or imprisonment. Agrippa tells Festus that he could have been released if he had not appealed to Cæsar, the Roman emperor. Their judgement confirms the weakness of the charges but does not bring freedom. The appeal has set another course in motion. Acts leaves Paul with a clear finding from this audience and a continuing obligation to travel onward as a prisoner.
In everyday life
An appeals clerk reads a panel's note finding no basis for a worker's suspension. Yet the case has already passed into a higher review, and she must prepare the transfer file rather than issue a local release. A favourable view does not immediately change the process. Paul's continued custody carries him toward an imperial hearing.
Notice
Acts 26:32 Agrippa distinguishes a possible local release from the effect of the appeal already made. The favourable conclusion does not cancel Paul's onward route.
Acts 26:30-32
King James Version30And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them:
31And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.
32Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Cæsar.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Acts 26:1 begins with “Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself:”
Where the chapter turns
Acts 26:16 forms a natural hinge: “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…”
The final note
Acts 26:32 leaves the reader with “Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Cæsar.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Agrippa, king, Jews, Paul, both, Festus help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- straitest
- Strictest or most exacting in its rules and practice.
- pricks
- Sharp animal goads, used here as an image of resisted direction.
- soberness
- Sound judgement and clear speech rather than madness or confusion.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
