Acts 26:5 - Printer Friendly

ESV: They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee.

NIV: They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee.

NASB: since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a Pharisee according to the strictest sect of our religion.

CSB: They have known me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.

NLT: If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion.

KJV: Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

NKJV: They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

Paul is explaining why the Sanhedrin hates him, to an audience in Caesarea Maritima. His critics claim Paul teaches that Jews do not have to circumcise their sons, that he desecrated the temple by inviting a Gentile to enter, and that he causes riots (Acts 21:20–21, 27–30). Both Paul and Governor Festus know the Sanhedrin has no proof or witnesses and that Paul is innocent (Acts 25:5–7, 18–20).

The real problem has its roots in Paul's early life. Although born in Tarsus, he was raised in Jerusalem under the tutelage of the famous Pharisee rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). As a Pharisee, Paul grew up believing that the dead would be raised at judgment. As a devout Pharisee, Paul carefully followed the Mosaic law as well as the extra-biblical regulations. He even violently suppressed the new church, hunting Jesus-followers wherever they may go (Acts 8:1–3; 9:1–2).

It was on one of those hunting expeditions that Jesus revealed Himself to Paul and claimed him to spread His message of forgiveness to Jews and Gentiles (Acts 9:3–19). Now, Paul preaches not just the future general resurrection, but the past physical resurrection of the Sanhedrin's mortal enemy: Jesus of Nazareth. Paul, the Sanhedrin's attack dog, has betrayed them.

Acts 26:1–11 contains Paul's account of his life before encountering Jesus Christ. He speaks to Governor Festus, King Agrippa II, and the military and civil leadership of Caesarea Maritima. Before conversion, Paul absorbed training as a devout Pharisee, including passionate devotion to the Mosaic law. His beliefs led him to zealously hunt Jesus-followers, even voting that they be executed if they did not deny Christ. Everything changed when he tracked Christians to Damascus.

Acts 26 records Paul's testimony before the noblemen of Caesarea Maritima, as well as their reactions. He explains that Jewish leaders want him dead because he once persecuted the church, but now believes Jesus rose from the dead and has been spreading that message. Governor Festus thinks Paul has gone mad. King Agrippa II, however, finds his story compelling. They realize that had Paul not appealed to a higher Roman court, they could have let him go.

After being held in custody for two years and, again, hassled by the Sanhedrin who want to kill him, Paul appeals his case to Caesar (Acts 25:7–12). Before he travels to Rome, however, Governor Festus has Paul give his testimony before King Agrippa II and the noblemen of Caesarea Maritima (Act 25:23–27). When Paul is finished, they realize they should have set him free before he appealed to Caesar (Acts 26:30–32). But he must go to Rome, surviving a violent storm and a shipwreck along the way (Acts 27—28).

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.