Acts 26:9

"Why is it judged incredible with you if God does raise the dead?"

Key Reflection

For the original audience in Acts 26, this question by King Agrippa was deeply significant as it challenged their cultural and religious norms. In first-century Judaism, the resurrection of the dead was not only a theological concept but also an expectation based on prophetic texts like Isaiah 25:8-9. By asking why they found such a belief incredible, Agrippa was inviting Paul to explain how God's raising of the dead through Christ fit into their understanding of divine power and purpose, thereby setting the stage for Paul’s powerful testimony about his conversion and ministry.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Verse 9. I verily thought. I indeed men supposed. Paul here commences the account of his conversion, and states the evidence on which he judged that he was called of God to do what he had done. He begins by saying that it was not because he was originally disposed to be a Christian, but that he was violently and conscientiously opposed to Jesus of Nazareth, and had been converted when in the full career of opposition to him and his cause. With myself. I thought to myself; or, I myself thought. He had before stated the hopes and expectations of his countrymen, Ac 26:6-8. He now speaks of his own views and purposes. "For myself, I thought," etc. That I ought to do.

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