Acts 26:28

Acts

‘BEFORE GOVERNORS AND KINGS’

‘ME A CHRISTIAN!’

Act 26:28.

This Agrippa was son of the other Herod of whom we hear in the Acts as a persecutor. This one appears from other sources, to have had the vices but not the force of character of his bad race. He was weak and indolent, a mere hanger-on of Rome, to which he owed his kingdom, and to which he stoutly stuck during all the tragedy of the fall of Jerusalem. In position and in character {largely resulting from the position} he was uncommonly like those semi-independent rajahs in India, who are allowed to keep up a kind of shadow of authority on condition of doing what Calcutta bids them. Of course frivolity and debauchery become the business of such men. What sort of a man this was may be sufficiently inferred from the fact that Bernice was his sister.

But he knew a good deal about the Jews, about their opinions, their religion, and about what had been going on during the last half century amongst them. Or grounds of policy he professed to accept the Jewish faith-of which an edifying example is given in the fact that, on one occasion, Bernice was prevented from accompanying him to Rome because she was fulfilling a Nazarite vow in the Temple at Jerusalem!

So the Apostle was fully warranted in appealing to Agrippa’s knowledge, not only of Judaism, but of the history of Jesus Christ, and in his further assertion, ‘I know that thou believest.’ But the home-thrust was too much for the king. His answer is given in the words of our text.

They are very familiar words, and they have been made the basis of a great many sermons upon being all but persuaded to accept of Christ as Saviour. But, edifying as such a use of them is, it can scarcely be sustained by their actual meaning. Most commentators are agreed that our Authorised Version does not represent either Agrippa’s words or his tone. He was not speaking in earnest. His words are sarcasm, not a half melting into conviction, and the Revised Version gives what may, on the whole, be accepted as being a truer representation of their intention when it reads, ‘With but little persuasion thou wouldst fain make me a Christian.’

He is half amused and half angry at the Apostle’s presumption in supposing that so easily or so quickly he was going to land his fish. ‘It is a more difficult task than you fancy, Paul, to make a Christian of a man like me.’ That is the real meaning of his words, and I think that, rightly understood, they yield lessons of no less value than those that have been so often drawn from them as they appear in our Authorised Version. So I wish to try and gather up and urge upon you now these lessons:-

I. First, then, I see here an example of the danger of a superficial familiarity with Christian truth.

As I said, Agrippa knew, in a general way, a good deal not only about the prophets and the Jewish religion, but of the outstanding facts of the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul’s assumption that he knew would have been very quickly repudiated if it had not been based upon fact. And the inference from his acceptance without contradiction of the Apostle’s statement is confirmed by his use of the word ‘Christian,’ which had by no means come into general employment when he spoke; and in itself indicates that he knew a good deal about the people who were so named. Mark the contrast, for instance, between him and the bluff Roman official at his side. To Festus, Paul’s talking about a dead man’s having risen, and a risen Jew becoming a light to all nations, was such utter nonsense that, with characteristic Roman contempt for men with ideas, he breaks in, with his rough, strident voice, ‘Much learning has made thee mad.’ There was not much chance of that cause producing that effect on Festus. But he was apparently utterly bewildered at this entirely novel and unintelligible sort of talk. Agrippa, on the other hand, knows all about the Resurrection; has heard that there was such a thing, and has a general rough notion of what Paul believed as a Christian.

And was he any better for it? No; he was a great deal worse. It took the edge off a good deal of his curiosity. It made him fancy that he knew beforehand all that the Apostle had to say. It stood in the way of his apprehending the truths which he thought that he understood.

And although the world knows a great deal more about Jesus Christ and the Gospel than he did, the very same thing is true about hundreds and thousands of people who have all their lives long been brought into contact with Christianity. Superficial knowledge is the worst enemy of accurate knowledge, for the first condition of knowing a thing is to know that we do not know it. And so there are a great many of us who, having picked up since childhood vague and partially inaccurate notions about Christ and His Gospel and what He has done, are so satisfied on the strength of these that we know all about it, that we listen to preaching about it with a very languid attention. The ground in our minds is preoccupied with our own vague and imperfect apprehensions. I believe that there is nothing that stands more in the way of hundreds of people coming into real intelligent contact with Gospel truth than the half knowledge that they have had of it ever since they were children. You fancy that you know all that I can tell you. Very probably you do. But have you ever taken a firm hold of the plain central facts of Christianity-your own sinfulness and helplessness, your need of a Saviour, the perfect work of Jesus Christ who died on the Cross for you, and the power of simple faith therein to join you to Him, and, if followed by consecration and obedience, to make you partakers of His nature, and heirs of the inheritance that is above? These are but the fundamentals, the outlines of Gospel truth. But far too many of you see them, in such a manner as you see the figures cast upon a screen when the lantern is not rightly focussed, with a blurred outline, and the blurred outline keeps you from seeing the sharp-cut truth as it is in Jesus. In all regions of thought inaccurate knowledge is the worst foe to further understanding, and eminently is this the case in religion. Brethren, some of you are in that position.

Then there is another way in which such knowledge as that of which the king in our text is an example is a hindrance, and that is, that it is knowledge which has no effect on character. What do hundreds of us do with our knowledge of Christianity? Our minds seem built in watertight compartments, and we keep the doors of them shut very close, so that truths in the understanding have no influence on the will. Many of you believe the Gospel intellectually, and it does not make a hairsbreadth of difference to anything that you ever either thought or wished or did. And because you so believe it, it is utterly impossible that it should ever be of any use to you. ‘Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.’ ‘Yes, believest the prophets, and Bernice sitting by thy side there- believest the prophets, and livest in utter bestial godlessness.’ What is the good of a knowledge of Christianity like that? And is it not such knowledge of Christianity that blocks the way with some of you for anything more real and more operative? There is nothing more impotent than a firmly believed and utterly neglected truth. And that is what the Christianity of some of you is when it is analysed.

II. Now, secondly, notice how we have here the example of a proud man indignantly recoiling from submission,

There is a world of contempt in Agrippa’s words, in the very putting side by side of the two things. ‘Me! Me,’ with a very large capital M-’Me a Christian?’ He thinks of his dignity, poor creature. It was not such a very tremendous dignity after all. He was a petty kinglet, permitted by the grace of Rome to live and to pose as if he were the real thing, and yet he struts and claps his wings and crows on his little hillock as if it were a mountain. ‘Me a Christian?’ ‘The great Agrippa a Christian!’ And he uses that word ‘Christian’ with the intense contempt which coined it and adhered to it, until the men to whom it was applied were wise enough to take it and bind it as a crown of honour upon their head. The wits at Antioch first of all hit upon the designation. They meant a very exquisite piece of sarcasm by their nickname. These people were ‘Christians,’ just as some other people were Herodians-Christ’s men, the men of this impostor who pretended to be a Messiah. That seemed such an intensely ludicrous thing to the wise people in Antioch that they coined the name; and no doubt thought they had done a very clever thing. It is only used in the Bible in tike notice of its origin; here, with a very evident connotation of contempt; and once more when Peter in his letter refers to it as being the indictment on which certain disciples suffered. So when Agrippa says, ‘Me a Christian,’ he puts all the bitterness that he can into that last word. As if he said, ‘Do you really think that I-I-am going to bow myself down to be a follower and adherent of that Christ of yours? The thing is too ridiculous! With but little persuasion you would fain make me a Christian. But you will find it a harder task than you fancy.’

Now, my dear friends, the shape of this unwillingness is changed but the fact of it remains. There are two or three features of what I take to be the plain Gospel of Jesus Christ which grate very much against all self-importance and self-complacency, and operate very largely, though not always consciously, upon very many amongst us. I just run them over, very briefly.

The Gospel insists on dealing with everybody in the same fashion, and on regarding all as standing on the same level. Many of us do not like that. Translate Agrippa’s scorn into words that fit ourselves: ‘I am a well-to-do Manchester man. Am I to stand on the same level as my office-boy?’ Yes! the very same. ‘I, a student, perhaps a teacher of science, or a cultivated man, a scholar, a lawyer, a professional man-am I to stand on the same level as people that scarcely know how to read and write?’ Yes, exactly. So, like the man in the Old Testament, ‘he turned and went away in a rage.’ Many of us would like that there should be a little private door for us in consideration of our position or acquirements or respectability, or this, that, or the other thing. At any rate we are not to be classed in the same category with the poor and the ignorant and the sinful and the savage all over the world. But we are so classed. Do not you and the men in Patagonia breathe the same air? Are not your bodies subject to the same laws? Have you not to be contented to be fed in the same fashion, and to sleep and eat and drink in the same way? ‘We have all of us one human heart’; and ‘there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.’ The identities of humanity, in all its examples, are deeper than the differences in any. We have all the one Saviour and are to be saved in the same fashion. That is a humbling thing for those of us who stand upon some little elevation, real or fancied, but it is only the other side of the great truth that God’s love is world-wide, and that Christ’s Gospel is meant for humanity. Naaman, to whom I have already referred in passing, wanted to be treated as a great man who happened to be a leper; Elisha insisted on treating him as a leper who happened to be a great man. And that makes all the difference. I remember seeing somewhere that a great surgeon had said that the late Emperor of Germany would have had a far better chance of being cured if he had gone incognito to the hospital for throat diseases. We all need the same surgery, and we must be contented to take it in the same fashion. So, some of us recoil from humbling equality with the lowest and worst.

Then again, another thing that sometimes makes people shrink back from the Gospel is that it insists upon every one being saved solely by dependence on Another. We would like to have a part in our salvation, and many of us had rather do anything in the way of sacrifice or suffering or penance than take this position:

‘Nothing in my hand I bring,

Simply to Thy Cross I cling.’

Corrupt forms of Christianity have taken an acute measure of the worst parts of human nature, when they have taught men that they can eke out Christ’s work by their own, and have some kind of share in their own salvation. Dear brethren, I have to bring to you another Gospel than that, and to say, All is done for us, and all will be done in us, and nothing has to be done by us. Some of you do not like that. Just as a man drowning is almost sure to try to help himself, and get his limbs inextricably twisted round his would-be rescuer and drown them both, so men will not, without a struggle, consent to owe everything to Jesus Christ, and to let Him draw them out of many waters and set them on the safe shore. But unless we do so, we have little share in His Gospel.

And another thing stands in the way-namely, that the Gospel insists upon absolute obedience to Jesus Christ. Agrippa fancied that it was an utterly preposterous idea that he should lower his flag, and doff his crown, and become the servant of a Jewish peasant. A great many of us, though we have a higher idea of our Lord than his, do yet find it quite as hard to submit our wills to His, and to accept the condition of absolute obedience, utter resignation to Him, and entire subjection to His commandment. We say, ‘Let my own will have a little bit of play in a corner.’ Some of us find it very hard to believe that we are to bring all our thinking upon religious and moral subjects to Him, and to accept His word as conclusive, settling all controversies. ‘I, with my culture; am I to accept what Christ says as the end of strife?’ Yes, absolute submission is the plainest condition of real Christianity. The very name tells us that. We are Christians, i.e. Christ’s men; and unless we are, we have no right to the name. But some of us had rather be our own masters and enjoy the miseries of independence and self-will, and so be the slaves of our worse selves, than bow ourselves utterly before that dear Lord, and so pass into the freedom of a service love-inspired, and by love accepted, ‘Thou wouldst fain persuade me to be a Christian,’ is the recoil of a proud heart from submission. Brethren, let me beseech you that it may not be yours.

III. Again, we have here an example of instinctive shrinking from the personal application of broad truths.

Agrippa listened, half-amused and a good deal interested, to Paul as long as he talked generalities and described his own experience. But when he came to point the generalities and to drive them home to the hearer’s heart it was time to stop him. That question of the Apostle’s, keen and sudden as the flash of a dagger, went straight home, and the king at once gathered himself together into an attitude of resistance. Ah, that is what hundreds of people do! You will let me preach as long as I like-only you will get a little weary sometimes-you will let me preach generalities ad libitum. But when I come to ‘And thou?’ then I am ‘rude’ and ‘inquisitorial’ and ‘personal’ and ‘trespassing on a region where I have no business,’ and so on and so on. And so you shut up your heart if not your ears.

And yet, brethren, what is the use of toothless generalities? What am I here for if I am not here to take these broad, blunt truths and sharpen them to a point, and try to get them in between the joints of your armour? Can any man faithfully preach the Gospel who is always flying over the heads of his hearers with universalities, and never goes straight to their hearts with ‘Thou-thou art the man!’ ‘Believest thou?’

And so, dear friends, let me press that question upon you. Never mind about other people. Suppose you and I were alone together and my words were coming straight to thee. Would they not have more power than they have now? They are so coming. Think away all these other people, and this place, ay, and me too, and let the word of Christ, which deals with no crowds but with single souls, come to you in its individualising force: ‘Believest thou?’ You will have to answer that question one day. Better to face it now and try to answer it than to leave it all vague until you get yonder, where ‘each one of us shall give account of himself to God.

IV. Lastly, we have here an example of a soul close to the light, but passing into the dark.

Agrippa listens to Paul; Bernice listens; Festus listens. And what comes of it? Only this, ‘And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man hath done nothing worthy of death or of bonds.’ May I translate into a modern equivalent: And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, ‘This man preached a very impressive sermon,’ or, ‘This man preached a very wearisome sermon,’ and there an end.

Agrippa and Bernice went their wicked way, and Festus went his, and none of them knew what a fateful moment they had passed through. Ah, brethren! there are many such in our lives when we make decisions that influence our whole future, and no sign shows that the moment is any way different from millions of its undistinguished fellows. It is eminently so in regard to our relation to Jesus Christ and His Gospel. These three had been in the light; they were never so near it again. Probably they never heard the Gospel preached any more, and they went away, not knowing what they had done when they silenced Paul and left him. Now you will probably hear plenty of sermons in future. You may or you may not. But be sure of this, that if you go away from this one, unmelted and unbelieving, you have not done a trivial thing. You have added one more stone to the barrier that you yourself build to shut you out from holiness and happiness, from hope and heaven. It is not I that ask you the question, it is not Paul that asks it, Jesus Christ Himself says to you, as He said to the blind man, ‘Dost thou believe on the Son of God?’ or as He said to the weeping sister of Lazarus, ‘Believest thou this?’ O dear friends, do not answer like this arrogant bit of a king, but cry with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief!’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26:28 “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?”: This enigmatic remark might have been ironic, incredulous, scoffing, or brushing off Paul’s challenge. It also might have been a direct statement of Paul’s persuasiveness, or a direct statement about or genuine question of Paul’s intention. It seems best to take Agrippa’s reply as deliberately evasive: He didn’t want to admit that he believed the prophets (26:27), for Paul had just made a strong case, and the next step would be to believe in Jesus as the promised Messiah to whom the prophets pointed. Agrippa didn’t want to take that step. On the other hand, he didn’t want to say that he didn’t believe the prophets, for that would alienate the Jewish subjects to whose loyalties he wanted to appeal. His non-committal response underlines his discomfort with Paul’s testimony.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Act 26:28. Ὁ δὲ Ἀγρίππας, but Agrippa) The king is thought by some to speak contemptuously: it would be more true to say, that there was a motion towards good in him: with which comp. Act 26:27; Act 26:29.—ἐν ὀλίγῷ) This phrase itself is not to be found in the LXX.; but synonyms however are found, put in the same neuter gender; and these synonyms express the Hebrew כמעט, the Latin propemodum, tantum non; and that too, in such a way that the effect itself, in the case of a past event, is excluded, in the case of a thing future, is included, according to the variety of the circumstances of each particular case. In the former manner there is generally added παρά· παρὰ μικρὸν, παρὰ βραχὺ, παρʼ ὀλίγον, Psalms 72 (73):2, 93 (94):17; Pro 5:14: Latin, pæne. In the second way, ἐν is employed: ἐν τῷ μηδενὶ, Psalms 80(81):14; ἐν τάχει, Psa 2:12: Lat. nullo negotio, facile, celeriter; which notion admirably accords with this passage, which also has ἐν. Therefore there are presented to us here, Festus without Christ, Paul the representative of Christianity, and Agrippa, at the point where the decision between the two roads must be made, with an excellent bias.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_26:28. The king is of course well-meaning enough not to take amiss the burning words, but also, as a luxurious man of the world, sufficiently estranged from what is holy instantly to banish the transiently-felt impression with haughtily contemptuous mockery. The conduct of Pilate in Joh_18:38 is similar to this and to Act_26:32.

ἐν ὀλίγῳ is to be taken as neuter, and without supplement, as in Eph_3:3 (see in loc.), namely: With little (ἐν, instrumental) thou persuadest me to become a Christian! This sarcasm is meant to say: Thus summarily, thus brevi manu, you will not manage to win me over to Christianity. Appropriately, in substance, Oecumenius: ἐν ὀλίγῳ· τουτέστι διʼ ὀλίγων ῥημάτων, ἐν βραχέσι λόγοις, ἐν ὀλίγῃ διδασκαλίᾳ, χωρὶς πολλοῦ πόνου καὶ συνεχοὺς διαλέξεως. Most expositors either adopt the meaning (Calvin, Wetstein, Kuinoel, Olshausen, Neander, de Wette, Lange) sometimes with and sometimes without the supplement of χρόνῳ: in a short time (Pind. Pyth. viii. 131; Plat. Apol. p. 22 B; and see the passages in Raphel, Polyb.; comp. the analogous διʼ ὀλίγου, Thuc. i. 77. 4, ii. 85. 2, iii. 43. 3; Schaefer, ad Bos. Ellips. pp. 101, 553; and see on Eph_3:3); or (Chrysostom, Valla, Luther, Castalio, Beza, Piscator, Grotius, Calovius, and others, to which also the modica ex parte of Erasmus comes in the end): propemodum, parum abest, quin. So also Ewald, who calls to his aid the בְּ of value (for a little, i.e. almost). But in opposition to the view which takes it temporally, may be decisively urged the reading μεγάλῳ, to be adopted instead of πολλῷ in Act_26:29 (see the critical remarks), an expression which proves that Paul apprehended ἐν ὀλίγῳ in a quantitative sense; and there is no reason in the context for the idea (to which Calvin is inclined, following Chrysostom) that Paul took the word in one sense and the king in another. The same reason decides against the explanation propemodum, which also is not linguistically to be justified, for there must have been used either ὀλίγου (Plat. Prot. p. 361 C, Phaedr. p. 258 E; Stallb. ad Plat. Rep. p. 563 B), or ὀλίγου δεῖ (Wolf, ad Dem. Lept. p. 238), or παρʼ ὀλίγον (Bernhardy, p. 258).

Lastly, that the words of the king are to be taken ironically, and not, with Heinrichs and many other expositors, as an earnest confession, is evident even from the very improbability in itself of such a confession in view of the luxurious levity of the king, as well as from the name Χριστιανόν, which, of Gentile origin (see on Act_11:26), carries with it in the mouth of a Jew the accessory idea of heterodoxy and the stain of contempt (1Pe_4:16). Schneckenburger also would have the expression to be earnestly meant, but in favour of the apologetic design imputed to the Book of Acts.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 26:28 . ἐν ὀλίγῳ με πείθεις Χ . γένεσθαι , see critical note, “with but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian,” R.V. reading ποιῆσαι , and πείθεις being used de conatu (so Zockler in his 2nd edition); cf. προσήλυτον ποιεῖν , Mat 23:15 . Schmiedel, Encycl. Bibl. , i., 754, inclines to explain the phrase Χ . ποιῆσαι as a Latinism: Christianum agere , to play the part of a Christian. Weiss sees in the words a gentle irony, as if Agrippa would answer St. Paul’s appeal to his belief in the prophets by intimating that it was not so simple a matter to become a Christian, even if one, as a Jew, believed in the prophets. Or we may regard Agrippa as rejecting, not so much in banter as in cold disdain, the enthusiasm of the orator, and adopting the tone of a certain Jewish orthodoxy (Zockler), not, i.e. , the indifference of the Roman, but that of the Sadducees to the prophets. The A.V. “almost” must be abandoned, even if we retain γενέσθαι , for ἐν ὀλίγῳ cannot be so rendered, either here or elsewhere in the N.T.; παρʼ ὀλίγον , or ὀλίγου or ὀλίγον δεῖ would be required as the classical expression for “almost”. The best parallel is Eph 3:3 , ἐν ὀλίγῳ : “in a few words”: so A. and R.V. ( cf. 1Pe 5:12 ). But if in the next verse we read μεγάλῳ instead of πολλῷ , so R.V. (see critical note), it seems best to understand πόνῳ with ὀλίγῳ , as this noun could fitly stand with both μεγάλῳ and ὀλίγῳ = with little trouble, with little cost. The R.V. rendering of the two verses reads as if πολλῷ was retained in Act 26:29 , whereas μεγάλῳ is the reading adopted in R.V. text. So far as N.T. usage is concerned, ἐν ὀλίγῳ might be rendered “in a short time” ( cf. Jas 4:14 , 1Pe 1:6 , Rev 17:10 , so in classical Greek), but this rendering also is excluded by ἐν ὀλίγῳ καὶ ἐν μεγάλῳ in the next verse. Wendt maintains that ἐν ὀλίγῳ may still be rendered “almost”; the phrase is instrumental, as if expressing the thought contained in ὀλίγου δεῖ , and meaning that a little was wanted to attain the aim = almost; so St. Chrysostom, St. Cyril of Jerusalem; Luther, Beza, Grotius = propemodum . The answer of Agrippa, therefore, need not be taken ironically, as by most moderns, but in earnest ( cf. Act 26:32 , where his favourable opinion supports this view), although Wendt acknowledges that his confession was only half-hearted, as is seen by his desire to conclude the interview (Wendt, 1888, note, p. 530, and 1899, p. 400, to the same effect, so too Schürer, Jewish People , div. i., vol. ii., p. 198, note). If we read πείθῃ , see critical note, we render “with but little thou art persuading thyself that thou canst make me a Christian,” taking up πείθομαι of Act 26:26 . This reading is adopted by Blass and Belser, but the former takes ἐν ὀλίγῳ as meaning brevi tempore in this verse (so in Plato, Apol. , 22 B), but in Act 26:29 he takes it as = facile , whilst ἐν μεγάλῳ (which he reads) = difficile . Belser, however, takes the phrase ἐν ὀλίγῳ in the same sense in both verses, “with little trouble or pains”. St. Chrysostom thought that the phrase ἐν ὀλίγῳ was used by Agrippa in one sense and by St. Paul in another (so too Lewin, cf. Grimm-Thayer and Plumptre); Blass apparently obliges us to adopt the same view, but there is nothing in the context to support it (Wendt, Belser). Χριστ .: there is nothing strange in this use of the word by Agrippa; he may have become acquainted with it in his knowledge of the Christian movement (see above), and the term could easily have spread from Antioch over the district which he ruled. It is difficult to say in what sense he used the term; and no doubt the shade of meaning which we attach to his employment of it will depend upon the meaning which we give to the rest of his answer a meaning earnest or contemptuous. Thus on the former supposition it is possible that he may have used the word instead of the despised “Nazarene,” to indicate his half-friendly attitude towards Christianity, and his relative recognition of it by connecting it with the name which was cherished by every Jew, although the context shows that he had no intention whatever of allowing Paul’s persuasive powers further scope; see Wendt (1899), who points out as against Lipsius that there is nothing unhistorical in the introduction of the name here, as if the writer presupposed that it would be familiar to every Jew. On the other hand, although a Jew, Agrippa, before such an audience, might well have used a term with which the Romans also would probably have been familiar, and if he spoke contemptuously (so Blass, Rendall) he would naturally employ a title which had been given in scorn, and which apparently at this period even the Christians themselves had not accepted; see below, and note on Act 11:26 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Almost--or, "in a little time."

thou persuadest me to be a Christian--Most modern interpreters think the ordinary translation inadmissible, and take the meaning to be, "Thou thinkest to make me with little persuasion (or small trouble) a Christian"--but I am not to be so easily turned. But the apostle's reply can scarcely suit any but the sense given in our authorized version, which is that adopted by CHRYSOSTOM and some of the best scholars since. The objection on which so much stress is laid, that the word "Christian" was at that time only a term of contempt, has no force except on the other side; for taking it in that view, the sense is, "Thou wilt soon have me one of that despised sect."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 28. Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.] Εν ολιγῳ με πειθεις ΧριϚιανον γενεσθαι. This declaration was almost the necessary consequence of the apostle's reasoning, and Agrippa's faith. If he believed the prophets, see Ac 26:22; Ac 26:23, and believed that Paul's application of their words to Christ Jesus was correct, he must acknowledge the truth of the Christian religion; but he might choose whether he would embrace and confess this truth, or not. However, the sudden appeal to his religious faith extorts from him the declaration, Thou hast nearly persuaded me to embrace Christianity. How it could have entered into the mind of any man, who carefully considered the circumstances of the case, to suppose that these words of Agrippa are spoken ironically, is to me unaccountable. Every circumstance in the case proves them to have been the genuine effusion of a heart persuaded of the truth; and only prevented from fully acknowledging it by secular considerations.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

28. And Agrippa said unto Paul. The apostle prevailed thus far at least, that he wrung out of king Agrippa a confession, though it were not voluntary, as those use to yield who can no longer resist the truth, or, at least, to show some token of assent. Agrippa’s meaning is, that he will not willingly become a Christian; yea, that he will not be one at all; and yet that he is not able to gainsay, but that he is drawn after a sort against his will. Whereby it appeareth how great the pride of man’s nature is until it be brought under to obey by the Spirit of God.

Interpreters expound this, εν ολιγω diversely. Valla thought that it ought to be translated thus, Thou dost almost make me a Christian. Erasmus doth translate it a little. The old interpreter dealeth more plainly in a little; because, translating it word for word, he left it to the readers to judge at their pleasure. And surely it may be fitly referred unto the time, as if Agrippa had said, Thou wilt make me a Christian straightway, or in one moment. If any man object that Paul’s answer doth not agree thereto, we may quickly answer; for seeing the speech was doubtful, Paul doth fitly apply that unto the thing which was spoken of the time. Therefore, seeing Agrippa did mean that he was almost made a Christian in a small time, Paul addeth that he doth desire that as well he as his companions might rise from small beginnings, and profit more and more; and yet I do not mislike that that εν ολιγω doth signify as much as almost. This answer doth testify with what zeal, to spread abroad the glory of Christ, this holy man’s breast was inflamed, when as he doth patiently suffer those bonds wherewith the governor had bound him, and doth desire that he might escape the deadly snares of Satan, and to have both him and also his partners to be partakers with him of the same grace, being in the mean season content with his troublesome and reproachful condition. We must note that he doth not wish it simply, but from God, as it is he which draweth us unto his Son; because, unless he teach us inwardly by his Spirit, the outward doctrine shall always wax cold.

Except these bonds. It is certain that Paul’s bonds were not so hard, ne [nor] yet did they cause him such sorrow, wherein he did oftentimes rejoice, and which he doth mention for honor’s sake, as being the badge of his embassage, (Galatians 6:17), but he hath respect to those to whom he wisheth faith without trouble or cross. For those who did not as yet believe in Christ were far from that affection to be ready to strive for the gospel. And surely it behoveth all the godly to have this gentleness and meekness, that they patiently bear their own cross, and that they wish well to others, and study so much as in them lieth to ease them of all trouble, and that they do in no case envy their quietness and mirth. This courtesy is far contrary to the bitterness of those who take comfort in wishing that other men were in their misery.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(28) Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.—At the cost of giving up a familiar and impressive text, it must be admitted that the Greek words cannot possibly bear the meaning which is thus put upon them. The words run literally, In, or with, a little thou persuadest me; and this may be completed by, “with little speech,” “with little labour,” or “little evidence.” So in Eph_3:3 we have precisely the same phrase rendered “in few words.” Agrippa’s words, accordingly, are the expression, not of a half-belief, but of a cynical sneer. Thou art trying to make a Christian of me with very few words, on very slender grounds, would be the nearest paraphrase of his derisive answer to St. Paul’s appeal. It was. it will be seen, evasive as well as derisive; he shrinks from a direct answer to the question that had been put to him. In his use of the Latin term “Christian” (see Note on Act_11:26) we may trace, perhaps, the effect of Roman associations. There certainly were Christian communities at Rome at this time (Romans 16 passim), and they would naturally be described there as they had been at Antioch. It may be noted that, of the prominent English versions, Wiclif gives “in a little thing,” Tyndal and Cranmer “somewhat,” the Rhemish “a little;” the Geneva agrees with the present version in “almost.” The meaning “somewhat,” or “a little,” is a tenable one. but Eph_3:3. as already stated, is in favour of that given above. The phrase was, perhaps, in itself ambiguous, and St. Paul accepts in one sense what had been spoken in another.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian] Rev. Ver. “With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian.” The original is “with [or in] little (labour or time) thou art persuading me, &c.” It would seem therefore that the Rev. Ver. represents Agrippa’s words more nearly than A. V. “With little labour” or “in a little time” implies that the king despised the attempt which had been made to convince him, and mocked at the language of St Paul in so readily taking for granted that the king was in accord with him. It is as though he said “You are supposing that I accept these words of the prophets in the same sense as you do, and you are a fool for your pains, to think that with so little trouble and in so short a space you could win me over to your side. And such a side! To be a Christian.” The name had, no doubt, been given, when it was first applied (Act_11:26), to the adherents of Jesus as a term of reproach, and it is likely that it had not yet won its way to be a name of credit, at all events among such men as Agrippa and his friends. For we have no reason to suppose that the king was influenced at all by Paul’s words.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Paul said, I would to God,.... This prayer of the apostle's shows his affection for the souls of men, and his great desire for their conversion, and also his sense of the power and grace of God, as necessary to it:

that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost and altogether such as I am; that is, his wish was that not only Agrippa, but that all that were present, were not only within a little, or in some low degree, but entirely, in the highest and fullest sense, Christians, as he was; that they knew as much of Christ, and had as much faith in him, and love to him, as he had, and were as ready to serve and obey him: he does not wish that Agrippa and the rest that heard him were as he had been, a bigot for traditions and ceremonies, that trusted in his own righteousness, did many things contrary to the name of Jesus, was a blasphemer of him, a persecutor of his saints, and an injurious person; but as he now was, not meaning with respect to his civil circumstances, as a mean poor man, and a tent maker, or with respect to his single state of life, which he elsewhere advises to, Co1 9:5 or with respect to his ministerial capacity, as an apostle of Christ, and a preacher of the Gospel; but as a Christian, and in a private capacity: his sense is, he wished that they were as he, regenerated by the Spirit of God, new creatures in Christ, called by the grace of God with an holy calling, believers in Christ, lovers of him, pardoned by his blood, justified by his righteousness, sanctified by his grace, children of God, and heirs of eternal life: and all this he wishes for of God, saying, "would to God", &c. knowing that the whole of this is not of men, but of God; all grace, and every blessing of it, which make or show a man to be a Christian indeed, are from him. And this wish is expressive of true grace, which desires the good of others, and also of a spirit truly generous, that is not selfish and monopolizing; and which is concerned for the glory of God, the interest of Christ, and the weakening of Satan's kingdom: and from the whole of this it appears, that a person may arrive to true satisfaction of his own state; and that it is an evidence of grace, when the heart is drawn out in desires, after the salvation of others; and that altogether Christians are the only desirable ones; and that to be made a real Christian is the work of God, and to be ascribed to him. This the apostle wished for, for Agrippa and all that heard him; as does every Gospel minister for their hearers, the hearing of the word being the ordinary means of believing; and the rather it is desired by them, because the condemnation of those that hear the word is otherwise thereby aggravated: the apostle adds,

except these bonds; which were both troublesome and reproachful: not but that he cheerfully endured them himself, and thought it the duty of Christians to bear them patiently, when called to it, but then they were not things to be desired and wished for; the exception is not only Christian like, but humane and genteel.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.

Ver. 28. Almost thou persuadest me] Here he was nigh God’s kingdom, who yet (for aught we find) never came there. Almost he could be content to be, but altogether may chance bring a chain with it. Jehu will not part with his calves, lest he venture his kingdom. Policy is ever entering caveats against piety. It is thought of Cardinal Pole, that toward his latter end, a little before his coming from Rome to England, he began somewhat to favour the doctrine of Luther, and was no less suspected at Rome, and therefore put by the popedom; notwithstanding the pomp and glory of the world did afterwards carry him away to play the Papist. Such as these Philo calleth semper factae virtutis homines, cakes half-baked, Hos 7:8. {See Trapp on "Hos 7:8"}

To be a Christian] The profane philosophers called the Christians credentes, that is, believers, by way of reproach, because they did not argue by reason, but take things upon trust. "We believe and know" (not, we know and believe) "that thou art the Son of the living God," Joh 6:69. Illi garriant, nos credamus, saith Austin. Let them jeer us for our faith, let us believe nevertheless; and our faith shall be one day found "to praise, honour, and glory," 1Pe 1:7. If Agrippa had been right, he would have esteemed it the highest honour to he able to say, Christian is my name, and Catholic my surname. Those that might well have been his masters and makers, viz. Constantinus, Vatentinianus, and Theodosius (three emperors), called themselves Vasallos Christi, not Christians only, but the vassals of Christ, as Socrates reporteth: and Justinian the emperor styled himself, Ultimum servorum Christi, the meanest of Christ’s servants.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then Agrippa said unto Paul - He could not deny that he believed the prophecies in the Old Testament. He could not deny that the argument was a strong one that they had been fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. He could not deny that the evidence of the miraculous interposition of God in the conversion of Paul was overwhelming; and instead, therefore, of charging him, as Festus had done, with derangement, he candidly and honestly avows the impression which the proof had made on his mind.

Almost - Except a very little - ἐν ὀλίγῳ en oligō. Thou hast nearly convinced me that Christianity is true, and persuaded me to embrace it. The arguments of Paul had been so rational; the appeal which he had made to his belief of the prophets had been so irresistible, that he had been nearly convinced of the truth of Christianity. We are to remember:

(1) That Agrippa was a Jew, and that he would look on this whole subject in a different manner from the Roman Festus.

(2) That he does not appear to have partaken of the violent passions and prejudices of the Jews who had accused Paul.

(3) Pits character, as given by Josephus, is that of a mild, candid, and ingenuous man. He had no particular hostility to Christians; he knew that they were not justly charged with sedition and crime; and he saw the conclusion to which a belief of the prophets inevitably tended. Yet, as in thousands of other cases, he was not quite persuaded to be a Christian. What was included in the “almost”; what prevented his being quite persuaded, we know not. It may have been that the evidence was not so clear to his mind as he would profess to desire; or that he was not willing to give up his sins; or that he was too proud to rank himself with the followers of Jesus of Nazareth; or that, like Felix, he was willing to defer it to a more convenient season. There is every reason to believe that he was never quite persuaded to embrace the Lord Jesus, and that he was never nearer the kingdom of heaven than at this moment. It was the crisis, the turning-point in Agrippa’s life, and in his eternal destiny; and, like thousands of others, he neglected or refused to allow the full conviction of the truth on his mind, and died in his sins.

Thou persuadest me - Thou dost convince me of the truth of the Christian religion, and persuadest me to embrace it.

To be a Christian - On the name Christian, see the notes on Act 11:26. On this deeply interesting case we may observe:

(1) That there are many in the same situation as Agrippa- many who are almost, but not altogether, persuaded to be Christians. They are found among:

Those who have been religiously educated; Those who are convinced by argument of the truth of Christianity; Those whose consciences are awakened, and who feel their guilt, and the necessity of some better portion than this world can furnish.

(2) Such persons are deterred from being altogether Christians by the following, among other causes:

By the love of sin - the love of sin in general, or some particular sin which they are not willing to abandon; By the fear of shame, persecution, or contempt, if they become Christians; By the temptations of the world - its cares, vanities, and allurements- which are often presented most strongly in just this state of mind; By the love of office, the pride of rank and power, as in the case of Agrippa; By a disposition, like Felix, to delay to a more favorable time the work of religion, until life has wasted away, and death approaches, and it is too late, and the unhappy man dies almost a Christian.

(3) This state of mind is one of special interest and special danger. It is not one of safety, and it is not one that implies any certainty that the “almost Christian” will ever be saved. There is no reason to believe that Agrippa ever became fully persuaded to become a Christian. To be almost persuaded to do a thing which we ought to do, and yet not to do it, is the very position of guilt and danger. And it is no wonder that many are brought to this point - the turning-point, the crisis of life - and then lose their anxiety, and die in their sins. May the God of grace keep us from resting in being almost persuaded to be Christians! May every one who shall read this account of Agrippa be admonished by his convictions, and be alarmed by the fact that he then paused, and that his convictions there ended! And may every one resolve by the help of God to forsake every thing that prevents his becoming an entire believer, and without delay embrace the Son of God as his Saviour!

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

In a little thou persuadest me to become a Christian. According to the common exposition, Agrippa speaks in a jest, and ironically; and as for the words, they are the same as, thou almost persuadest me, &c. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Some think that these words were spoken ironically, or scoffingly; as if Agrippa had said: Thou wouldst have me in so short a space (for so εν ολιγω may be translated) to be brought to profess Christ: some think it unlikely that such a one as Agrippa would speak so plainly as we translate it, in such a place, before such an auditory: but the danger seems not to have been so great from these words; and if it had been greater, who knows the power of that conviction under which Agrippa at that time was? And Paul’s rejoinder do suppose the words to be spoken in the sense we read them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

28. Almost—It is now wisely agreed among scholars that the Greek εν ολιγω, literally, in little, cannot signify almost. This fact, indeed, destroys the fitness of the passage as a text for such sermons as Dr. Samuel Clarke and Mr. Wesley have preached upon it. And commentators have greatly differed about its meaning, according as they have supplied the noun implied after the adjective little. There are three supposable nouns, implying either time, instrument, or amount, and each of these three have had their advocates. Time, as Wetstein shows, is most frequently implied in the phrase in classic authors, and that fact has misled some commentators into an error. In little time thou persuadest me, besides making a jejune sense, requires persuade to be the future. Nor can the same meaning reappear in the phrase in Paul’s reply without the utmost awkwardness. Supplying instrument as understood, Thou persuadest me with little means or effort, has less philological support and no more plausibility. The third implication, namely, amount, we have not the slightest doubt is the true. Indeed, the word little, without any supplied complement, implies amount. The same phrase is used by Paul in Eph_3:3, and signifies neither time nor instrument, but amount, namely, of writing. The meaning then clearly is, In slight degree do you persuade me to be a Christian. And this meaning, as we shall show, is required in Paul’s response. Did Agrippa speak this ironically and negatively, or affirmatively? The latter meaning would be, You do in a small degree persuade me to be a Christian. The former would mean, But slightly [that is, not at all] do you persuade me to be a Christian. This last is the true construction. And Paul’s response is, I wish you were not only slightly, but largely, that is, entirely, a Christian. There is no reason to suppose that this word Christian, on Agrippa’s lips, was other than the most respectful. Had he meant disparagement he would have used, as Tertullus did, the current contemptuous epithet, Nazarene, Act_24:5. On the contrary, Christian embodies the highest human title known to the Jews, Messiah. The adjective was formed according to a regular philology, and had a beauty and dignity, not only which every follower of Jesus could accept, but which a Jewish king could hardly bestow otherwise than respectfully. Agrippa did give Paul a negative, but not a discourteous reply.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And for then, A.V.; with but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian for almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian, A.V.. With but little persuasion (ejn ojligw k.t.l.). This saying of Agrippa"s is obscure and variously explained. The A.V., following Chrysostom, Beza, Luther, etc., takes ejn ojligw to mean "within a little" or" almost," like the Hebrew fmKi, which is very suitable to the context. The corresponding ejn pollw, or, as otherwise read, ejn megalw would then mean, as in the A.V., "altogether," and the sense of the whole passage is striking and appropriate. But there is some difficulty in getting Otis meaning out of the words. The natural way of expressing it would be par ojligon, or ojligou, or ojligon dei. Hence many other commentators take ejn ojligw to mean "in a short time," and the sense to be either "you are making short work of my conversion: you are persuading me to become a Christian as suddenly as you yourself did;" with a corresponding sense for ejn pollw, "in a long time," i.e. whether it takes a short or a long time, I pray God you may become a Christian like myself;" or, "you are soon persuading me," you will soon persuade me if you go on any longer in this strain. Others, again, preferring the reading ejn megalw in ver. 29, take ejn ojligw to mean "with little trouble," or "with few words," as Eph_3:5 (understanding logw or ponw), "lightly" (Alford), and then the opposite ejn megalw would mean "with much trouble," "with many words," i.e. "with difficulty." But this is rather a fiat rendering. Another difference of opinion is whether the words of Agrippa are to be taken ironically, or sarcastically, or jestingly, or whether they are to be taken seriously, as the words of a man shaken in his convictions and seriously impressed by what he had heard. The whole turn of the narrative seems to favor the latter view. Another view, started by Chrysostom, is that Agrippa used the words in one sense, and St. Paul (mistakenly or advisedly) took them in another. Another possible explanation is that ejn ojligw is here used in the sense in which Thucydides employs the phrase (it. 86 and 4:26), Thgw naumacian and jEn ojligw stratopedeuomenov, viz. "in a narrow place;" and that Agrippa meant to say, "By your appeal to the prophets you press me hard; you have got me into a corner. I am in a stenocwria, a "narrow room;" I hardly know how to get out of it." The ejn megalw would then mean a "large room," an eujrucwria. (Psa_30:8) This would suppose ejn ojligw and ejn megalw to have become proverbial phrases.

The great decision.

Agrippa said unto Paul," etc. Times when the attitude and bearing of one person wonderfully set forth the majesty of truth. Jesus before Pontius Pilate. Luther at Worms. Paul at Caesarea. Agrippa face to face with the sincerity he despised; Festus with a religion altogether different from that of Rome. The assembly of courtiers and soldiers and abandoned people in the presence of spiritual reality. The reversal of the appearances Paul really trying the offenders against God at the bar of Christ"s truth. The effect of the simple narrative of facts and its powerful appeals. Though scorn and mockery in Agrippa"s words, still confession of his inability to reply. Whether as in Authorized or as in Revised Version, the meaning is the same: "I am not persuaded, though I cannot deny anything you say.

I DECIDED CHRISTIANITY is the only true position. "To be a Christian" is to be fully persuaded.

1. Decided faith. Not belief about truth, but persuasion that Jesus is our Savior.

2. Essential change. "To be" that which we were not before. Not a mere change of external position towards Christianity, but the surrender of the whole self to the Law of Christ.

3. Public profession. The name" Christian" distinguished the man from others. It was assumed as a pledge of fellowship and united action. The Church is the voice of Christ, his living representative and witness. We must identify ourselves with his body, by being grafted as members into it.

II CHRISTIANITY APPEALS TO THOSE WHO ARE OPEN TO PERSUASION.

1. It is possible to be unpersuaded, because inwardly resisting truth, because self-deceived, because demanding that which is not reasonable, as the hardened skeptic, the trifler with opportunity, the proud intellect, the light-minded and pleasure-loving.

2. The commonest and yet most responsible of all positions is that which, like Agrippa"s, is near persuasion, yet distinctly waiving off the appeal. It is an awful spiritual danger to turn away from an open door.

3. It is better to be persuaded by the gracious appeal than compelled to acknowledge the truth by the overwhelming evidence of judgment. Paul"s position before Agrippa a prediction of the future trial of all men, when they shall be manifestly brought into the presence of those who have been persuaded, and the unreasonableness and guilt of their unbelief will be shown forth in contrast with the simple faith and loving obedience of those who shall be honored with Christ"s name and glory upon them. The obstacle to full persuasion should be sought within. There is little more required. Neither the truth itself, nor its method of presentation, nor the circumstances of our life, nor the difficulties of our profession, are any excuse for our remaining unpersuaded. The reality behind the veil of external appearance in the court at Caesarea. Paul"s good conscience, strength, hope, comfort, final victory, all should persuade us to be altogether such as he was then and is now. R.

Vers. 28, 29. A mournful "almost," on a light lip.

If these words of Agrippa were spoken satirically, as some think, or were intended to express even the essence of satire, yet after all, this would make very little difference to the standpoint from which we consider them. It would make a great difference indeed to Agrippa himself, but would scarcely diminish aught from the many lessons we may gather from them. Agrippa, too, like Festus, it would appear, felt compelled to make some pronouncement from the chair of authority, but again (notable to observe), the last word lay with Paul. And "a word" indeed it was! This episode, consisting of Agrippa"s behavior on this occasion, may be justly viewed in the following lights. It illustrates

I THE AMAZING ENERGY OF GOSPEL TRUTH AGAINST WONDERFULLY SIGNIFICANT OBSTACLES. Many of these obstacles are most easily imagined. But take this one, as typical of the rest, that from Agrippa, being who he was, where he was, and closely surrounded by the company in which he was, should be wrung, and yet without any appearance of its being wrung, such a confession! Supposing that the language of Agrippa does not mean to own to the experience of any deep emotion or of any powerful impression produced upon him, still that Agrippa can put these words, spiced with taunting, as they then were, upon his lips, was indicative of something very different from scouting and scorning (as Festus would have done) the most distant approach to the thought.

II THE AMAZING ENERGY OF AN OPPOSING HUMAN NATURE. For the practical issue of all was that Agrippa remained himself. He did not come over to Paul or to Paul"s Master. He did remain with Festus, himself and his sins both "secret" and "presumptuous.

III THE POINT WHERE THIS HUMAN NATURE WON. Human and sinful nature won, either at the point of "almost that so well-known "almost" of conviction, inborn, but for all that still-born! or at the point of a very trifling easy gibe made to do duty for the hour, nay, it was only the moment. Paul has just, undenied, claimed Agrippa, as versed both in Law and in fact. Agrippa cannot, does not, deny it. But that his knowledge may seem to make him look a little less small in the eyes of Festus and the court around, at what he cannot deny, he can indulge in a fling the fling that of a man who says, Youll find it no so easy matter to make me real, true, sincere, and ready to give in to what nevertheless I cannot deny." Paul must have thought now of the heart that is in man, "We are not ignorant of its devices.

IV THE POSITION WHICH THE SINCERE ADVOCATE OF GOSPEL TRUTH HOLDS EVES WHEN MOST OPPRESSED. For the closing language of Paul so pitying, so meek, so Savior-like, so yearning was indeed a triumph of God"s grace and of goodness in man. At the unlikeliest moment the lips of Paul breathe out what sounds like nothing else so much as a parting benediction, a forgiving prayer, an irresistible argument of most pathetic affection. He would pour oil on the troubled waters, he would reduce the storm to a Divine calm, he would cover up all a sinful, shameful, humiliating past with the love and forgivingness and hope that must in a moment overspread all the scene, if only Agrippa were such in the salvation of Jesus as he was, less his chains. Why, there was no comparison for one moment then between the real glory of Paul and the varnished brilliance of Agrippa. So God secures his own. So Jesus is mindful of his true servants. So the Spirit puts wisdom into the heart and words into the lips of those faithful to his inspiration. And the insulted prisoner dispenses reward and punishment to his judges. B.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian! - See here, Festus altogether a heathen, Paul alogether a Christian, Agrippa halting between both. Poor Agrippa! But almost persuaded! So near the mark, and yet fall short! Another step, and thou art within the vail. Reader, stop not with Agrippa; but go on with Paul.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Almost

R.V. With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian. The answer might be paraphrased: "It will require more than this," etc., or, "A little more and you will make," etc.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here, 1. What an efficacy St. Paul’s doctrine had upon Agrippa: though he would not be converted, yet he could not but be convinced; his conscience was touched, though his heart was not renewed.

Learn hence, That there is certainly that in religion which carries its own evidence along with it, even to the consciences of ungodly men.

Observe, 2. How sad it is, when persons have enjoyed the scriptures, the preaching of the word, and all means of salvation, and yet are but almost Christians, and shall never enjoy the least salvation; they are within sight of heaven, and yet shall never have a sight of God.

Observe, 3. That such as will be Christians indeed, must not only be almost, but altogether Christians: I would that you, and all that hear me, says the apostle, were altogether such as I am, except these bonds.

Where note, The extraordinary charity and Christian compassion of St. Paul: he wishes them his graces, not his chains; he did not wish them his bonds and imprisonment, but he wished them the same liberty and enlargement by Jesus Christ, which he enjoyed; he would keep his sorrows and outward troubles to himself, but wishes they were acquainted with his inward consolations and comforts.

A good man wishes others as well as he wishes himself; and if at any time he wishes that which is penally evil to the worst of his enemies, he doth it with an eye to their spiritual and eternal good.

A good man dares not wish ill to those that have actually done ill to him; but wishes, prays, and endeavours the best good for them.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. Agrippa said to Paul, “You persuade yourself with little persuasion that you make me a Christian.” The E. V. misses this translation. See R. V.

Agrippa stoutly resisted the preaching of Paul, grieving the Holy Spirit, rejecting the unanswerable Scriptural arguments of Paul, and showing no evidence of conviction. To his cheerless and hopeless negative answer, Paul simply responds in an ejaculatory prayer.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. With matchless skill the apostle had brought his proofs to bear upon his principal hearer, and with the boldness which only those can feel who are determined upon success, he pressed this direct appeal so unexpectedly, that the king, like Festus, was surprised into a full expression of his feelings. (28) " Then Agrippa said to Paul, You almost persuade me to be a Christian. " Under ordinary circumstances, such a confession would have struck the auditory with astonishment. But under the force of Paul's speech, there could not have been a generous soul present that did not sympathize with Agrippa's sentiment.

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

28. ποιῆσαι for γενέσθαι with אAB. Vulg. ‘fieri’ representing γενέσθαι.

28. ἐν ὀλίγῳ με πείθεις Χριστιανὸν ποιῆσαι, with but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian. The literal rendering is, ‘with (or in) little (labour or time) thou art persuading me so as to make me a Christian,’ as if ποιῆσαι = ὥστε με ποιῆσαι. ‘With little labour’ or ‘in a little time’ implies that the king despised the attempt which had been made to convince him, and mocked at the language of St Paul in so readily taking for granted that he was in accord with him. It is as though he said, ‘You are supposing that I accept these words of the prophets in the same sense as you do, and you are a fool for your pains, to think that with so little trouble and in so short a space you could win me over to your side. And such a side! To be a Christian.’ The name had, no doubt, been given, when it was first applied (Act 11:26), to the adherents of Jesus as a term of reproach, and it is likely that it had not yet won its way to be a name of credit, at all events among such men as Agrippa and his friends. For we have no reason to suppose that the king was influenced at all by Paul’s words.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. ἐν ὀλίγῳ] These words of Agrippa have been very variously explained. (1) The rendering ‘propemodum,’ ‘parum abest, quin,’ (‘almost,’ E. V.,) adopted by Chrys., Beza, Grot., Valla, Luther, Piscator, Calov., &c. is inadmissible, for want of any example of ἐν ὀλίγῳ having this meaning, which would require ὀλίγου (ὀλίγου μʼ ἀπωλέσας, Aristoph. Vesp. 829, and al.), or ὀλίγου δεῖ, or παρʼ ὀλίγον. (2) Calvin, Kuinoel, Schöttg., Olsh., Neander, take it for ἐν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ, which certainly is allowable, but does not correspond to μεγάλῳ below, nor, as I believe, does it come up to the general sense of the expression. (3) The phrase ἐν ὀλίγῳ occurs in Greek writers with various nouns understood according to the nature of the case,—and sometimes it will bear any of several supplements with equal propriety. Thus in Demosth. p. 33. 18, ῥάδιον εἰς ταὐτὸ πάνθʼ ὅσα βούλεταί τις ἀθροίσαντα ἐν ὀλίγῳ, where Schaefer in his Index Græcitatis says, scil. χρόνῳ, aut χώρῳ, aut λόγῳ, aut πόνῳ. So also here we may understand λόγῳ or πόνῳ (or χρόνῳ?)—or still better as it seems to me, leave the ellipsis unsupplied (see Eph 3:3). We have a word in English which exactly expresses it,—one which has fallen into disuse, but has no equivalent; lightly: i.e. with little pains, few words, small hesitation. Then next as to the reading, I have followed the most ancient MSS., in editing ποιῆσαι and not γενέσθαι. This being so, we have to choose between πείθεις of and πείθῃ of . It is almost impossible to give any assignable meaning to the former; and I suspect it has come in by a confusion of the two readings. Whereas πείθῃ seems to take up the πείθομαι of ver. 26. The received reading has probably found its way in from first imagining that πειθ- had to do with Paul’s persuading Agrippa, and then the ποιῆσαι having no sense, became conformed to the γενέσθαι in the Apostle’s speech below. And now, as to the sense of Agrippa’s saying. In determining this, enough attention has not been paid to two points: (1) the present tense, πείθῃ, thou art persuading thyself, art imagining; and (2) the use, in the mouth of a Jew, and that Jew a king, of the Gentile and offensive appellation χριστιανός. To my mind, the first of these considerations decides that Agrippa is characterizing no effect on himself, but what Paul was fancying in his mind, reckoning the πείθομαι which he had expressed above: the second, that he speaks of something not that he is likely to become, but that contrasts strangely with his present worldly position and intentions. I would therefore render the words thus: Lightly (with small trouble) art thou persuading thyself that thou canst make me a Christian: and understand them, in connexion with Paul’s having attempted to make Agrippa a witness on his side,—‘l am not so easily to be made a Christian of, as thou supposest.’ Most of the ancient Commentators (especially as reading πείθεις) take the words as implying some effect on Agrippa’s mind, and as spoken in earnest: but this I think is hardly possible, philologically or exegetically. I may add that the emphatic position of both ἐν ὀλίγῳ and χριστιανόν, before their respective verbs, strongly confirms the view taken above. I must again caution the reader against the mistake committed by Wordsworth, in supposing the enclitic με to be emphatic, which it cannot be, ἐμέ being required in such a case. Indeed, a more insignificant position than it here holds, next to the most emphatic word of the sentence, cannot be conceived.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Almost thou persuadest [εν ολιγω με πειθεις] . Lit., in a little thou persuadest. The rendering almost must be rejected, being without sufficient authority. The phrase, in a little, is adverbial, and means in brief; summarily. We may supply pains or talk. "With little pains, or with a few words." The words are ironical, and the sense is, "You are trying to persuade me offhand to be a Christian." Thou persuadest [πειθεις] is rather, thou art for persuading; thou attemptest to persuade; a force which both the present and the imperfect sometimes have. 29

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.