King Agrippa

King Herod Agrippa II

ACTS 26 COMMENTARY ◄
Acts 26:14-18 Kick Against the Goads

Acts 26:19-23 King Agrippa

Acts 26:24-29 Porcius Festus

ACTS 26:19 19 “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,

Who is "King Agrippa" (Acts 26:19)?
This "King Agrippa" is Herod Agrippa II, the great-grandson of Herod the Great. When his father - King Agrippa I - died in 44 AD (see Agrippa), Agrippa II, then a teenager being educated in Rome, was considered too weak to rule over the rebellious Jews, so a Roman governor was appointed to rule the territory of his father. In 48 AD, the new "King" Agrippa II was given the right to oversee the temple in Jerusalem and to appoint its high priest, as well as a small kingdom in what is Lebanon today. In 53 AD, Emperor Claudius promoted King Agrippa II to rule over a larger region northeast of the Sea of Galilee.

ACTS 26:20-21 20 “but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. 21 For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

When did Paul declare the Gospel in "Damascus ... Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea" (Acts 26:20)?
See Saul in Damascus and Saul Escapes in a Basket.

What did it mean to "repent" (Acts 26:20)?
μετανοιας (metanoias), the original Greek word, means to change one's mind or attitude about something.

About what should they change their mind or attitude?
"Sins" (Acts 26:18)

How will those who truly repent be distinguished from those who don't?
They will "do works befitting repentance" (Acts 26:20). Notice that works do not lead to repentance; works reflect repentance, which fundamentally changes one's attitude toward sin, as what used to be desired becomes despised.

ACTS 26:22-23 22 “Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come - 23 that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the gentiles."

What has been the focus of Paul's "witnessing both to small and great" (Acts 26:22)?
The atoning sacrifice of Jesus and His resurrection, "that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead" (Acts 26:23).

What exactly did Jesus suffer?
See John 18.

What proof is there that Jesus rose "from the dead" (Acts 26:23)?
See Resurrection of Jesus.