Act 26:1-3 | Clarke | STEP | Paul answers for himself before Agrippa, to whom he pays a true compliment, in order to secure a favorable hearing, ; gives an account of his education from his youth up, , ; shows that the Jews persecuted him for his maintaining the hope of the resurrection, ; states his persecution of the Christians, ; gives an account of his miraculous conversion, ; and of his call to the ministry, . His obedience to that call, and his success in preaching the doctrine of Christ crucified, . While he is thus speaking, Festus interrupts him, and declares him to be mad through his abundant learning, ; which charge he modestly refutes with inimitable address, and appeals to King Agrippa for the truth and correctness of his speech, . On which, Agrippa confesses himself almost converted to Christianity, . Paul's affectionate and elegant address to him on this declaration, . The council breaks up, and they all pronounce him innocent, . Verse 1 Then Paul stretched forth the hand - This act, as we have already seen on , was merely to gain attention; it was no rhetorical flourish, nor designed for one. From knowing, partly by descriptions, and partly by ancient statues, how orators and others who address a concourse of people stood, we can easily conceive the attitude of St. Paul. When the right hand was stretched out, the left remained under the cloak, which being thrown off the right shoulder, to give the arm the fuller liberty, it then rested on the left: under these circumstances, the hand could be stretched out gracefully, but was confined to no one attitude, though the third and fourth fingers were generally clenched.

Acts 26:1-3

Introduction

Paul answers for himself before Agrippa, to whom he pays a true compliment, in order to secure a favorable hearing, Act 26:1-3; gives an account of his education from his youth up, Act 26:4, Act 26:5; shows that the Jews persecuted him for his maintaining the hope of the resurrection, Act 26:6-8; states his persecution of the Christians, Act 26:9-11; gives an account of his miraculous conversion, Act 26:12-16; and of his call to the ministry, Act 26:16-18. His obedience to that call, and his success in preaching the doctrine of Christ crucified, Act 26:19-23. While he is thus speaking, Festus interrupts him, and declares him to be mad through his abundant learning, Act 26:24; which charge he modestly refutes with inimitable address, and appeals to King Agrippa for the truth and correctness of his speech, Act 26:25-27. On which, Agrippa confesses himself almost converted to Christianity, Act 26:28. Paul's affectionate and elegant address to him on this declaration, Act 26:29. The council breaks up, and they all pronounce him innocent, Act 26:30-32.

Verse 1

Then Paul stretched forth the hand - This act, as we have already seen on Act 21:40, was merely to gain attention; it was no rhetorical flourish, nor designed for one. From knowing, partly by descriptions, and partly by ancient statues, how orators and others who address a concourse of people stood, we can easily conceive the attitude of St. Paul. When the right hand was stretched out, the left remained under the cloak, which being thrown off the right shoulder, to give the arm the fuller liberty, it then rested on the left: under these circumstances, the hand could be stretched out gracefully, but was confined to no one attitude, though the third and fourth fingers were generally clenched. Verse 2

I think myself happy - As if he had said, This is a peculiarly fortunate circumstance in my favor, that I am called to make my defense before a judge so intelligent, and so well acquainted with the laws and customs of our country. It may be necessary just to observe that this Agrippa was king of Trachonitis, a region which lay on the north of Palestine, on the east side of Jordan, and south of Damascus. For his possessions, see on Act 25:13 (note).