Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 28:20
For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see [you,] and to speak with [you]: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.
20. For this cause therefore have I called for you to see you, and to speak with you ] [ R. V. “did I intreat you to see and to speak with me ”] As the marginal note in the R. V. shews, the A. V. may be a correct rendering of the Greek, and it is more probable that Paul would say that he wished to speak to the Jews than that he wished them to come and speak with him.
because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain ] The hope of Israel is the general expectation of Messiah. In Jesus Paul believed that the expected Saviour had appeared, and for preaching this he had been attacked and made a prisoner. He held the same faith as all the Jews, only going in this matter farther than they in that he believed the ancient promise was now fulfilled. We can see from the reply of the Jews that they understood his position exactly.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Because that for the hope of Israel – On account of the hope which the Jews cherish of the coming of the Messiah; of the resurrection; and of the future state. See this explained in the notes on Act 23:6.
I am bound with this chain – See the notes on Act 26:29. Probably he was attached constantly to a soldier by a chain.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Act 28:20
For the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.
The chain of Paul
1. A disgraceful monument for his blinded people.
2. An honourable sign for the faithful servant of God.
3. A precious comfort for all who suffer on account of the truth. (K. Gerok.)
The chain and the hope
I. The chain.
1. It was painful to flesh and blood.
2. It involved no disgrace to Paul.
3. It manifested the hatred of the Jews to Christ.
4. While Paul wore it he was saved, as a Roman prisoner, from the murderous intentions of his enemies.
II. The hope. It was–
1. The Scriptural and Christian realisation of the expectation of the Jews.
2. The sustaining motive of his own life.
3. The chief source of comfort to his heart.
Learn:
1. You may have bonds, affliction, poverty, etc.
2. Have you a good hope? (Biblical Museum.)
The chain and the hope
I. The chain. This was the most immediately noticeable thing about the apostle. He was ever conscious of it. He lifted it as he spoke. He refers often to his bonds. As a Roman citizen, he felt the indignity of wearing them. As a citizen of the kingdom of heaven, he rejoiced in them. His chain was a hindrance–
1. To his work among the Jews. He felt obliged to explain why he came to them in fetters. He spoke with great carefulness, and yet with the deepest earnestness, for he well knew that in the eyes of the Jews, let him plead as he would, that chain, and the Roman guard to whom its other end was locked, made a most powerful argument against him and the gospel.
2. To his work as the apostle to the Gentiles. He was here in the centre of the pagan world. He had seen the paganism of Antioch and Ephesus and Athens and Corinth. It had made his heart sink. It is touching to read the effect upon his heavy heart of the coming to him of the little delegation of Christians from Rome. He thanked God and took courage. How much underlies here! Paul was reminded that, notwithstanding all obstacles, Christianity had succeeded in planting itself even in Rome. But now, arrived in the capital, how his despondency must have returned upon him. He gained such a view as he had never had of the wealth and power and majesty of the pagan world. And where were the Christian forces to array against this omnipotence of the world? A little hidden Church, and a man with a chain.
II. The hope. Paul reminded his visitors of the Messianic hope.
1. It was the hope of Israel. As he spoke of it to King Agrippa, it was the hope of the promise of God made to the fathers, etc. The only difference was that they looked for His first coming, whereas Paul believed that He had come once, and so was looking for His second coming and the completed redemption of Israel.
2. The hope of the world. There is no other hope for a sinful man or a sinful world; but in the Cross is hope. It is the worlds light in darkness.
III. The chain and the hope. Let us not look at the hope apart from the chain, or at the chain apart from the hope.
1. Paul sought to be led by the Spirit. Whithersoever He should direct, the servant of the Lord would go. The Spirit had led him to his chain, which fact gave him a peculiar feeling. His chain was sacred. He was the prisoner of the Lord. The Roman blacksmith had clinched the rivets; but an unseen presence had superintended the work. Was he not, then, in the best possible place to declare his message of hope–in Caesarea, on shipboard, in Rome? He who binds the messenger releases the message, for the Word of the Lord is not bound.
2. It is the hope that makes the chain bearable and serviceable. Paul had proved that a man chained can do as much as he can unchained, if he is the Lords prisoner. His chain had not narrowed his influence on shipboard. So soon, at Rome, he was already at work. If he could mot go to others, they could come to him. Thus he was sure of at least one man, day and night, to whom he could hold up Christ as the hope of the Roman as well as the Jew. He improved the opportunity to such purpose that his bonds fell out to the furtherance of the gospel. Blessed bonds, when the Lord had bound him.
3. If we only have the hope of the gospel, and make it our purpose in life to declare it, it will matter very little to us that we are led sometimes to chains. Is it not a privilege if we may lift a chain and testify, For the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain?
Conclusion:
1. The world is enchained by sin, and doomed to chains of darkness.
2. In Christ is the true hope for men in sin.
3. That sinners in chains may be delivered, Christians must be willing to be in chains. (G. R. Leavitt.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 20. For the hope of Israel I am bound, c.] As if he had said: This, and this alone, is the cause of my being delivered into the hands of the Romans I have proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah; have maintained that though he was crucified by the Jews, yet he rose again from the dead; and, through him, I have preached the general resurrection of mankind: this all Israel professes to hope for; and yet it is on this account that the Jews persecute me. Both the Messiah and the resurrection might be said to be the hope of Israel; and it is hard to tell which of them is here meant: see Ac 13:6; Ac 24:15; Ac 24:21; Ac 26:6. It is certain that, although the Jews believed in the general resurrection, yet they did not credit it in the manner in which Paul preached it; for he laid the foundation of the general resurrection on the resurrection of Christ.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For the hope of Israel: see Act 23:6; 24:21. This hope is either,
1. Of the resurrection, as in the forementioned places; and Act 26:6,7; or:
2. The Messiah; Christ is the hope of Israel, so they pretended for many ages, and him now Paul preached.
I am bound with this chain; for though he had his liberty to go abroad, yet he was chained with his right hand to the soldiers left hand who went with him, and could not possibly be loosened unwittingly from him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. For this cause . . . have Icalled for you . . . because . . . for the hope of Israel(Seeon Ac 26:6, 7).
I am bound with thischain“This cause is not so much mine as yours; it is thenation’s cause; all that is dear to the heart and hope of Israel isbound up with this case of mine.” From the touching allusionswhich the apostle makes to his chains, before Agrippa first, and herebefore the leading members of the Jewish community at Rome, at hisfirst interview with them, one would gather that his great soul feltkeenly his being in such a condition; and it is to this keenness offeeling, under the control of Christian principle, that we owe thenoble use which he made of it in these two cases.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For this cause therefore have I called for you,…. To let them know the true state of his case; that though he was a prisoner, it was not for any crime he had done, much less any of a capital nature; and that as he was no scandal to his country, so neither did he intend to raise any against it, or say or do anything which might bring it into contempt and danger: as well as
to see [you] and speak with [you]; and keep up and maintain a free and friendly conversation together:
because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain; which was then upon him, and he pointed to; the true reason of which was, because he had preached that the Messiah the tribes of Israel were hoping and waiting for, and who is the only solid foundation of the hope of eternal life and salvation, was already come; and that he had suffered and died, and rose again from the dead, and that Jesus of Nazareth was he; see Jer 14:8. And this title well agrees with Jesus Christ, who in the New Testament is called “our hope”, and “the hope of glory”, 1Ti 1:1, and he is the hope of every Israelite indeed, of every sensible sinner, of every regenerated person, whether Jew or Gentile; and such are encouraged to hope in him for grace here, and glory hereafter: and whereas they see themselves lost and undone, and that there is no salvation for them by their own works, and that there is salvation in Christ, they are directed and encouraged to hope in him for it; because it is a work finished by him, and is complete in him; it is of free grace and favour bestowed; it is wrought out for the chief of sinners; and such as they themselves are, are invited by himself to look to him for it; and the Gospel declaration is, that whoever believes in him shall be saved: they see themselves to be sinners, and that there is no hope of the forgiveness of their sins from an absolute God, or the absolute mercy of God out of Christ, but that the blood of Christ was shed for the remission of sins, and that God, for Christ’s sake, does forgive sins: wherefore they hope in him for it; to which they are encouraged by the proclamation of the grace of God, as a forgiving God in Christ; by the promises of forgiveness in the covenant of grace; by the Gospel declaration of it; by its being entirely of free grace, through the blood of Christ; and by the many instances of the worst of sinners who have been favoured with it: these Israelites, indeed, also see themselves unrighteous creatures, and that they cannot be justified before God by works of righteousness done by them; but that there is a righteousness wrought out by Christ, which is acceptable and well pleasing to God; is freely bestowed on men, and is imputed to all sorts of men, even to the ungodly; wherefore they hope in him for it, and lay hold on this object of hope set before them: in a word, they have hope of eternal life on his account, that being the gift of God through him; and it being the will of God, that whoever believes in him should have it; and it being in the power and right of Christ to bestow it; and they having also his Spirit as the earnest and pledge of it; as well as have his righteousness as their title to it, his grace as their meetness for it, and have a share both in his intercession and in his preparations of it: moreover, the apostle taught that there would be a general resurrection of the dead, upon which would succeed a state of everlasting happiness for the righteous; and which was the hope of the tribes of Israel in common, especially of every Israelite indeed: now these things had irritated the carnal Jews against him, who could not rest till they had been the means of bringing him into the condition he now was; nor were they content with this, without having his life.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Did I intreat (). Did I invite you.
Because of the hope of Israel ( ). Genitive with preposition . The hope of the Messiah is his point as in 26:6.
I am bound with this chain ( ). This old verb means to lie around as in Luke 17:2; Heb 12:1. But it is also used as the passive of , to place around with the accusative of retained. It is a transitive passive. Paul does not lie around the chain, but the chain lies around him, a curious reversal of the imagery (Robertson, Grammar, p. 815).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
I am bound [] . Lit., compassed.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1)“For this cause therefore! called for you,” (dia tauten oun ten aitian parekaleisa humas) “Because of this situation or circumstance therefore I called to you all,” for consultation and conference, for you to speak with rine. I called to explain specifically and clearly why I am here.
2) “To see and to speak with you:” (idein kai proslalesai) “To see and to speak with you ‘ to converse with you regarding “the faith,” I entreated to you, to see you and speak with you, acknowledging that in the midst of council there is safety, Pro 11:14.
3) “Because that for the hope of Israel,” (heineken gar tes elpidos tou Israel) “For the sake of the hope of Israel.” This Christian missionary leader, and the Jewish leaders, all had “one hope of their calling,” and in that hope, both were as one with God, in Jesus Christ, Num 24:17; Mal 3:1; Mal 4:2; Luk 24:27; Joh 1:45; Joh 5:39; Rev 19:10. He is that “blessed hope,” Tit 2:13.
4) I am bound with this chain.” (ten halusin tauten perikeimai) “I have this chain-bond or restrainer around my body,” yet, I am also bound with, or wear this chain with hope in Him, as He also expressed when before King Agrippa, Act 26:6-7; Act 26:29. And for no other reason am I bound. See also Eph 6:19-20; 2Ti 1:10-12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
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20. For the hope of Israel. We must understand much more under these words than Luke expresseth; as we gather out of the answer, where the Jews speak of the sect; to wit, repeating his speech, which Luke omitteth. Therefore Paul intreated of Christ, that it might plainly appear that neither the law nor the temple did profit the Jews anything without him; because the covenant of adoption is grounded in him, and the promise of salvation is in him confirmed. Neither did they doubt but that the restoring of the kingdom did depend upon the coming of the Messias; and even at that time their misery and decay did increase the hope and desire of him. Wherefore Paul saith, for good causes, that he is bound for the hope of Israel. Whereby we be also taught, that no man doth hope aright, but he which looketh unto Christ and his spiritual kingdom; for when he placeth the hope of the godly in Christ, he excludeth all other hopes.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(20) For the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.The mention of chain in the singular agrees with the fact stated in Act. 28:30, that he was entrusted to the keeping of a single soldier. There is a certain touch of pathos in this appeal to his sufferings as a prisoner. (Comp. Eph. 3:1; Eph. 4:1; Eph. 6:20.) The hope for which he suffered was two-fold: (1) the expectation of the Messiah as bringing in a kingdom of heaven, which was cherished by every Israelite; (2) the hope of a resurrection from the dead, which he proclaimed as attested by the resurrection which proved (Rom. 1:3-4) that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. (See Notes on Act. 26:6-7.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. For this cause From the fact of his being a true brother Jew in undeserved bonds.
Hope of Israel A deeper underlying cause, the real cause of his chain, is the hope of Israel, the Messiah. And that brings up the main point of discussion, not himself, but Christ.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“This is the reason why I entreated you to see and to speak with me, for because of the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.”
And it was the reason why he had called them together to see him and speak to him. Because he wanted them to know that he was not an apostate. It was for the hope of Israel that he was bound within this chain that they saw on him. As we have already seen the hope of Israel was a twin hope, the coming of the Messiah and the resurrection of the body.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Act 28:20. For the house of Israel “My sufferings arise from my regard to that glorious Messiah for whom Israel professes to wait, and to that eternal life which he has purchased, and secured for those that receive him under that character, and perseveringly love and obey him.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Act 28:20 . Therefore (because I am here only as a constrained appellant, and entirely free from any hostile effort) I have invited you, to see you and to speak with you . Heinrichs, Kuinoel, Schott take it otherwise: “vos rogavi, ut me viseretis et mecum colloqueremini.” But the supplying of me and mecum is arbitrary, seeing that, in fact, and are naturally suggested by the directly preceding ; besides, it is far more in keeping with courtesy for Paul to say that he desired to see and speak with them , than that he had requested them to see and speak with him .
. . .] now contains the more special reason , in a national point of view so highly important, for the arrangement of this interview.
The is to be taken entirely, as in Act 26:6 , of the Messianic national hope .
On with accusative , comp. Heb 5:2 ; Kypke, Obss . II. p. 147; Jacobs, ad Anthol . IX. p. 75; on . ., comp. Act 26:29 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
20 For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you , and to speak with you : because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.
Ver. 20. For the hope of Israel ] That is, for the resurrection of the dead and that eternal life that Israel hopes and looks for. Hallucinantur philosophi, qui sapientem non metu solum sed et spe vacare vellent. Spes in terrenis incerti nomen boni, spes in divinis nomen est certissimi,Heb 11:1Heb 11:1 . Hope in God, saith every David to himself, Psa 43:5 .
I am bound with this chain ] At Rome, such prisoners as had liberty to go abroad, had a long chain, the one end whereof was fastened to their right hand, and the other end was tied to a soldier’s left hand, who was to be his keeper. Thus was St Paul bound, likely.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
20. ] is here in its primary meaning, I have called you to me.
. . . , for the reason just stated: because I have no hostile feeling to my nation. Then adds another motive; for not only so, but I may well wish to see and speak with you, being a prisoner for the hope of Israel (see ch. Act 26:6 , and notes).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 28:20 . : “for this cause therefore did I intreat you to see and to speak with me ,” R.V. text; in margin a comma is placed after , “call for you, to see and to speak with you ”: but the former seems the more likely, for as a prisoner St. Paul would hardly go out into the synagogue. , see critical note; if , the word is only used by St. Luke amongst the Evangelists; cf. Luk 4:18 (quotation), Luk 18:29 , and elsewhere only by St. Paul, 2Co 3:10 ; Ionic form (see Winer-Schmiedel, p. 50). ., cf. Act 26:6 . : for construction, Winer-Moulton, xxxii., 5; cf. 4Ma 12:3 ; Clem. Rom., 2 Cor. , i. 6 ( bis ). Nothing could be more pathetic than this reference to the chain, cf. Eph 3:1 ; Eph 4:1 ; Eph 6:20 ; the words might well serve as an introduction to what was to follow, the Christian prisoner and the Jewish leaders all had “one hope of their calling,” and in that hope they and he were one.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
called for. Greek. parakaleo, as in Act 28:14.
speak with. Greek. proslaleo. See Act 13:43.
for. Greek. heneken. First occurance. Mat 5:10 (for the sake of).
the hope of Israel = the Messiah whom Israel hoped for. Figure of speech Metonymy, App-6.
bound with. Greek. perikeimai. Only here, Mar 9:42. Luk 17:2. Heb 5:2; Heb 12:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
20.] is here in its primary meaning, I have called you to me.
. . ., for the reason just stated: because I have no hostile feeling to my nation. Then adds another motive; for not only so, but I may well wish to see and speak with you, being a prisoner for the hope of Israel (see ch. Act 26:6, and notes).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 28:20. , on account of this) In the beginning he speaks with them as a brother, not as an apostle.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
this cause: Act 28:17, Act 10:29, Act 10:33
for the: Act 23:6, Act 24:15, Act 26:6, Act 26:7
this chain: That is, the chain with which he was bound to the “soldier that kept him” (Act 28:16); a mode of custody which Dr. Lardner has shown was in use among the Romans. It is in exact conformity, therefore, with the truth of St. Paul’s situation at this time, that he declares himself to be “an ambassador in a chain,” [Strong’s G1722], [Strong’s G254], (Eph 6:20); and the exactness is the more remarkable, as [Strong’s G254], a chain is no where used in the singular number to express any other kind of custody. Act 26:29, Eph 3:1, Eph 4:1, Eph 6:20, Phi 1:13, Col 4:18, 2Ti 1:10, 2Ti 2:9, Phm 1:10, Phm 1:13
Reciprocal: Jer 14:8 – the hope Jer 17:13 – the hope Jer 40:1 – bound Mat 27:2 – bound Act 12:6 – bound Act 21:11 – So shall Act 21:33 – be Act 24:21 – Touching Eph 2:12 – having 2Ti 1:16 – my Heb 10:34 – in my
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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Act 28:20. Lest he might be misjudged by his Jewish brethren, however, he thought it well to explain the presence of the chain that was attached to him. Hope of Israel refers to the hope of a resurrection through Christ. That was the reason why he called them to him three days after arriving in their city.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 28:20. For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you. His love to his own people was so great that the ever-recurring suspicions of his work and conduct on the part of the Jews were the occasion of the most bitter grief to him. He longed to set himself right with the representatives of the nation dwelling in Rome, and with this hope he had sent for them to his prison room.
Because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. The Hope, the glorious hope, for which he, the old man, was suffering all these indignities, was closely connected with the Messiah, for whom Israel had been so long anxiously waiting. He, Paul, believed that that Messiah had come in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. It was his unswerving belief in that Messiah Jesus which was the cause of all his suffering, including the chain then hanging upon his arm and linking him to the silent Roman legionary at his side. The chain is specially mentioned in the singular. This is evidently the remark of an eye-witness, who was referring to the fetter which bound him to a single soldier (see Act 28:16).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
See notes on verse 17
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Verse 20
The hope of Israel. The Messiah was the hope of Israel. It was Paul’s belief in Jesus as the Messiah which had awakened the hostility of the Jews.–This chain; the chain by which he was bound to the soldier who kept him, according to the custom of guarding such prisoners at Rome.