Acts 26:19–26:23, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Acts 26:19–26:23
Paul presents his mission as obedient prophetic witness
Obedience is preached as repentance, deeds, Moses, and the prophets
Paul says he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. He declared first to those in Damascus, then Jerusalem, then the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance. For these things Jews seized him in the temple and tried to kill him. Having obtained help from God, he stands witnessing to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come: that the Messiah must suffer, that he would be first to rise from the dead, and that he would proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles.
The scriptural claim is Paul's contested reading inside Jewish debate. Repentance and fitting deeds are joined. Deeds are not the purchase price of grace. Survival through help is not a miracle that automatically validates every sentence, and light to the nations does not cancel "the people."
How this should shape us
Let obedience produce repentance, concrete deeds, and a witness that stays inside Moses and the prophets. Do not turn this defense into replacement of Israel, works-based pressure, or a habit of declaring every escape a proof.
Teach it back
Explain Acts 26:19–26:23 in your own words, naming its movement, speaker or narrator role, one source-controlled detail, one uncertainty, one affected person, and one conclusion the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do responsible interpreters differ?
Best judgment: The scriptural claim is Paul's contested interpretation within Jewish debate; repentance and deeds are joined without making deeds the purchase price of grace.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and unit coverage.
Acts 26:19–26:23, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control, without pretending one edition is a complete apparatus.
SBLGNT official text, Acts 26:19-26:23
Supports: Morphology and lexical cross-check for words explicitly discussed in this unit.
STEP Bible Data, TAGNT rows for Acts 26:19-26:23
Supports: Verse-attached textual, translation, language, geography, chronology, and historical notes actually printed for the unit.
NET Bible First Edition Acts PDF, printed pp. 2104-2205, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to 26:19–26:23
Supports: Introductory critical orientation to the unit's place in Luke-Acts, with contested judgments retained as interpretations.
Yale Bible Study Acts course, course unit 'The Gospel, the Romans, the Jews,' Acts 24-28 study guide
Supports: One complete confessional commentary reading, independently checked against the text and critical controls.
Thompson, online Acts commentary, heading and paragraphs explicitly covering Acts 26:19–26:23
Supports: Abstract-supported control for Jewish continuity and Gentile inclusion in Acts 26:19–26:23, not a settlement of every conflict scene.
Smith, JTS 72.2 (2021), pp. 738-765, official abstract and bibliographic record
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and unit coverage.
Exact location: Acts 26:19–26:23, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control, without pretending one edition is a complete apparatus.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text, Acts 26:19-26:23
Open the Acts Greek text file ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Morphology and lexical cross-check for words explicitly discussed in this unit.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data, TAGNT rows for Acts 26:19-26:23
Open source ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Acts
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-attached textual, translation, language, geography, chronology, and historical notes actually printed for the unit.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Acts PDF, printed pp. 2104-2205, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to 26:19–26:23
Open source ↗open university bible study course
Acts of the Apostles Course and Study Guides
Yale Divinity School faculty
Yale Bible Study, 2019
Supports: Introductory critical orientation to the unit's place in Luke-Acts, with contested judgments retained as interpretations.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study Acts course, course unit 'The Gospel, the Romans, the Jews,' Acts 24-28 study guide
Open source ↗open confessional commentary
The Acts of the Apostles
Alan J. Thompson
The Gospel Coalition, 2023
Supports: One complete confessional commentary reading, independently checked against the text and critical controls.
Exact location: Thompson, online Acts commentary, heading and paragraphs explicitly covering Acts 26:19–26:23
Open source ↗peer reviewed article abstract and metadata
The Jewishness of Luke-Acts: How Recent Scholarship Has Challenged the View that Luke-Acts Is Pro-Gentile and Anti-Jewish
Joshua Paul Smith
The Journal of Theological Studies 72.2, 2021
Supports: Abstract-supported control for Jewish continuity and Gentile inclusion in Acts 26:19–26:23, not a settlement of every conflict scene.
Exact location: Smith, JTS 72.2 (2021), pp. 738-765, official abstract and bibliographic record
Open source ↗