Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Acts 28:20 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 20. 20For 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.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Identifies Israel's hope as the reason for Paul's chain.
Read It With
- Acts 28:17–28:22
Acts 28:20 identifies Israel's hope as the reason for Paul's chain; within Acts 28:17–28:22, the controlling movement is that Paul summons local Jewish leaders, insists he has done nothing against the people or ancestral customs, explains his appeal and chain for Israel's hope, and hears that they lack direct reports but want to learn about the disputed sect.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Identifies Israel's hope as the reason for Paul's chain. This precise contribution belongs inside “Paul explains his custody to Rome's Jewish leaders” because Paul summons local Jewish leaders, insists he has done nothing against the people or ancestral customs, explains his appeal and chain for Israel's hope, and hears that they lack direct reports but want to learn about the disputed sect.
What Remains True
Because Acts 28:20 identifies Israel's hope as the reason for Paul's chain, faithful witness must preserve the verse's speaker, narrated setting, people affected, and the full movement of Acts 28:17–28:22 before drawing an enduring claim.
How It Can Shape Life
- For Acts 28:20, first identify this verse role—identifies Israel's hope as the reason for Paul's chain; then explain the contextual meaning in Acts 28:17–28:22; preserve the proportionate truth about accountable witness; finally apply this boundary: The meeting does not authorize supersessionism, antisemitism, or portraying Roman Jews as responsible for Paul's imprisonment.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Acts 28:17–28:22 — Paul explains his custody to Rome's Jewish leadersSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
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 28:17–28:22, 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 28:17-28:22
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 28:17-28:22
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 28:17–28:22
Open source ↗