Kisah Para Rasul 26:27-29

26:27 Do you believe the prophets, ¹  King Agrippa? ²  I know that you believe.” 26:28 Agrippa ³  said to Paul, “In such a short time are you persuading me to become a Christian?” ⁴  26:29 Paul replied, “I pray to God that whether in a short or a long time ⁵  not only you but also all those who are listening to me today could become such as I am, except for these chains.” ⁶ 

[26:27]  ¹ sn “Do you believe the prophets?” Note how Paul made the issue believing the OT prophets and God’s promise which God fulfilled in Christ. He was pushing King Agrippa toward a decision not for or against Paul’s guilt of any crime, but concerning Paul’s message.

[26:27]  ² sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

[26:28]  ³ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

[26:28]  ⁴ tn Or “In a short time you will make me a Christian.” On the difficulty of the precise nuances of Agrippa’s reply in this passage, see BDAG 791 s.v. πείθω 1.b. The idiom is like 1 Kgs 21:7 LXX. The point is that Paul was trying to persuade Agrippa to accept his message. If Agrippa had let Paul persuade him, he would have converted to Christianity.

[26:28]  sn The question “In such a short time are you persuading me to become a Christian?” was probably a ploy on Agrippa’s part to deflect Paul from his call for a decision. Note also how the tables have turned: Agrippa was brought in to hear Paul’s defense, and now ends up defending himself. The questioner is now being questioned.

[26:29]  ⁵ tn BDAG 703 s.v. ὀλίγος 2.b.β has “καὶ ἐν ὀλ. καὶ ἐν μεγάλῳ whether in a short or a long time vs. 29 (cf. B-D-F §195; GWhitaker, The Words of Agrippa to St. Paul: JTS 15, 1914, 82f; AFridrichsen, SymbOsl 14, ’35, 50; Field, Notes 141-43; s. Rob. 653).”

[26:29]  ⁶ sn Except for these chains. The chains represented Paul’s unjust suffering for the sake of the message. His point was, in effect, “I do not care how long it takes. I only hope you and everyone else hearing this would become believers in Christ, but without my unjust suffering.”