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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - Acts 25:19 - 25:19
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Superstition (δεισιδαιμονίας)
See on Act 17:22. Better, religion, as Rev. As Agrippa was a Jew by religion, Festus would not have insulted him by applying the word superstition to his faith. Note, however, that he speaks of it as their own religion, not identifying Agrippa with them. It was a non-committal expression, since the word meant either religion or superstition according to circumstances. He left Agrippa “to take the word in a good sense, but reserved his own view, which was certainly the Roman one” (Meyer). There is, indeed, a similar tact in Paul's use of the word to the Athenians. He selected “a word which almost imperceptibly shaded off from praise to blame” (Trench).
Affirmed (ἔφασκεν)
The imperfect implies something habitual. “Paul kept asserting.”