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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Acts 28:20 - 28:20
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20. διὰ ταύτην οὖν τὴν αἰτίαν παρεκάλεσα ὑμᾶς ἰδεῖν καὶ προσλαλῆσαι, for this cause therefore have I called for you to see and to speak with you. It is possible in this sentence either to take ὑμᾶς as the object of ἰδεῖν and προσλαλῆσαι, or to understand με, and render (as in Rev. Vers.) ‘did I entreat you to see and to speak with me.’ As it seems more probable that Paul would say he wished to speak to the Jews than that he wished them to come and speak with him, the A.V. which the Rev. Vers. gives on the margin appears the preferable rendering. It is quite true that παρακαλέω is generally rendered by ‘beseech’ ‘desire’ or ‘entreat,’ but there is no doubt that St Paul’s message would be an earnest request, and we might render here ‘have I desired.’
ἕνεκεν γὰρ τῆς ἐλπίδος τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, because that for the hope of Israel. 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.
τὴν ἅλυσιν ταύτην περίκειμαι, I am bound with this chain. περίκειμαι has a construction like that of passive verbs of which the active governs a dative of the person with the accusative of the thing, e.g. πιστεύω τινί τι of which the passive form becomes (Gal 2:7) πεπίστευμαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον. Since περίκειμαι has to serve for both active and passive we cannot have the form equivalent to πιστεύω τινί τι, but in its passive sense περίκειμαι follows the same form of construction as πεπίστευμαι.