Acts 28:20

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Acts 28:17-22

Paul, with a great deal of expense and hazard, is brought a prisoner to Rome, and when he has come nobody appears to prosecute him or lay any thing to his charge; but he must call his own cause; and here he represents it to the chief of the Jews at Rome. It was not long since, by an edict of Claudius, all the Jews were banished from Rome, and kept out till his death; but, in the five years since then, many Jews had come thither, for the advantage of trade, though it does not appear that they... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Acts 28:16-29

28:16-29 When we arrived in Rome, permission was given to Paul to stay in his own house with the soldier who was his guard. After three days he invited the leaders of the Jews to come to see him. When they had assembled, he proceeded to say, "Brethren, although I have done nothing against the People or against our ancestral customs, I was given over as a prisoner into the hands of the Romans from Jerusalem. When the Romans had investigated my case, they wished to release me because there were... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 28:20

For this cause therefore have I called for you ,.... To let them know the true state of his case; that though he was a prisoner, it was not for any crime he had done, much less any of a capital nature; and that as he was no scandal to his country, so neither did he intend to raise any against it, or say or do anything which might bring it into contempt and danger: as well as to see you and speak with you ; and keep up and maintain a free and friendly conversation together: because... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 28:20

For the hope of Israel I am bound, etc. - As if he had said: This, and this alone, is the cause of my being delivered into the hands of the Romans; I have proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah; have maintained that though he was crucified by the Jews, yet he rose again from the dead; and, through him, I have preached the general resurrection of mankind: this all Israel professes to hope for; and yet it is on this account that the Jews persecute me. Both the Messiah and the resurrection might be... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 28:20

Verse 20− 20.For the hope of Israel. We must understand much more under these words than Luke expresseth; as we gather out of the answer, where the Jews speak of the sect; to wit, repeating his speech, which Luke omitteth. Therefore Paul intreated of Christ, that it might plainly appear that neither the law nor the temple did profit the Jews anything without him; because the covenant of adoption is grounded in him, and the promise of salvation is in him confirmed. Neither did they doubt but... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 28:16-23

A unique prisoner. With the masterliness of inspired history, exceeding brevity itself in the passage before us seems to reveal rather than conceal. A few powerful strokes of the pen portray and very strikingly a hero, and one at the same time as real and unusual as ever lived. Great, indeed, must have been the length and the fullness of detail given, if the method of detail had been the one chosen, in order to attain the result of leaving with us an equally correct and complete... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 28:16-31

The fall. The main feature in these concluding verses of the Acts of the Apostles, as it is one of the most momentous incidents in the history of God's dealings with mankind, is the fall of Israel from their proper place in the Church of God. For nearly two thousand years, if we date from the call of Abraham, this one family had been separated from the rest of mankind, and eventually received institutions of such wonderful strength and vitality as to keep them separate through centuries of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 28:17-28

The Christian and the Jew. Here we have the Christian and the Jew brought into close contact; and there seems to have been as fair an opportunity for the latter to understand and appreciate the former as could ever have been granted. With calmness, with the wisdom and fullness of long study and mature experience, the most enlightened Christian apologist presented the case of Christianity to these men of the Jewish faith. We may look at— I. THE INTRODUCTION . Paul felt that his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 28:20

Did I entreat you to see and to speak with me for have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you, A.V.; for because of for because that for, A.V. To see and to speak with me . Meyer, followed by Alford, rightly prefers the rendering of the A.V. and the margin of the R.V. παρακαλέω is here in its primary sense of calling any one to come to you, and the two infinitives express the object for which he called them, viz. to see and speak with them. Because of the hope of... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Acts 28:20

Because that for the hope of Israel - On account of the hope which the Jews cherish of the coming of the Messiah; of the resurrection; and of the future state. See this explained in the notes on Acts 23:6.I am bound with this chain - See the notes on Acts 26:29. Probably he was attached constantly to a soldier by a chain. read more

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