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Verse 28

And Agrippa said unto Paul, With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian.

The KJV is a far better rendition than this, the word "fain" being nowhere in the Greek. All the scholars admit that the text is difficult to translate; and the diverse renditions prove conclusively that they simply do not know how to translate it. Note the following examples:

Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian (KJV).

You are trying to make me play the Christian (Bruce).

In brief, you are trying to persuade me to make a Christian out of me (Williams).

In a short time you are persuading me to become a Christian (RSV).

In a little you are persuaded to make me a Christian (The Codex Alexandrinus).

In brief, you are confident that you can make me a Christian (Weymouth).

You are in a hurry to persuade me and make a Christian of me (Goodspeed).

Much more of this and you will make me a Christian (Phillips).

In a short while, thou wouldest persuade me to become a Christian (Douay Version).

It will be seen from the above that scholarship does not know how to translate Agrippa's remark. None of the renditions above equals the vigor of the KJV, unless it is the Douay; and therefore we shall construe the words as having essentially the meaning assigned in those two historic versions. Paul's reply to Agrippa, in fact, confirms those versions as having properly translated the passage.

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