Acts 26:28 - Exposition

And for then, A.V.; with but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian for almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian, A.V. With but little persuasion ( ἐν ὀλίγῳ κ . τ . λ .). This saying of Agrippa's is obscure and variously explained. The A.V., following Chrysostom, Beza, Luther, etc., takes ἐν ὀλίγῳ to mean "within a little" or" almost," like the Hebrew טעַמְךִּ , which is very suitable to the context. The corresponding ἐν πόλλῳ , or, as otherwise read, ἐν μεγάλῳ would then mean, as in the A.V., "altogether," and the sense of the whole passage is striking and appropriate. But there is some difficulty in getting Otis meaning out of the words. The natural way of expressing it would be παρ ὀλίγον , or ὀλίγου , or ὀλίγον δεῖ . Hence many other commentators take ἐν ὀλίγῳ to mean "in a short time," and the sense to be either "you are making short work of my conversion: you are persuading me to become a Christian as suddenly as you yourself did;" with a corresponding sense for ἐν πόλλῳ , "in a long time," i.e. whether it takes a short or a long time, I pray God you may become a Christian like myself;" or, "you are soon persuading me," you will soon persuade me if you go on any longer in this strain. Others, again, preferring the reading ἐν μεγάλῳ in Acts 26:29 , take ἐν ὀλίγῳ to mean "with little trouble," or "with few words," as Ephesians 3:5 (understanding λόγῳ or πόνῳ ), "lightly" (Alford), and then the opposite ἐν μεγάλῳ would mean "with much trouble," "with many words," i.e. "with difficulty." But this is rather a fiat rendering. Another difference of opinion is whether the words of Agrippa are to be taken ironically, or sarcastically, or jestingly, or whether they are to be taken seriously, as the words of a man shaken in his convictions and seriously impressed by what he had heard. The whole turn of the narrative seems to favor the latter view. Another view, started by Chrysostom, is that Agrippa used the words in one sense, and St. Paul (mistakenly or advisedly) took them in another. Another possible explanation is that ἐν ὀλίγῳ is here used in the sense in which Thucydides employs the phrase, τὴν ἐν ὀλίγῳ ναυμάχιαν and ἐν ὀλίγῳ στρατοπεδευομένος , viz. "in a narrow place;" and that Agrippa meant to say, "By your appeal to the prophets you press me hard; you have got me into a corner. I am in a στενοχωρία , a ' narrow room; ' I hardly know how to get out of it." The ἐν μεγάλῳ would then mean a" large room," a εὐρυχωρία ( Psalms 30:8 ). This would suppose ἐν ὀλίγῳ and ἐν μεγάλῳ to have become proverbial phrases.