the Week of Proper 21 / Ordinary 26
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King James Version
Acts 26:25
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
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- InternationalParallel Translations
Paul shook his head and said, "No sir, I ain't been in the locoweed. Everything I've said is true.
But Paul said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I utter words of sober truth.
But Paul *said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I utter words of sober truth.
Then Paul said, I am not off my head, most noble Festus, but my words are true and wise.
But Paul said, I am not mad, most excellent Festus, but utter words of truth and soberness;
But he said, "I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason.
But Paul replied, "I'm not out of my mind, most excellent Festus. On the contrary, I'm speaking words of truth and good judgment.
But he said, "I am not crazy, most excellent Festus, but speak forth words of truth and soberness.
But he said, I am not mad, most excellent Festus, but utter the words of truth and sobriety.
"I am not mad, most noble Festus," replied Paul; "I am speaking words of sober truth.
But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speake foorth the words of trueth and sobernesse.
But he said, Not to madness, most excellent Festus, but I speak words of truth and sanity.
But Paul sayde: I am not madd (most deare Festus) but speake the wordes of trueth and sobernesse:
I am not mad, said he, most noble Festus, but what I say, is very sound truth.
But Paul stood his ground. "With all respect, Festus, Your Honor, I'm not crazy. I'm both accurate and sane in what I'm saying. The king knows what I'm talking about. I'm sure that nothing of what I've said sounds crazy to him. He's known all about it for a long time. You must realize that this wasn't done behind the scenes. You believe the prophets, don't you, King Agrippa? Don't answer that—I know you believe."
But Paul replied, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent and noble Festus, but [with a sound mind] I am uttering rational words of truth and reason.
But Paul saith, I am not mad, most excellent Festus; but speak forth words of truth and soberness.
But Paul said, "I am not mad, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking the sober truth.
And Paul sayde: I am not mad most dere Festus: but speake the wordes of trueth and sobernes.
But Paul says, I am not insane, most excellent Festus; but speak forth words of truth and soberness.
But he said, I am not insane, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.
and he saith, `I am not mad, most noble Festus, but of truth and soberness the sayings I speak forth;
Paul said, "Most excellent Festus, I am not crazy. My words are true and sensible.
But Paul replied, "I have not lost my mind, most excellent Festus, but am speaking true and rational words.
But Paul answered, "I am not insane, most excellent Festus; I am speaking words of truth and sobriety.
But Paul replied, "Honorable Festus, I am not crazy. What I am saying is true, and it makes sense.
But Sha'ul said, "No, I am not ‘crazy,' Festus, your Excellency; on the contrary, I am speaking words of truth and sanity.
But Paul said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words.
But he said, I am not mad, O noble Festus, but I speake the wordes of trueth and sobernes.
But Paul said to him, I am not mad, O most excellent Festus; but I speak the words of truth and soberness.
But he said, "I am not crazy, most excellent Festus, but boldly declare words of truth and reasonableness.
But Paul said, "I'm not out of my mind, Your Excellency Festus. I'm uttering words of sober truth.
Paulos said to him, I am not mad, victorious Festos, but words of truth and righteousness I speak.
Paul replied to him: I am not deranged, excellent Festus; but speak words of truth and rectitude.
But Paul replied, "I am not insane, Most Excellent Festus. What I am saying is the sober truth.
Paul said, "Most respected Festus, I am not crazy. I am speaking the truth!
But Paul saith, I am not mad, most excellent Festus; but speak forth words of truth and soberness.
But Paul said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking the sober truth.
But Paul - I am not raving (saith he), most noble Festus, - but, the declarations of truth and soberness, am I sounding forth:
And Paul said: I am not mad, most excellent Festus, but I speak words of truth and soberness.
But Paul said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but am speaking words of truth and rationality.
But he sayde: I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speake foorth the wordes of trueth and sobernesse.
Paul said, "Most Honorable Festus, I am not crazy. What I am saying is true. It all makes perfect sense.
But Paul said, "I am not insane, most excellent Festus; on the contrary, I am speaking out with truthful and rational words.
Paul answered, "I am not mad, Your Excellency! I am speaking the sober truth.
And Poul seide, Y madde not, thou beste Festus, but Y speke out the wordis of treuthe and of sobernesse.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
I am not: John 8:49, 1 Peter 2:21-23, 1 Peter 3:9, 1 Peter 3:15
most: Acts 23:26,*Gr: Acts 24:3, Luke 1:3,*Gr.
words: Titus 1:9, Titus 2:7, Titus 2:8
Reciprocal: 2 Kings 2:5 - thy master Hosea 9:7 - mad Acts 17:32 - some Acts 24:27 - Porcius Festus Acts 26:11 - mad 1 Corinthians 2:14 - they 2 Corinthians 5:13 - we be beside 2 Timothy 1:7 - a sound 2 Peter 2:16 - the madness
Cross-References
And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord ; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Unto the place of the altar, which he had make there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord .
Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord .
And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.
And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.
And he erected there an altar, and called it EleloheIsrael.
And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.
And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi:
I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord .
Gill's Notes on the Bible
But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus,.... That is, Paul said, as the Alexandrian copy, and some others, and the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions read: he replied to Festus, to whom he gives his title of honour, not out of fear, nor flattery, but according to custom; and though he used him in such a reproachful manner, as if he was not himself, which he denies; nor did what he had said show anything of that kind, but the reverse, to which he appeals;
but speak forth the words of truth and soberness; which are true in themselves, being perfectly agreeable to the Scriptures of truth; and are what Christ, who is truth itself, had spoken, and of which he is the subject; and which the spirit of truth leads into, and owns and blesses: the Gospel in general, and all the doctrines of it, are words of truth; they are true, in opposition to that which is false, there is nothing of falsehood in them, no lie is of the truth; and to that which is fictitious, as the counterfeit Gospel of false teachers, which looks like the Gospel, and has the appearance of truth, but in reality is not; and to that which is but shadow, the Gospel, and the truths of it, are solid and substantial ones; hence the law and truth are opposed to each other, John 1:17 and there are particular doctrines of the Gospel, and such as the apostle had been speaking of, or referred unto, which are called truth, words of truth, and faithful sayings; as that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; that he is God manifest in the flesh, or is God and man in one person; that he came into the world to save the chief of sinners; that he suffered, died, and rose again from the dead; that justification is by his righteousness; and that as he is the first that rose from the dead, others will rise also; or that there will be a resurrection of the dead by him; see 1 John 2:21 1 Timothy 1:15. And these are "words of soberness" also; they are words of the highest wisdom, which contain the wisdom of God in a mystery, even hidden wisdom, the deep things of God, and such as could never have been found out by the wisdom of men; they are the means of bringing a man to himself, to his right mind, who before was not himself; of causing a man to think soberly of himself, and not more highly than he ought to think, even to think of himself, that he is the chief of sinners, and the least of saints; and of speaking soberly, wisely, and prudently; and of living soberly, righteously, and godly: they are doctrines, as delivered by the faithful ministers of them, which come from a sound and sober mind, and have a tendency to make wise and sober; and therefore should be spoken "forth", openly and boldly, freely and faithfully, constantly and continually, as they were by the apostle, whatever reproaches, calumnies, and reflections may be cast upon them for so doing, even though they may be called fools and madmen.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
I am not mad - I am not deranged. There are few more happy turns than what Paul gives to this accusation of Festus. He might have appealed to the course of his argument; he might have dwelt on the importance of the subject, and continued to reason; but he makes an appeal at once to Agrippa, and brings him in for a witness that he was not deranged. This would be far more likely to make an impression on the mind of Festus than anything that Paul could say in self-defense. The same reply, “I am not mad,” can be made by all Christians to the charge of derangement which the world brings against them. They have come, like the prodigal son Luke 15:17, to their right mind; and by beginning to act as if there were a God and Saviour, as if they were to die, as if there were a boundless eternity before them, they are conducting according to the dictates of reason. And as Paul appealed to Agrippa, who was not a Christian, for the reasonableness and soberness of his own views and conduct, so may all Christians appeal to sinners themselves as witnesses that they are acting as immortal beings should act. All people know that if there is an eternity, it is right to prepare for it; if there is a God, it is proper to serve him; if a Saviour died for us, we should love him; if a hell, we should avoid it; if a heaven, we should seek it. And even when they charge us with folly and derangement, we may turn at once upon them, and appeal to their own consciences, and ask them if all our anxieties, and prayers, and efforts, and self-denials are not right? One of the best ways of convicting sinners is to appeal to them just as Paul did to Agrippa. When so appealed to, they will usually acknowledge the force of the appeal, and will admit that the solicitude of Christians for their salvation is according to the dictates of reason.
Most noble Festus - This was the usual title of the Roman governor. Compare Acts 24:3.
Of truth - In accordance with the predictions of Moses and the prophets, and the facts which have occurred in the death and resurrection of the Messiah. In proof of this he appeals to Agrippa, Acts 26:26-27. Truth here stands opposed to delusion, imposture, and fraud.
And soberness - Soberness σωφροσύνη sōphrosunē, wisdom) stands opposed here to madness or derangement, and denotes “sanity of mind.” The words which I speak are those of a sane man, conscious of what he is saying, and impressed with its truth. They were the words, also, of a man who, under the charge of derangement, evinced the most perfect self-possession and command of his feelings, and who uttered sentiments deep, impressive, and worthy the attention of all mankind.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Acts 26:25. I am not mad, most noble Festus — This most sensible, appropriate, and modest answer, was the fullest proof he could give of his sound sense and discretion. The title, κρατιστε, most noble, or most excellent, which he gives to Festus, shows at once that he was far above indulging any sentiment of anger or displeasure at Festus, though he had called him a madman; and it shows farther that, with the strictest conscientiousness, even an apostle may give titles of respect to men in power, which taken literally, imply much more than the persons deserve to whom they are applied. κρατιστος, which implies most excellent, was merely a title which belonged to the office of Festus. St. Paul hereby acknowledges him as the governor; while, perhaps, moral excellence of any kind could with no propriety be attributed to him.
Speak forth the words of truth and soberness. — αληθειας και σωφροσυνης, Words of truth and of mental soundness. The very terms used by the apostle would at once convince Festus that he was mistaken. The σωφροσυνη of the apostle was elegantly opposed to the μανια of the governor: the one signifying mental derangement, the other mental sanity. Never was an answer, on the spur of the moment, more happily conceived.
