Therefore I testify to you today that I am clean from the blood of all men,
Parallel Translations
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Therefore I testify to you today that I am clean from the blood of all men,
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Wherfore I take you to recorde this same daye that I am pure from the bloude of all men.
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Wherefore I take you to recorde this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Acts 20:26 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Acts 18:6 When they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his clothing and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!”
- Ezekiel 3:18-21 When I tell the wicked, ‘You will surely die;’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; that wicked man will die in his iniquity; but I will require his blood at your hand. Yet if you warn the wicked, and he doesn’t turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.” “Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he will die. Because you have not given him warning, he will die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered; but I will require his blood at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man, that the righteous not sin, and he does not sin, he will surely live, because he took warning; and you have delivered your soul.”
- Ezekiel 33:2-9 “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and tell them, ‘When I bring the sword on a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman; if, when he sees the sword come on the land, he blows the trumpet, and warns the people; then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and doesn’t heed the warning, if the sword comes, and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and didn’t take warning. His blood will be on him; whereas if he had heeded the warning, he would have delivered his soul. But if the watchman sees the sword come, and doesn’t blow the trumpet, and the people aren’t warned, and the sword comes, and takes any person from among them; he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’ “So you, son of man: I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and give them warnings from me. When I tell the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you don’t speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man will die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at your hand. Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he doesn’t turn from his way; he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.
- John 12:17 The multitude therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead was testifying about it.
- 2 Samuel 3:28 Afterward, when David heard it, he said, “I and my kingdom are guiltless before Yahweh forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner.
- Job 16:19 Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven. He who vouches for me is on high.
- John 19:35 He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe.
- Romans 10:2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
- 2 Corinthians 1:23 But I call God for a witness to my soul, that I didn’t come to Corinth to spare you.
- 2 Corinthians 7:2 Open your hearts to us. We wronged no one. We corrupted no one. We took advantage of no one.
- 2 Corinthians 8:3 For according to their power, I testify, yes and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord,
- 1 Thessalonians 2:10-12 You are witnesses with God how holy, righteously, and blamelessly we behaved ourselves toward you who believe. As you know, we exhorted, comforted, and implored every one of you, as a father does his own children, to the end that you should walk worthily of God, who calls you into his own Kingdom and glory.
- 1 Timothy 5:22 Lay hands hastily on no one. Don’t be a participant in other people’s sins. Keep yourself pure.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 26. Wherefore I take you to record. It is…
26. Wherefore I take you to record. It is all one as if he had said, I call you to witness, or I call you to bear witness before God and his angels. And this doth he not so much for his own cause, as that he may prescribe unto them their duty with greater authority. Furthermore, this place containeth a brief sum of teaching rightly and well, and it exhorteth the teachers themselves, vehemently and sharply, that they be diligent in their function. What order must pastors then keep in teaching? First, let them not esteem at their pleasure what is profitable to be uttered and what to be omitted; but let them leave that to God alone to be ordered at his pleasure. So shall it come to pass that the inventions of men shall have none entrance into the Church of God. Again, mortal man shall not be so bold as to mangle the Scripture and to pull it in pieces, that he may diminish this or that at his pleasure, that he may obscure something and suppress many things; but shall deliver whatsoever is revealed in the Scripture, though wisely and seasonably for the edifying of the people, yet plainly and without guile, as becometh a faithful and true interpreter of God. I said that wisdom must be used, because we must always have respect unto profit, so there be no subtilty used, wherein many take too great delight, when as they turn and wrest the word of God unto their methods, and forge to us a certain kind of philosophy mixed of the gospel and their own inventions; namely, because this mixture is more delectable. Thence have we free will, thence the deserts of works, thence the denial of the providence and free election of God. And that which we said even now is to be noted, that the counsel of God, whereof Paul maketh mention, is included in his word, and that it is to he sought nowhere else.
For many things are kept from us in this life, the perfect and full manifestation whereof is deferred until that day, wherein we shall see God as he is, with new eyes, face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12). Therefore, those do set forth the will of God who interpret the Scriptures faithfully, and out of them instruct the people in the faith, in the fear of God, and in all exercises of godliness. And, as we said of late, that those are condemned by this sentence, who, disputing philosophically, lest they should teach anything which is removed from the common sense of men, and therefore odious, do corrupt with their leaven the purity of the Scripture; so, both sharply and sore, doth Paul thunder against them, who, for fear of the cross and persecution, do speak only doubtfully and darkly.
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I am clean from the blood. I do not doubt but that he had respect unto the place of Ezekiel, where God denounceth that his prophet shall be guilty of the blood of the wicked unless he exhort them unto repentance (Ezekiel 3:18, 20). For upon this condition doth he appoint pastors over his Church, that if anything perish through their negligence, an account may be required at their hands; yea, that unless they show the way of salvation without guile and crooks, the destruction of those who go astray may be imputed unto them. Those men must needs be wonderful dull whom such a sharp threatening cannot awake. Wherefore the epicurish impiety of the Popish clergy doth the more bewray itself, where, though they craik and brag of their honorable titles, yet they think no more upon giving of an account for so many souls which perish, than if there sat no Judge in heaven, neither is their ungodliness any whit less filthy before the whole world, in that being given only to devour sheep, they usurp the name of pastors. Furthermore, the Lord showeth how dear souls be to him, seeing that he doth so sharply punish the pastor’s sluggishness for their destruction; but we see what small account many men make of their own salvation, for which even God himself doth vouchsafe to be careful.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain If you do perish, yet there shall be no…
If you do perish, yet there shall be no fault in me, see Acts 18:6.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 26 Wherefore I take you to record this day,…
26 Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
Ver. 26. I take you to record] Happy is that man that can be acquitted by himself private, in public by others, in both by God.
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I am pure from the blood of all men] The apostle hath an eye here (doubtless) to that flaming place of Eze 3:18; "His blood will I require at thine hands;" which words are fulmina, non verba, saith Erasmus, not words, but lighting bolts.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain I take you to record; I testify and affirm…
I take you to record; I testify and affirm unto you; and I dare appeal unto yourselves concerning it.
I am pure from the blood of all men; from the guilt of destroying their souls; none of them have perished through my fault, having faithfully showed unto them the way of life, and earnestly persuaded them to walk in it. Thus, according as the Lord told Ezekiel, Eze 3:19, the prophet that hath warned the wicked man, hath delivered his own soul.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For I know this,.... By divine revelation:
For I know this,.... By divine revelation:
that after my departing; either out of this world, or after his leaving them now, and proceeding on, his journey:
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shall grievous wolves enter in among you; false teachers, comparable to wolves, for their craft and cunning, and for their greedy, covetous, and voracious dispositions; and who would be very grievous, troublesome, and even intolerable to them; these, he knew, would enter privily, at an unawares, into their churches, and set up themselves for preachers, without being called or sent:
not sparing the flock; fleecing it instead of feeding it, making merchandise of it, and like the Pharisees, under religious pretences, devour widows' houses, and drain the purses of men; and having as little compassion upon their souls, poisoning them with their errors and heresies, subverting their faith, and bringing them into swift ruin and destruction, as much as would in them lie.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 26. I am pure from the blood of…
Verse 26. I am pure from the blood of all] If any man, Jew or Gentile, perish in his sins, his blood shall be upon him; he, alone, shall be accessary to his own perdition. I am blameless, because I have fully shown to both the way to escape from every evil.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Wherefore - In view of the past, of my…
Wherefore - In view of the past, of my ministry and labors among you, I appeal to your own selves to testify that I have been faithful.
I take you to record - Greek: I call you to witness. If any of you are lost; if you prove unfaithful to God, I appeal to yourselves that the fault is not mine. It is well when a minister can make this appeal, and call his hearers to bear testimony to his own faithfulness. Ministers who preach the gospel with fidelity may thus appeal to their hearers; and in the day of judgment may call on themselves to witness that the fault of the ruin of the soul is not to be charged to them.
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That I am pure - I am not to be charged with the guilt of your condemnation, as owing to my unfaithfulness. This does not mean that he set up a claim to absolute perfection; but that, in the matter under consideration, he had a conscience void of offence.
The blood of all men - The word “blood” is often used in the sense of “death, of bloodshed”; and hence, of the “guilt or crime of putting one to death,” Mat 23:35; Mat 27:25; Act 5:28; Act 18:6. It here means that if they should die the second death; if they should be lost forever, he would not be to blame. He had discharged his duty in faithfully warning and teaching them; and now, if they were lost, the fault would be their own, not his.
All men - All classes of people - Jews and Gentiles. He had warned and instructed all alike. Ministers may have many fears that their hearers will be lost. Their aim, however, should be:
To save them, if possible; and, If they are lost, that it should be by no neglect or fault of theirs.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain I am pure from the blood of all men--…
I am pure from the blood of all men-- (Act 18:6; and compare Sa1 12:3, Sa1 12:5; Eze 3:17-21; Eze 33:8-9).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 26. To record—To testify.
26. To record—To testify.
Blood—In its figurative application the death of the soul, the second death.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 26. Wherefore I take you to record this day]…
26. Wherefore I take you to record this day] The Rev. Ver., to explain the older English, gives “I testify unto you.” The sense seems a little more than this. The Apostle not only gives his own testimony, but challenges them to confirm or refute it.
that … all men] St Paul looks upon himself as one like the watchmen of the house of Israel (Eze_33:8) to each of whom God says, if he warn not the wicked from his way, “his blood will I require at thine hand.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (26) I am pure from the blood of all…
(26) I am pure from the blood of all men.—The image was a familiar one in the Apostle’s lips (Act_18:6). It rested on the language of an older prophet (Eze_3:18; Eze_3:20). He had acted on the teaching of that prophet, and none could require the blood of any man at his hands.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Testify unto you for take you to record, A.V.…
Testify unto you for take you to record, A.V. The solemnity of this address is dependent upon the speaker"s conviction that he was speaking to his hearers for the last time. Hence the force of the words, "this day" (ejn th shmeron hJmera); "my last opportunity." I am pure, etc.. (comp. Eze_3:17-21 Eze_33:2, Eze_33:9; Heb_13:17) Note the peril of hiding or watering God"s truth.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 26, 27. Paul here certifies that he is “pure…
MINISTERIAL RESPONSIBILITY
26, 27. Paul here certifies that he is “pure from the blood of all men,” and gives as a reason because he did not “shun to declare to them all the counsel of God.” Hence we see there is only one way for us to be pure from the blood of souls and ready to meet all the people at the Judgment bar; and that is to tell them the whole truth as we find it revealed in the Bible. If we fail to do this their blood will be found upon our hands when God Almighty shall make inquisition in the Judgment day. John Wesley’s best friends advised him to drop “sanctification” and “perfection” out of his ministerial vocabulary, preaching the same truth in other phraseology; hear his response: “Will you send the Holy Ghost to school and teach Him who made the tongue how to speak?” Verily, this is the only way we can be pure from the blood of all men, i. e., by declaring to them all the counsel of God.
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“Watchman, what of the night?
The myriad foe come on to try thee with their might, And if thou shall fail one note that trump to sound, I will hang upon these battlements the watchman on hi round.”
This is a poetic versification of Ezekiel’s warning to Zion’s watchman. I trow many preachers lose their souls by faltering to meet this awful emergency, look people in the face and faithfully tell them the whole truth as God has revealed and committed it to them to proclaim to a dying world.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain See notes on verse 22
See notes on verse 22
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 20:26 I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal…
20:26 I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault: Cp. Ezek 3:16-21.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.