how the Christ must suffer, and how, by the resurrection of the dead, he would be first to proclaim light both to these people and to the Gentiles.”
Parallel Translations
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how the Christ must suffer, and how, by the resurrection of the dead, he would be first to proclaim light both to these people and to the Gentiles.”
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that Christ shulde suffre and that he shuld be the fyrst that shulde ryse from deeth and shuld shewe lyght vnto the people and the gentyls.
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To wit, that Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light vnto this people, and to the Gentiles.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (24)
Passages linked to Acts 26:23 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 53:1-12 Who has believed our message? To whom has Yahweh’s arm been revealed? For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no good looks or majesty. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t respect him. Surely he has borne our sickness and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he didn’t open his mouth. He was taken away by oppression and judgment. As for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living and stricken for the disobedience of my people? They made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring. He will prolong his days and Yahweh’s pleasure will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion with the great. He will divide the plunder with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death and was counted with the transgressors; yet he bore the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
- Luke 24:26 Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?”
- Colossians 1:18 He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.
- Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood—
- Daniel 9:24-26 “Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. “Know therefore and discern that from the going out of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times. After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off, and will have nothing. The people of the prince who come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end will be with a flood, and war will be even to the end. Desolations are determined.
- Zechariah 12:10 I will pour on David’s house, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.
- Hebrews 2:10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many children to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
- Genesis 3:15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
- Psalms 22:1-31 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning? My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent. But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them. They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people. All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying, “He trusts in Yahweh. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him.” But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust while at my mother’s breasts. I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb. You are my God since my mother bore me. Don’t be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is no one to help. Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring. I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me. They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing. But don’t be far off, Yahweh. You are my help. Hurry to help me! Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth! Yes, you have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen. I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the assembly, I will praise you. You who fear Yahweh, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard. My praise of you comes in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him. The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever. All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you. For the kingdom is Yahweh’s. He is the ruler over the nations. All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can’t keep his soul alive. Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord. They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it.
- Zechariah 13:7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is close to me,” says Yahweh of Armies. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
- Luke 2:32 a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
- 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.
- Luke 18:31-33 He took the twelve aside, and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things that are written through the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be completed. For he will be delivered up to the Gentiles, will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit on. They will scourge and kill him. On the third day, he will rise again.”
- John 10:18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”
- Psalms 16:8-11 I have set Yahweh always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices. My body shall also dwell in safety. For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption. You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever more.
- Matthew 27:53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many.
- Luke 24:46 He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
- John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies.
- Acts 3:18 But the things which God announced by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled.
- Acts 13:34 “Concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’
- Acts 26:8 Why is it judged incredible with you, if God does raise the dead?
- Acts 26:18 to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
- Acts 2:23-32 him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed; whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. Moreover my flesh also will dwell in hope; because you will not leave my soul in Hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay. You made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ “Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul wasn’t left in Hades, and his flesh didn’t see decay. This Jesus God raised up, to which we all are witnesses.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Life, yea, and that a most blessed life which…
Life, yea, and that a most blessed life which shall be endless: and this is set against darkness, which almost in all tongues signifieth sometimes death, and sometimes misery and calamity.
That Christ should not be such a king as the Jews dreamed of, but one appointed to bear our miseries, and the punishment of our sins.
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The first of them which are raised from the dead.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 23 That Christ should suffer, and that he should…
23 That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
Ver. 23. That Christ should suffer] This verse may be fitly called a little Bible, a short gospel, a model of the mystery of godliness. The Greek runs thus, "Whether Christ should be a sufferer; ει παθητος ο χριστος, &c.," "whether he should be the first that should rise from the dead." As if St Paul should hold forth these questions, and offer to prove them out of the prophets and Moses: and hence (haply) that way of expounding the Scriptures, by propounding doubts and questions. Abulensis hath his eight-score questions (and more than a good many sometimes) upon the shortest chapter in the Bible. The schoolmen were great questionists; and they had it from the Artemonites, a sort of heretics, A. D. 220, that, out of Aristotle and Theophrastus, corrupted the Scripture, by turning all into questions. In detestation of whose vain jangling and doting about questions (Jac. Revius, 1Ti 6:4), Luther saith, Propre est ut iurem: I dared to swear, almost, that there was not one school divine that rightly understood one chapter of the Gospel. So that we may say of their expositions as one did once, when being asked whether he should read such a comment upon Aristotle? he answered, Yes, when Aristotle is understood, then read the comment.
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 The sufferings of Christ were taught by Moses in…
The sufferings of Christ were taught by Moses in all the commands about sacrifices, and more plainly by Isaiah in all the 53rd chapter Isa 53:1-12; insomuch, that this was acknowledged by Tryphon, disputing with Justin Martyr, although the generality of Jews, both then and now, do stiffly deny it. The carnal Jews do not like to hear of a spiritual kingdom.
The first that should rise from the dead; Christ was the first that did rise to an immortal life; others that were restored to life, died again: besides, Christ is deservedly called the first, by reason of his dignity and eminency, and in that he rose as a head and fountain of life to others, even to all that live and believe in him.
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Show light; all the word of God is light; but especially the gospel, which discovers a plain and open way unto salvation.
Unto the people, and to the Gentiles; to both Jews and Gentiles, as Act 26:17.
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 And as he thus spake for himself,.... Asserting the…
And as he thus spake for himself,.... Asserting the integrity and innocence of his past life and conversation, in proof of which he appealed to the Jews themselves; setting forth the prejudices to the Christian religion he had been under; declaring the heavenly vision that had appeared to him, and the divine orders he had received; alleging, that in his ministry there was an entire harmony between him, and the writings of Moses, and the prophets, for which the Jews professed a veneration; as he was thus vindicating himself, ere he had well finished his apology,
Festus said with a loud voice; that all might hear, and being moved with resentment at what he had heard; and it may be, he was displeased with Paul that he took so much notice of Agrippa, and so often addressed him, and appealed to him, when he scarce ever turned to, or looked at him:
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Paul, thou art beside thyself; not in thy senses, or right mind, to talk of such an appearance and vision, and especially of the resurrection of a person from the dead. This is no unusual thing for the ministers of the Gospel to be reckoned madmen, and the doctrines they preach madness and folly: our Lord himself was said to be beside himself, and to have a devil, and be mad; and so were his apostles, Mar 3:21 and it is not to be wondered at that natural men should entertain such an opinion of them, since what they deliver is quite out of their sphere and reach: Festus added,
much learning doth make thee mad; the apostle was a man of much learning, both Jewish, Greek, and Roman; and Festus perceived him to be of great reading by his making mention of Moses, and the prophets, writings which he knew nothing at all of. And as this sometimes is the case, that much reading, and hard study, do cause men to be beside themselves, he thought it was Paul's case: so the philosopher (f) suggests, that men of great wit and learning, and who are closely engaged in study, whether in philosophy, or politics, or poetry, or in technical affairs, are inclined to be melancholy, and phrenetic.
(f) Aristotel. Problem. sect. 30.
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 23. That Christ should suffer] That the Christ,…
Verse 23. That Christ should suffer] That the Christ, or Messiah, should suffer. This, though fully revealed in the prophets, the prejudices of the Jews would not permit them to receive: they expected their Messiah to be a glorious secular prince; and, to reconcile the fifty-third of Isaiah with their system, they formed the childish notion of two Messiahs-Messiah ben David, who should reign, conquer, and triumph; and Messiah ben Ephraim, who should suffer and be put to death. A distinction which has not the smallest foundation in the whole Bible.
As the apostle says he preached none other things than those which Moses and the prophets said should come, therefore he understood that both Moses and the prophets spoke of the resurrection of the dead, as well as of the passion and resurrection of Christ. If this be so, the favourite system of a learned bishop cannot be true; viz. that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul was unknown to the ancient Jews.
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That he should be the first that should rise from the dead] That is, that he should be the first who should rise from the dead so as to die no more; and to give, in his own person, the proof of the resurrection of the human body, no more to return under the empire of death. In no other sense can Jesus Christ be said to be the first that rose again from the dead; for Elisha raised the son of the Shunammite. A dead man, put into the sepulchre of the Prophet Elisha, was restored to life as soon as he touched the prophet's bones. Christ himself had raised the widow's son at Nain; and he had also raised Lazarus, and several others. All these died again; but the human nature of our Lord was raised from the dead, and can die no more. Thus he was the first who rose again from the dead to return no more into the empire of death.
And should show light unto the people] Should give the true knowledge of the law and the prophets to the Jews; for these are meant by the term people, as in Ac 26:17. And to the Gentiles, who had no revelation, and who sat in the valley of the shadow of death: these also, through Christ, should be brought to the knowledge of the truth, and be made a glorious Church, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. That the Messiah should be the light both of the Jews and Gentiles, the prophets had clearly foretold: see Isa 60:1: Arise and shine, or be illuminated, for thy LIGHT is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. And again, Isa 49:6: I will give thee for a LIGHT to the GENTILES, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth. With such sayings as these Agrippa was well acquainted, from his education as a Jew.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain That Christ - That the Messiah expected by the…
That Christ - That the Messiah expected by the Jews should be a suffering Messiah.
Should suffer - Should lead a painful life, and be put to death. See the notes on Act 17:3; compare Dan 9:27; Isa 53:1-12.
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And that he should be the first ... - This declaration contains two points:
(1) That it was taught in the prophets that the Messiah Would rise from the dead. On this, see the proof alleged in Act 2:24-32; Act 13:32-37.
(2) That he would be the first that should rise. This cannot mean that the Messiah would be the first dead person who should be restored to life, for Elijah had raised the son of the Shunammite, and Jesus himself had raised Lazarus, and the widow’s son at Nain. It does not mean that he would be the first in the order of time that should rise, but first in eminence; the most distinguished, the chief, the head of those who should rise from the dead - πρῶτος ἐξ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν prōtos ex anastaseōs nekrōn. In accordance with this he is called Col 1:18 “the beginning, the first-born from the dead,” having among all the dead who should be raised up the pre-eminence of primogeniture, or what pertained to the first-born. In 1Co 15:20 he is called “the first fruits of them that slept. This declaration is therefore made of him by way of eminence:
As being chief, a prince among those raised from the dead; As being raised by his own power Joh 10:18; As, by his rising, securing a dominion over death and the grave 1Co 15:25-26; and, As bringing, by his rising, life and immortality to light. He rose to return to death no more. And he thus secured an ascendency over death and the grave, and was thus, by way of eminence, first among those raised from the dead.
And should show light unto the people - To the Jews. Would be their instructor and prophet. This Moses had predicted, Deu 18:15.
And to the Gentiles - This had often been foretold by the prophets, and particularly by Isaiah, Isa 9:1-2; compare Mat 4:14-16; Isa 11:10; Isa 42:1, Isa 42:6; Isa 54:3; Isa 60:3, Isa 60:5,Isa 60:11; Isa 61:6; Isa 62:2; Isa 66:12.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain That Christ should suffer, &c. Literally, if Christ be…
That Christ should suffer, &c. Literally, if Christ be passible. If, here is expounded not as implying a condition, but as an affirmation; so that the sense is, that Christ, according to the predictions of the prophets, was to suffer, was to be the first that should rise from the dead, &c. (Witham) --- First, &c. Many had been raised from the dead before Jesus; the child of the widow of Sarepta, Lazarus, and others. How, then, is Jesus first? He is the first who rises not to die again; and as such the Messias is always represented by the prophets. Others were raised from the dead, but returned again to their graves. Jesus dies no more. He is the first too who raises himself. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain That Christ should suffer, &c.--The construction of this sentence…
That Christ should suffer, &c.--The construction of this sentence implies that in regard to the question "whether the Messiah is a suffering one, and whether, rising first from the dead, he should show light to the (Jewish) people and to the Gentiles," he had only said what the prophets and Moses said should come.
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 23. That—Literally, if, or whether. It was questioned by…
23. That—Literally, if, or whether. It was questioned by the Jews, and upon it he gave his testimony.
Christ—The English reader often loses the true force of passages in the New Testament by forgetting that Christ is not a proper name, but a title—the MESSIAH, the Messiah of Jewish national hope and pride. (See note on Mat_1:1.)
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Should suffer—Rather, could suffer.
First—Not indeed the first resuscitated from death, for Lazarus and others were thus revived and died again; but the first of the universal organic and complete resurrection, not only from death, but from mortality.
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 23. that Christ should suffer] Rev. Ver. “How that…
23. that Christ should suffer] Rev. Ver. “How that the Christ must suffer,” but giving in the margin on “How that” or “if” or “whether.” The Greek is the conjunction ordinarily rendered “if,” and the literal meaning is “If the Christ be one who has to suffer.” The original puts it as though it were a question on which there was debate among the Jews. As indeed there was. See Joh_12:34. And out of the Scriptures Paul says he answered the question whether this should be so. As his answer was a positive one the sense is nearly enough represented by “that” in the A.V., but we should read “the Christ.”
and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light] The Rev. Ver. gives a better representation of the original thus, “and how that he first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim.” Christ was the firstfruits of them that sleep. His resurrection was an earnest of the general resurrection. Thus life and immortality were brought to light. “Should proclaim” = “is about to proclaim,” for this is the gospel which is to be preached from generation to generation.
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light unto the people, and to the Gentiles] The best MSS. insert “both” before “unto.” The “people,” i.e. of the Jews. Christ was spoken of in like terms by the aged Simeon. “A light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel.” And he could say this because in Jesus he beheld God’s “salvation.” He could “depart in peace,” being sure that “to die” was only the pledge of “to rise again.”
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 (23) That Christ should suffer.—Literally, that the Christ was…
(23) That Christ should suffer.—Literally, that the Christ was passible—i.e., capable of suffering. The great body of the Jews had fixed their thoughts only on the prophetic visions of the glories of the Messiah’s kingdom. Even the disciples of Jesus were slow to receive any other thought than that of conquest and triumph. Peter’s “Be it far from thee, Lord” (Mat_16:22) expressed the horror with which the thought of a suffering Christ at first struck him. It was not till they were led, after the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, into our Lord’s own school of prophetic interpretation (Luk_24:25-26; Luk_24:44), and taught to recognise the under-current of types and prophecies that pointed to a righteous Sufferer, as well as to a righteous King, that they were able to receive the truth. So it was that a “Christ crucified” was still “to the Jews a stumbling-block” (1Co_1:23). The speech at Antioch in Pisidia (Act_13:27-35) may be noted as showing the stress which St. Paul laid on this point. The Greek has “if” in both clauses where the English has “that;” but our idiom scarcely admits of its being so translated.
That he should be the first that should rise from the dead.—More literally, that He first by His resurrection from the dead (strictly, out of His resurrection) should show light. It was through the Resurrection only that the hopes of Simeon were fulfilled (Luk_2:32), and that light shone in on those who had been sitting as in the shadow of death. The “people” are, as almost always when the word is so used, God’s people Israel, as distinguished from the heathen.
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 How that the Christ must for that Christ should,…
How that the Christ must for that Christ should, A.V.; how that he first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim for that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show, A.V.; both to for unto, A.V. and T.R.. How that (eij); see ver. 8, note. Must suffer; taqhtov only here and in profane Greek writers. The exact meaning of paqhtov is "liable to suffering," just as qnhtov (from qnhskw) means "liable to death," i.e. mortal. But just as qnhtov in use comes to mean "one who must die," so paqhtov means "one who must suffer;" and so we read in Luk_24:26, dei oujci e paqein ton Criston kai eijselqein eijv thxan auJtou; "Ought not Christ to have suffered," etc.? And so again in Luk_24:46 (T.R.).
Edei paqein ton Criston kai ajnasthnai ejk nekrwn, "It behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead," where the turn of thought is exactly the same as here. The Vulgate renders it by passibilis. The Fathers (Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr) contrast the state of Christ in glory with his state in the flesh by the words ajpaqhv and paqhtov, "impassible" and "passible." That he first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim, etc. Most commentators, from Chrysostom downwards, connect the first with the resurrection. "First from the resurrection," equal to prwtotokov ejk twn nekrwn. (Col_1:18) As Meyer truly says, "The chief stress of this sentence lies on prwtov ejx ajnastasewv." The A.V. gives the sense by a periphrasis; only it must be well understood that it was especially by being the first to rise, and so to bring life and immortality to light, that Christ showed light to the people. The words may, of course, be construed as the R.V does, but such a rendering is not in accordance with the spirit of the passage or the analogy of other passages. Christ was the first rise, and he will be followed by them that are his. But it is not true to say that he was the first to give light to Jews and Gentiles, and will be followed by others doing the same. (For the sentiment, Luk_2:32) Note on the whole the enormous stress laid by St. Paul on the fulfillment of prophecy as a proof of the truth of the gospel, following therein our Lord himself. (Luk_24:25, Luk_24:27, Luk_24:44, Luk_24:45)
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 23. “If Christ should suffer, if he should first…
23. “If Christ should suffer, if he should first rise from the dead, he is about to proclaim light to the people,” i. e., the Jews and the Gentiles. Paul sweeps away all defalcation from King Agrippa as a member of the Jewish Church, because he proves everything appertaining to Christ by Moses and the prophets, meanwhile his application to the Gentiles, i. e., not only Festus, but all the Roman world, is equally sweeping and conclusive. At this moment Festus breaks down, unable longer to restrain his impulses and hold his peace,
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.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain the Christ must suffer. See, Act 3:18; Act 17:3.…
Christ
the Christ must suffer. See, Act 3:18; Act 17:3. (See Scofield "Act 17:3").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.