Acts 26 · Verse 23

Acts 26:23

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.

Acts 26:23, King James Version

Acts 26:23 in other translations

BSB	that the Christ would suffer, and as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”
WEB	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.”
ASV	how that the Christ must suffer, and how that he first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles.
YLT	that the Christ is to suffer, whether first by a rising from the dead, he is about to proclaim light to the people and to the nations.'
DARBY	namely, whether Christ should suffer; whether he first, through resurrection of the dead, should announce light both to the people and to the nations.
BBE	That the Christ would go through pain, and being the first to come back from the dead, would give light to the people and to the Gentiles.
Webster	That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show light to the people, and to the Gentiles.

What does Acts 26:23 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 26:22-23

22-23. having obtained help--"succor." from God--"that [which cometh] from God." I continue--"stand," "hold my ground." unto this day, witnessing, &c.--that is, This life of mine, so marvellously preserved, in spite of all the plots against it, is upheld for the Gospel's sake; therefore I "witnessed," &c.

Read the full comment on Acts 26:22-23 →

Barnes' Notes

Verse 23. 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. Acts 17:3. Compare Dan 9:27, Isa 53.

And that he should be the first, etc. This declaration contains two points: (1.) That it was taught in the prophets that the Messiah should rise from the dead. On this, see the proof alleged in Acts 2:24-32; Acts 13:32-37.

(2.) That he should be the first that should rise. This cannot mean that the Messiah should 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 should 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. πρωτοςεξαναστασεωςνεκρων. 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 rights and pre-eminence of the primogeniture, or which pertained to the first-born. In 1Cor 15:20, he is called "the first-fruits of them that slept." This declaration is, therefore, made of him by way of eminence:

(1.) As being chief, a prince among those raised from the dead;

(2.) as being raised by his own power, Jn 10:18

(3.) as, by his rising, securing a dominion over death and the grave, (1Cor 15:25,26;) and,

(4.) as bringing, by his rising, life and immortality to light. He rose to return to death no more. And he thus secured an ascendancy over death and the grave, and was thus, by way of eminence, first among those raised from the dead.

And should shew light unto the people. To the Jews. Should be their instructor and prophet. This Moses had predicted, De 18:15.

And to the Gentiles. This had often been foretold by the prophets, and particularly by Isaiah, Isa 9:1,2. Compare Mt 4:14-16 Isa 11:10, 42:1,4, 44:3, 60:3,5,11, 61:6, 62:2, 66:12.

(n) "the first" 1Cor 15:23

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

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. 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 Act 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, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Acts 26:12-23

Paul was made a Christian by Divine power; by a revelation of Christ both to him and in him; when in the full career of his sin. He was made a minister by Divine authority: the same Jesus who appeared to him in that glorious light, ordered him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. A world that sits in darkness must be enlightened; those must be brought to know the things that belong to their everlasting peace, who…

Read the full comment on Acts 26:12-23 →

Acts 26:23 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

εἰeithatG1487

παθητὸςpathētoswould sufferG3805

ὁhotheG3588

χριστός,christosChrist,G5547

εἰeiasG1487

πρῶτοςprōtosfirstG4413

ἐξexthroughG1537

ἀναστάσεωςanastaseōsresurrectionG386

νεκρῶνnekrōnfrom [the] deadG3498

φῶςphōslightG5457

μέλλειmelleiHe is aboutG3195

καταγγέλλεινkatangelleinto preachG2605

τῷtō<the>G3588

λαῷlaōour peopleG2992

καὶkaiandG2532

τοῖςtoisto theG3588

ἔθνεσιν.¶ethnesinGentiles.G1484

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Acts 26:23

Isaiah 53:1-12
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. …
Luke 24:26
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
Colossians 1:18
And he is the head of the body, the church: 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, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Hebrews 2:10
For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Daniel 9:24-26
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Zechariah 12:10
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Zechariah 13:7
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.
1 Corinthians 15:20-23
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
Psalms 22:1-31
To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. …
1 Corinthians 15:3
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Christ.
Ge 3:15; Ps 22:1-69:36; Isa 53:1-12; Da 9:24-26; Zec 12:10; 13:7
Lu 18:31-33; 24:26,46; 1Co 15:3
the first.
8; 2:23-32; 13:34; Ps 16:8-11; Isa 53:10-12; Mt 27:53; Joh 10:18
Joh 11:25; 1Co 15:20-23; Col 1:18; Re 1:5
and should.
18; Lu 2:32

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Acts 26:22
Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:
Acts 26:23
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.
Acts 26:24
And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.

Read all of Acts 26

Acts 26:23 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Que Cristo había de padecer, y ser el primero de la resurrección de los muertos, para anunciar luz al pueblo y á los Gentiles.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	savoir qu’il fallait que le Christ soit soumis aux souffrances, et que, le premier par la résurrection des morts il devait annoncer la lumière et au peuple et aux nations.
German Elberfelder 1871	nämlich, daß der Christus leiden sollte, daß er als Erster durch Totenauferstehung Licht verkündigen sollte, sowohl dem Volke als auch den Nationen.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	si passibilis Christus, si primus ex resurrectione mortuorum, lumen annuntiaturus est populo et gentibus.