Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

tonychanyt · Aug 28, 2024

King James Bible, Ac 26:

28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.

New King James Version:

Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

The Greek ἐν ὀλίγῳ was ambiguous.

NASB never translated G3641 to "almost":

brief (1), briefly (1), few (11), few things (3), great* (1), little (7), little way (1), little while (4), long* (1), number* (2), short (3), short time (1), small (3), while (1).

English Standard Version translated it into a question:

Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”

On Biblehub only 3 out of 23 used "almost".

The same word appeared in the next verse, NKJ:

29 And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.”

Young's Literal Translation:

and Paul said, 'I would have wished to God, both in a little, and in much, not only thee, but also all those hearing me to-day, to become such as I also am -- except these bonds.'

I think Agrippa was being sarcastically ambiguous and Paul continued that ambiguity.

ESV:

30 Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them.

Agrippa no longer wanted to discuss it with Paul.

31 And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

Agrippa did not consider Paul negatively. He believed him to some extent.

Spiritual Jew · Aug 28, 2024

tonychanyt said:
King James Bible, Ac 26:

New King James Version:

The Greek ἐν ὀλίγῳ was ambiguous.

NASB never translated G3641 to "almost":

English Standard Version translated it into a question:

On Biblehub only 3 out of 23 used "almost".

The same word appeared in the next verse, NKJ:

Young's Literal Translation:

I think Agrippa was being sarcastically ambiguous and Paul continued that ambiguity.

ESV:

Agrippa no longer wanted to discuss it with Paul.

Agrippa did not consider Paul negatively. He believed him to some extent.

I agree. There was a time when I thought it indicated that Agrippa told Paul that he almost persuaded him to be a Christian, but I no longer see it that way. I agree that he was just being sarcastic and kind of mocking the idea that Paul could convince him to become a Christian in such a short amount of time. That makes sense because convincing someone like that to become a Christian would take more than just a short amount of time. Not that he didn't find Paul to be convincing at all. As you said, he did believe him to some extent. But, it wasn't enough time to fully convince him and then he ended the discussion and did not allow for more time to be convinced.

Good topic. It's interesting to think about. Paul was not afraid to witness to anyone and we should be like that as well. Anyone can potentially be convinced to become a Christian. We shouldn't think that anyone is without hope of being saved since God wants all people to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-6).

Search

Search

Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

tonychanyt

24/7 Christian

More options

Spiritual Jew

Amillennialist

More options

Similar threads