that the Christ would suffer, and as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”
Parallel translations
- 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.”
- KJV 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.
- NKJV that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”
- NASB as to whether the Christ was to suffer, and whether, as first from the resurrection of the dead, He would proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”
- NLT that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, and in this way announce God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul summarizes the prophetic hope: the Christ must suffer and rise, becoming the first to proclaim light to Jews and Gentiles alike.
Overview
Here Paul distills the heart of the gospel from the Scriptures—the necessity of the Messiah's suffering and resurrection. Christ's rising makes Him the herald of saving light to both Israel and the nations, fulfilling promises that God's salvation would reach the Gentiles. This verse ties the cross and resurrection to the universal mission, presenting the risen Christ as the source of life and light for the world.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 24
- Isa 53:1–12Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
- Luke 24:26Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?”
- Rev 1:5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood,
- Col 1:18And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.
- Heb 2:10In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting for God, for whom and through whom all things exist, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.
- Dan 9:24–26Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to stop their transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
- Zech 12:10Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
- Gen 3:15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
- Luke 2:32a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.”
- 1 Cor 15:20–23But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
- Zech 13:7Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is My Companion, declares the LORD of Hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones.
- Ps 22:1–31For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?
- 1 Cor 15:3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
- John 10:18No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”
- Luke 18:31–33Then Jesus took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
- Acts 13:34In fact, God raised Him from the dead, never to see decay. As He has said: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’
- Acts 26:18to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’
- Acts 3:18But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer.
- Ps 16:8–11I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
- Matt 27:53After Jesus’ resurrection, when they had come out of the tombs, they entered the holy city and appeared to many people.
- John 11:25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
- Acts 26:8Why would any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
- Luke 24:46And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
- Acts 2:23–32He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 26:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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