If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion.
Parallel translations
- WEB having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify, that after the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
- KJV Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
- BSB They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the strictest sect of our religion.
- NKJV They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
- NASB since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a Pharisee according to the strictest sect of our religion.
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 says they have long known that he lived as a Pharisee, the strictest sect of Judaism. He establishes his credentials as a zealous, observant Jew.
Overview
Paul recalls his years as a Pharisee, the party most devoted to the Law and to the hope of resurrection. This background shows that his faith in Christ flows from, rather than against, Israel's deepest convictions. The reminder underscores that the gospel fulfills the promises a faithful Pharisee longed to see realized.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Acts 23:6But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men and brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. Concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!”
- Acts 22:3“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict tradition of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as you all are today.
- Acts 22:5As also the high priest and all the council of the elders testify, from whom also I received letters to the brothers, and traveled to Damascus to bring them also who were there to Jerusalem in bonds to be punished.
- Acts 24:5For we have found this man to be a plague, an instigator of insurrections among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
- Phil 3:5–6circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee;
- Acts 24:14But this I confess to you, that after the Way, which they call a sect, so I serve the God of our fathers, believing all things which are according to the law, and which are written in the prophets;
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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 26:5 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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