Acts 26:11

I frequently had them punished in the synagogues, and I tried to make them blaspheme. In my raging fury against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Paul addresses King Agrippa, Queen Bernice, and Roman officials during his trial, recounting his pre-conversion actions to explain his past conduct.

The words — τιμωρῶν (timōrōn) carries the literal sense of inflicting punishment, while συναγωγὰς (sunagōgas) denotes the Jewish assembly places where Paul carried out his campaign.

The thread — This pattern of synagogue opposition matches Jesus’ warning in Matthew 10:17 and mirrors Paul’s own earlier summary in Acts 22:19 about imprisoning and beating believers in those same venues.

Why it lands — The text records how religious authority was weaponized against a growing movement, requiring readers to confront how institutional zeal can produce systematic violence before recognizing grace.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.

Cross-references

Matthew 10:17 But beware of men, for they will hand you over to their councils and flog you in their synagogues.
Acts 13:45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.
Acts 22:19 ‘Lord,’ I answered, ‘they know very well that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in You.
Acts 9:1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord. He approached the high priest
Acts 22:5 as the high priest and the whole Council can testify about me. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to apprehend these people and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.
Ecclesiastes 9:3 This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.
Mark 3:28 Truly I tell you, the sons of men will be forgiven all sins and blasphemies, as many as they utter.
Mark 13:9 So be on your guard. You will be delivered over to the councils and beaten in the synagogues. On My account you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.
Luke 6:11 But the scribes and Pharisees were filled with rage and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Luke 15:17 Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food, but here I am, starving to death!