Acts 28:20

So for this reason I have called to see you and speak with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Paul addresses a group of Jewish leaders who have gathered in Rome to hear his defense. He speaks this statement after describing his appeal to Caesar and immediately before their reply that they received no negative reports from Judea.

The words — The text states Paul called them to see and speak with them because of αἰτίαν (aitian), meaning "cause" or "charge," and παρεκάλεσα (parekalesa), meaning "I have called." He explicitly identifies the hope of Israel as the direct reason for his current chains.

The thread — The connection between imprisonment and a divine promise runs through Acts 26:6, Ephesians 6:20, and 2 Timothy 2:9. Each passage ties Paul's physical restraint to his official role as a witness for God's covenantal word.

Why it lands — The verse requires a reader to separate the messenger's physical condition from the validity of his message. It demands that the audience examine the hope of Israel on its own terms rather than judging it by the circumstances of its proclamation.

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

For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.

Cross-references

Acts 26:6 And now I stand on trial because of my hope in the promise that God made to our fathers,
Ephesians 6:20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it fearlessly, as I should.
2 Timothy 2:9 for which I suffer to the extent of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained!
Acts 26:29 “Short time or long,” Paul replied, “I wish to God that not only you but all who hear me this day may become what I am, except for these chains.”
Philippians 1:13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.
Acts 21:33 The commander came up and arrested Paul, ordering that he be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done.
Acts 23:6 Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. It is because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.”
Acts 24:15 and I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.
Ephesians 3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles...
Ephesians 4:1 As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received: