Texts in Conversation
Acts 26 describes Paul’s mission as opening blind eyes and bringing people out of darkness. This echoes Isaiah 42, where a servant is made a light to the nations, presenting Paul’s work as continuing Israel’s prophetic tradition.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Isaiah 42:6
Septuagint
5 Thus says the Lord God, who created heaven and established it, who bolstered the earth and the things that are in it and who gave breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who tread on it: 6 I, the Lord God, have called you in righteousness, and I will take hold of your hand and strengthen you; I have given you as a covenant to a race, as a light to nations, 7 to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out from bonds those who are bound and from the prison house those who sit in darkness. 8 I am the Lord God; this is my name; my glory I will not give to another, nor my excellences to the graven images.
Acts 26:18
New Testament
16 But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this reason, to designate you in advance as a servant and witness to the things you have seen and to the things in which I will appear to you. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes so that they turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ 19 “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but I declared to those in Damascus first, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds consistent with repentance.
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Notes and References
"... In his speech before King Herod Agrippa II, Paul narrates, for the third time in Acts, the story of his call or conversion (26:12-18). When dealing with this account, modern critical commentators typically concern themselves with its relationship to the other two reports of the apostle's vision (Acts 9:1-9, 22:6-11), with the Greek proverb that lies behind 'It hurts for you to kick against the goads' (26:15) and with questions about the historicity of attendant events (e.g., How could Luke have known what Festus and Agrippa said to each other in private?). Exegetes also, if only in passing, often call attention to several reminiscences of the LXX. Acts 26:16 agrees exactly with Ezekiel 2:1. Acts 26:18 echoes Isaiah 42:7 and 16. And Acts 26:17 alludes to Jeremiah 1:8 and 19 ..."
Allison, Dale C.
Acts 9:1–9, 22:6–11, 26:12–18: Paul and Ezekiel
(pp. 807-26) Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 135, No. 4, 2016
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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