Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
ULTBut Agrippa said to Paul, “In little are you persuading me to make me a Christian?”
USTThen Agrippa answered Paul, “I would need to hear much more than this to decide to become a Christian!”
BSB § Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Can you persuade me in such a short time to become a Christian?”
BLBThen Agrippa said to Paul, "Within so little time do you persuade me to become a Christian?"
AICNTAnd Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time {you would}[fn] persuade me to be a Christian.”
26:28,you would: Some manuscripts read “you think to.”
OEBBut Agrippa said to Paul, ‘You are soon trying to make a Christian of me!’
WEBBEAgrippa said to Paul, “With a little persuasion are you trying to make me a Christian?”
WMBBAgrippa said to Paul, “With a little persuasion are you trying to make me a Messianic?”
NETAgrippa said to Paul, “In such a short time are you persuading me to become a Christian?”
LSVAnd Agrippa said to Paul, “In [so] little you persuade me to become a Christian?”
FBV“Do you think you can convince me to become a Christian so quickly?” Agrippa asked Paul.
TCNTAgrippa said to Paul, “Do yoʋ think yoʋ can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?”
T4TThen Agrippa answered Paul, “◄I hope that you(sg) do not think that by the few things that you have just now said you can persuade me to become a Christian!/You do not think, do you, that by the few things that you have just now said you can persuade me to become a Christian?►” [RHQ]
LEBBut Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time are you persuading me to become a Christian?”[fn]
26:28Or “In a short time you are persuading me to become a Christian”
BBEAnd Agrippa said to Paul, A little more and you will be making me a Christian.
WymthAgrippa answered, "In brief, you are doing your best to persuade me to become a Christian."
ASVAnd Agrippa said unto Paul, With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian.
DRAAnd Agrippa said to Paul: In a little thou persuadest me to become a Christian.
YLTAnd Agrippa said unto Paul, 'In a little thou dost persuade me to become a Christian!'
DrbyAnd Agrippa [said] to Paul, In a little thou persuadest me to become a Christian.
RVAnd Agrippa said unto Paul, With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian.
WbstrThen Agrippa said to Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
KJB-1769Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. (Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou/you persuadest me to be a Christian. )
KJB-1611Then Agrippa saide vnto Paul, Almost thou perswadest mee to bee a Christian. (Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou/you perswadest me to be a Christian.)
BshpsThen Agrippa sayde vnto Paul: Somewhat thou perswadest me to be a christian. (Then Agrippa said unto Paul: Somewhat thou/you perswadest me to be a christian.)
GnvaThen Agrippa said vnto Paul, Almost thou perswadest me to become a Christian. (Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou/you perswadest me to become a Christian. )
CvdlAgrippa sayde vnto Paul: Thou persuadest me in a parte to become a Christen. (Agrippa said unto Paul: Thou persuadest me in a part to become a Christn.)
TNTAgrippa sayde vnto Paul: Sumwhat thou bringest me in mynde for to be come a Christen. (Agrippa said unto Paul: Sumwhat thou/you bringest me in mind for to be come a Christn. )
WyclAnd Agrippa seide to Poul, In litil thing thou counseilist me to be maad a cristen man. (And Agrippa said to Poul, In little thing thou/you counseilist me to be made a cristen man.)
LuthAgrippa aber sprach zu Paulus: Es fehlet nicht viel, du überredest mich, daß ich ein Christ würde. (Agrippa but spoke to Paulus: It mistake not viel, you überredest mich, that I a Christ würde.)
ClVgAgrippa autem ad Paulum: In modico suades me christianum fieri. (Agrippa however to Paulum: In modico suades me christianum fieri. )
UGNTὁ δὲ Ἀγρίππας πρὸς τὸν Παῦλον, ἐν ὀλίγῳ με πείθεις Χριστιανὸν ποιῆσαι? (ho de Agrippas pros ton Paulon, en oligōi me peitheis Ⱪristianon poiaʸsai?)
SBL-GNTὁ δὲ Ἀγρίππας πρὸς τὸν ⸀Παῦλον· Ἐν ὀλίγῳ με πείθεις Χριστιανὸν ⸀ποιῆσαι. (ho de Agrippas pros ton ⸀Paulon; En oligōi me peitheis Ⱪristianon ⸀poiaʸsai.)
TC-GNTὉ δὲ Ἀγρίππας πρὸς τὸν Παῦλον [fn]ἔφη, Ἐν ὀλίγῳ με πείθεις Χριστιανὸν [fn]γενέσθαι. (Ho de Agrippas pros ton Paulon efaʸ, En oligōi me peitheis Ⱪristianon genesthai. )
26:28“Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?”: This enigmatic remark might have been ironic, incredulous, scoffing, or brushing off Paul’s challenge. It also might have been a direct statement of Paul’s persuasiveness, or a direct statement about or genuine question of Paul’s intention. It seems best to take Agrippa’s reply as deliberately evasive: He didn’t want to admit that he believed the prophets (26:27), for Paul had just made a strong case, and the next step would be to believe in Jesus as the promised Messiah to whom the prophets pointed. Agrippa didn’t want to take that step. On the other hand, he didn’t want to say that he didn’t believe the prophets, for that would alienate the Jewish subjects to whose loyalties he wanted to appeal. His non-committal response underlines his discomfort with Paul’s testimony.
in /a/_little_‹time› me ˱you˲_/are/_persuading /a/_Christian /to/_make
Agrippa is using the question form to challenge Paul. He is asserting that what Paul has said so far is not sufficiently persuasive. If you would not use the question form for this purpose in your language, you could translate this as a statement or an exclamation. The term little could mean: (1) little proof. Alternate translation: “You cannot persuade me to become a Christian with so little proof.” (2) little time. Alternate translation: “You cannot persuade me to become a Christian in such a short time.”
As the book of Acts attests, Paul was no stranger to imprisonment, and he catalogued his incarcerations among his many credentials of suffering that affirmed his legitimacy as an apostle to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 6:4-5). The first mention of Paul being imprisoned is when he and Silas were arrested in Philippi after exorcising a spirit of divination from a slave girl (Acts 16). Paul’s actions angered the girl’s owners, since the men were no longer able to make money off of the girl’s fortune telling abilities. Later in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul notes that he had already suffered multiple imprisonments (2 Corinthians 11:23), making it clear that not all of Paul’s imprisonments and other sufferings were recorded in Scripture. The next imprisonment explicitly mentioned in Scripture is when Paul was arrested in the Temple in Jerusalem at the end of his third missionary journey (Acts 21:27-34). Soon after this Paul was sent to Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast, where he remained in prison for two years (Acts 23-26; see “Paul Is Transferred to Caesarea” map). This may be where Paul penned the letters commonly known as the Prison Epistles (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon). At the end of this time Paul appealed his case to Caesar and was sent to Rome, where he spent another two years under house arrest awaiting his trial before Caesar (Acts 28:16-31). If Paul did not write his Prison Epistles while he was at Caesarea, then it is likely that he wrote them from Rome during this time. The next time we hear of Paul being imprisoned is likely several years later in his second letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 1:8-17; 2:9; 4:9-21). Though it is not certain, the tone of Paul’s writing during this time of imprisonment, which seems markedly more somber than the optimistic outlook he seems to have about his incarceration during the writing of the Prison Epistles (e.g., Philippians 1:21-26; Philemon 1:22), suggests that this incarceration was not the same as his house arrest. If so, then it is possible that between his first and second incarcerations in Rome Paul fulfilled his intention to travel to Spain to continue spreading the gospel (Romans 15:22-28). Just prior to his second incarceration in Rome, Paul had informed Titus that he planned to spend the winter in Nicopolis northwest of Achaia and asked him to meet him there (Titus 3:12). Perhaps it was around this time or soon after that he was arrested once again and brought to Rome. Paul’s ultimate fate is not noted in Scripture, but tradition (Clement, Dionysius, Eusebius, and Tertullian) attests that this final imprisonment of Paul took place at what is now called Mamertine Prison. During Paul’s time this was the only prison in Rome and was called simply “the Prison,” and it was not typically used for long term incarceration but rather for holding those awaiting imminent execution. There, during the reign of Nero, Paul met his earthly death by the sword and was received into eternal life by his loving Savior, whom he had served so long.
