Acts 26:23 - Exposition

How that the Christ must for that Christ should, A.V.; how that he first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim for that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show, A.V.; both to for unto, A.V. and T.R. How that ( ει) ); see Acts 26:8 , note. Must suffer ; ταθητός only here and in profane Greek writers. The exact meaning of παθητός is "liable to suffering," just as θνητός (from θνήσκω ) means "liable to death," i.e. mortal. But just as θνητός in use comes to mean "one who must die," so παθητός means "one who must suffer;" and so we read in Luke 24:26 , οὐχὶ ἔδει παθεῖν τὸν χριστὸν καὶ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν δόξαν αὑτοῦ ; "Ought not Christ to have suffered," etc.? And so again in Luke 24:46 (T.R.), ἔδει παθεῖν τὸν χριστὸν καὶ ἀναστῆναι ἐκ νεκρῶν , "It behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead," where the turn of thought is exactly the same as here. The Vulgate renders it by passibilis. The Fathers contrast the state of Christ in glory with his state in the flesh by the words ἀπαθής and παθητός , "impassible" and "passible." That he first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim , etc. Most commentators, from Chrysostom downwards, connect the first with the resurrection. "First from the resurrection," equal to πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν ( Colossians 1:18 ). As Meyer truly says, "The chief stress of this sentence lies on πρῶτος ἐξ ἀναστάσεως . " The A.V. gives the sense by a periphrasis; only it must be well understood that it was especially by being the first to rise, and so to bring life and immortality to light, that Christ showed light to the people. The words may, of course, be construed as the R.V. does, but such a rendering is not in accordance with the spirit of the passage or the analogy of other passages. Christ was the first rise, and he will be followed by them that are his. But it is not true to say that he was the first to give light to Jews and Gentiles, and will be followed by others doing the same. (For the sentiment, setup. Luke 2:32 .) Note on the whole the enormous stress laid by St. Paul on the fulfillment of prophecy as a proof of the truth of the gospel, following therein our Lord himself ( Luke 24:25 , Luke 24:27 , Luke 24:44 , Luke 24:45 ).