Acts 24:14 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Acts 24:14
But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:
(prepositionally) down (in place or time) · preposition
law
νόμονnomon
G3551
law (through the idea of prescriptive usage) · noun — accusative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
prophets
προφήταιςprophētais
G4396
a foreteller ("prophet") · noun — dative plural masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 9:2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring t…
Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Acts 3:13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him i…
Acts 28:23 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persu…
Acts 24:5 For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect…
Acts 26:22 Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those whi…
Acts 13:15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any wo…
Acts 19:9 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the d…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 24:10-21
We have here Paul's defence of himself, in answer to Tertullus's charge, and there appears in it a great deal of the spirit of wisdom and holiness, and an accomplishment of Christ's promise to his followers that when they were before governors and kings, for his sake, it should be given them in that same hour what they should speak. Though Tertullus had said a great many provoking things, yet Paul did not interrupt him, but let him go on to the end of his speech, according to the rules of decency and the method in courts of justice, that the plaintiff be allowed to finish his evidence before the defendant begins his plea. And when he had done, he did not presently fly out into passionate exc…
But this I confess to thee--in which Felix would see no crime.
that after the way they call heresy--literally, and better, "a sect."
so worship I the God of my fathers--the ancestral God. Two arguments are contained here: (1) Our nation is divided into what they call sects--the sect of the Pharisees, and that of the Sadducees--all the difference between them and me is, that I belong to neither of these, but to another sect, or religious section of the nation, which from its Head they call Nazarenes: for this reason, and this alone, am I hated. (2) The Roman law allows every nation to worship its own deities; I claim protection under that law, worshipping the God of my ancestors, even as…
That after the way which they call heresy - See the explanation of this word in the note on Act 5:17 (note), and see before, Act 24:5 (note), where what is here translated heresy, is there rendered sect. At this time the word had no bad acceptation, in reference to religious opinions. The Pharisees themselves, the most respectable body among the Jews, are called a sect; for Paul, defending himself before Agrippa, says that he lived a Pharisee according to the strictest αἱρεσιν, sect, or heresy of their religion. And Josephus, who was a Pharisee, speaks, της των Φαρισαιων αἱρεσεως, of the heresy or sect of the Pharisees. Life, chap. xxxviii. Therefore it is evident that the word heresy had…
The Church Fathers
But I confess this to you, that according to the sect which they call a heresy, so I serve my Father God. It is better read in Greek: That according to the way which they call a heresy, so I serve the Father God. For what consistency is there for him who spoke Greek, to say: According to the sect which they call a heresy, since the same in Latin, sect, means heresy in Greek? But he said: So I serve the Father God, according namely to that way which the unbelievers call a heresy, that is, a sect, as if it has more persistence in its following than in the diligence of rightly discerning.
"But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect." After calling him to be an apostle of Christ, saying that he served the Lord, the ancestral God, he shows there is one God of both the Old and the New Testaments, whom the prophets and the law proclaimed, whom Paul preached when he said, believing all that is written according to the law and the prophets. Inasmuch as Christ is here also introduced indirectly, yet previously by dwelling on the word of the resurrection, if these were labored over from the beginning. For once this was shown, it was easy to introduce also the matters concerning Christ, namely that he rose. [DIDYMUS]
But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets: and have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. The accusers were separating him as an alien, but he identifies himself with the Law, as one of themselves. Believing, he says, that there will be a resurrection: now a man who believed a resurrection, would never have done such things - which resurrection they themselves also allow. He does not say it of them, that they believe all things written in the Prophets: it was he that believed them all, not they: but how all, it would require a long discourse to show. And he nowhere makes mention of Christ. Here by saying, Believing, he does virtually introduce what relates to Christ; for the present he dwells on the subject of the resurrection, which doctrine was common to them also, and removed the suspicion of any sedition.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Sect — (Gr. hairesis, usually rendered “heresy”, Acts 24:14; 1 Chr. 11:19; Gal. 5:20, etc.), meaning properly “a choice,” then “a chosen manner of life,” and then “a religious party,” as the “sect” of the…
Defense · Of PaulAc 22; — Of PaulAc 22;
Faith · The objects of, are: Writings of Moses — The objects of, are: Writings of Moses
Resurrection · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Resurrection, The · The preaching of, caused: Persecution — The preaching of, caused: Persecution
Self-Defense · 23:3; — 23:3;
Way · .Doctrines taught by Christ — .Doctrines taught by Christ
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
But this I confess unto thee,.... What was truth he was not ashamed of, but ready to own, and bear his testimony for, whatever was the consequence of it:
that after the way which they call heresy; referring to the charge of his being a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, Acts 24:5 and meaning by the way the Christian religion, or the doctrines of Christianity, which the Jews called heresy; and as early as this were the Christians, by them, called heretics: so we read (r) of , "a prayer against the heretics", which Samuel (the little) composed before, or in the presence of R. Gamaliel the elder, he approving of it; which R. Gamaliel was Paul's master; and some have thought, that Samuel…
Acts 24:10-21
10. And Paul answered, after that the governor had beckoned to him that he should speak, With a better mind do I speak for myself, forasmuch as I know that thou hast judged this nation this many years: 11. Seeing that thou mayest know that there are yet but twelve days since that I came up to Jerusalem to worship. 12. And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, or causing any concourse of people, neither in the synagogues, neither in the city: 13. Neither can they prove those things whereof they accuse me. 14. But this I confess to thee, that according to the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are writ…
the Way: See study note on 9:2. • Paul emphasized his common ground with his Jewish audience, including his worship, belief in the Jewish law, acceptance of the prophets, and hope in the resurrection (24:14, 15; see 24:21).
