Acts 26:18

Acts 26:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
• New International Version (NIV)to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
• English Standard Version (ESV)to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'
• New King James Version (NKJV)to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’

Context of Acts 26:18

16Now you must get up. Stand on your feet. I have chosen you to be my servant. That is why I have appeared to you today. You must tell other people about what you have seen. After that, I will show you other things that you must tell people. 17I will send you to speak about me to Jews and to Gentiles. Some of them will want to hurt you. But I will keep you safe. You will help them to understand what is really true. They are like people who live in the dark. Teach them what is true about me. Then they will be like people who live in the light. Now Satan has power over them. Lead them from there into God's kingdom. Then God will forgive them for the wrong things that they have done. Because they believe in me, God will accept them as his own people.” ’ 19‘So you should know this, King Agrippa. I obeyed the things that I heard from heaven that day. 20First, I taught God's message to the Jews in Damascus. Then I also taught God's message to the Jews in Jerusalem and in all of Judea region. Later I also spoke to the Gentiles. I said to all of them, “You must stop doing wrong things. You must turn to God. You must do good things. That will show that you have really changed how you live.”

Acts 26:18 word by word

ἀνοῖξαι ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν, τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι ἀπὸ σκότους εἰς φῶς καὶ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ σατανᾶ ἐπὶ τὸν θεόν, τοῦ λαβεῖν αὐτοὺς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν καὶ κλῆρον ἐν τοῖς ἡγιασμένοις πίστει τῇ εἰς ἐμέ.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• To openἀνοίγωanoigō · to openG455
• theirαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• eyesὀφθαλμόςophthalmos · eyeG3788
• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• to turnἐπιστρέφωepistrephō · to turnG1994
• fromἀπόapo · away fromG575
• darknessσκότοςskotos · darknessG4655
• toεἰςeis · towardG1519
• lightφῶςphōs · lightG5457
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• the powerἐξουσίαexousia · authorityG1849
• of SatanΣατανᾶςSatanas · SatanG4567
• untoἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• may receiveλαμβάνωlambanō · to takeG2983
• forgivenessἄφεσιςaphesis · forgivenessG859
• of sinsἁμαρτίαhamartia · sinG266
• inheritanceκλῆροςklēros · lotG2819
• amongἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• are sanctifiedἁγιάζωhagiazō · to sanctifyG37
• by faithπίστιςpistis · faithG4102
• meἐγώegō · I/weG1473

Cross-references for Acts 26:18

• Acts 9:17So Ananias went to Judas's house and he went inside. He put his hands on Saul and he said to him, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus himself has sent me here to you. It was Jesus that you saw on the road when you were coming here to Damascus. He has sent me to you so that you will be able to see again. God will also fill you with his Holy Spirit.’
• Psalms 119:18Open my eyes wide! Then I will see great things in your Law.
• Psalms 146:8The Lord makes blind people see again. The Lord lifts up people who have fallen down. The Lord loves people who are righteous.
• Isaiah 29:18At that time, deaf people will be able to hear when someone is reading words from a book. Blind people who have been living in a dark place will be able see what is happening.
• Isaiah 32:3At that time, everyone who has eyes will be able to see clearly. Everyone who has ears will be able to listen well.
• Isaiah 35:5At that time, he will open the eyes of blind people. Deaf people will hear again.
• Isaiah 42:7You will cause blind people to see. You will cause prisoners to be free. You will bring out into the open people who sit in dark prisons.
• Isaiah 43:8So bring the people to me. They have eyes, but they are blind! They have ears, but they are deaf!
• Luke 4:18‘The Spirit of the Lord God is on me. He has chosen me to tell good news to poor people. He has sent me to tell people who are in prison, “You can go free!” I must say to people that cannot see, “See again!” I must cause people that are like slaves to become free.
• Luke 24:45Then he helped them to understand God's message in the Bible.
• John 9:39Then Jesus said, ‘I came into this world to judge people. Then people who know that they are blind will be able to see. And people who think they can see will become blind.’
• 2 Corinthians 4:4Those people do not accept God's good news. The god of this world has confused their minds. They cannot see the light that the good news brings. That message teaches about the great power of Christ, who shows us exactly what God is like.
• Ephesians 1:18I pray that God will bring light into your minds. Then you will understand about the many good things that he has prepared for you. You know that you will receive those things because he has chosen you to be his people. God has prepared very valuable things for you in heaven.
• Acts 26:23They said that God's special Messiah would have much pain and he would die. But God would raise him up to be alive again. He would be the first dead person to become alive and not die again. In that way, he would show God's message and bring light to people. He would save both Jewish people and Gentiles. That is what the prophets and Moses wrote. And I say the same thing.’
• Acts 13:47The Lord God has also told us to do this. He said: “I have chosen you to be like a light to the Gentiles. You must go to people everywhere in the world. You must tell them how God wants to save them.” ’
• Isaiah 9:2The people who walk in the dark now see a bright light! Light is shining on those people who live in a land of complete darkness.

Commentaries on Acts 26:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18To open their eyes - To be the instrument of informing their understanding in the things of God. To turn them from darkness to light - From heathenism and superstition to the knowledge and worship of the true God. From the power of Satan unto God - , From the authority and domination of Satan; for as the kingdom of darkness is his kingdom, so those who live in this darkness are under his dominion; and he has authority and right over them. The blessed…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18To open their eyes - To enlighten or instruct them. Ignorance is represented by the eyes being closed, and the instruction of the gospel by the opening of the eyes. See Ephesians 1:18. And to turn them from darkness to light - From the darkness of paganism and sin to the light and purity of the gospel. Darkness is an emblem of ignorance and of sin, and the pagan nations are often represented as sitting in darkness. Compare the Matthew 4:16 note; John…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-23Verses 12-23 Paul was made a Christian by Divine power; by a revelation of Christ both to him and in him; when in the full career of his sin. He was made a minister by Divine authority: the same Jesus who appeared to him in that glorious light, ordered him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. A world that sits in darkness must be enlightened; those must be brought to know the things that belong to their everlasting peace, who are yet ignorant of them. A…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17-18Throughout his defense in this trial for his life, Paul also clearly set out the conditions for receiving new life in Christ (also in 26:20, 23; see Matthew 10:19–20).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 16-1816-18. But rise, &c.--Here the apostle appears to condense into one statement various sayings of his Lord to him in visions at different times, in order to present at one view the grandeur of the commission with which his Master had clothed him [Alford]. a minister ... both of these things which thou hast seen--putting him on a footing with those "eye-witnesses and ministers of the word" mentioned in Lu 1:2. and of those in which I will appear to…Read the comment

Topics related to Acts 26:18

• Blindness
• Converts
• Court
• Damascus
• Darkness
• Defense
• Faith
• Gentiles
• God Continued...
• Immortality
• Inheritance
• Light
• Minister, Christian
• Missions
• Paul
• Regeneration
• Reward
• Righteous
• Sanctification
• Satan
• Sin
• Testimony
• Word of God
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• God
• Satan
• Satan, devil, evil one
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Above
• Agrippa II.
• Apostle
• Beside
• Call
• Conversion

Commentaries on Acts 26

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings