Acts 28:24

THE MESSAGE

Some of them were persuaded by what he said, but others refused to believe a word of it. When the unbelievers got cantankerous and started bickering with each other, Paul interrupted: "I have just one more thing to say to you. The Holy Spirit sure knew what he was talking about when he addressed our ancestors through Isaiah the prophet: Go to this people and tell them this: "You're going to listen with your ears, but you won't hear a word; You're going to stare with your eyes, but you won't see a thing. These people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won't have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won't have to look, so they won't have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Some were persuaded by what he said, but others did not believe.

King James Version (1611)
And some beleeued the things which were spoken, and some beleeued not.

King James Version
And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.

English Standard Version
And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved.

New American Standard Bible
Some were being persuaded by the things said by Paul, but others would not believe.

New Century Version
Some believed what Paul said, but others did not.

Amplified Bible
Some were persuaded by what he said, but others would not believe.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe.

Legacy Standard Bible
And some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others were not believing.

Berean Standard Bible
Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others refused to believe.

Contemporary English Version
Some of the leaders agreed with what Paul said, but others did not.

Complete Jewish Bible
Some were convinced by what he said,

Darby Translation
And some were persuaded of the things which were said, but some disbelieved.

Easy-to-Read Version
Some of the Jews believed what he said, but others did not believe.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And some were persuaded with ye things which were spoken, and some beleeued not.

George Lamsa Translation
And some of them harkened to his words, but others paid no attention.

Good News Translation
Some of them were convinced by his words, but others would not believe.

Lexham English Bible
And some were convinced by what was said, but others refused to believe.

Literal Translation
And some indeed were persuaded by that being said, others disbelieved.

American Standard Version
And some believed the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.

Bible in Basic English
And some were in agreement with what he said, but some had doubts.

Hebrew Names Version
Some believed the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.

International Standard Version
Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others wouldn't believe.Acts 14:4; 17:4; 19:9;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
And some of them were persuaded by his words, and others were not persuaded.

Murdock Translation
And some of them assented to his discourses, and others did not assent.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And some were perswaded in the thynges which were spoken, and some beleued not.

English Revised Version
And some believed the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.

World English Bible
Some believed the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And some believed the things that were spoken, and some believed not.

Weymouth's New Testament
Some were convinced; others refused to believe.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And summe bileueden to these thingis that weren seid of Poul, summe bileueden not.

Update Bible Version
And some believed the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.

Webster's Bible Translation
And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.

New English Translation
Some were convinced by what he said, but others refused to believe.

New King James Version
And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.

New Living Translation
Some were persuaded by the things he said, but others did not believe.

New Life Bible
Some of them believed his teaching. Others did not believe.

New Revised Standard
Some were convinced by what he had said, while others refused to believe.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, some, indeed, were persuaded by the things that were spoken, whereas, others, disbelieved;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And some believed the things that were said: but some believed not.

Revised Standard Version
And some were convinced by what he said, while others disbelieved.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And some beleved ye thinges which were spoken and some beleved not.

Young's Literal Translation
and, some, indeed, were believing the things spoken, and some were not believing.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And some beleued ye thinge yt he sayde, but some beleued not.

Mace New Testament (1729)
some believed what he had said, but others did not believe:

Simplified Cowboy Version
A few came to see the truth, but others were too stubborn to turn from their ways.

Contextual Overview

²³ They agreed on a time. When the day arrived, they came back to his home with a number of their friends. Paul talked to them all day, from morning to evening, explaining everything involved in the kingdom of God, and trying to persuade them all about Jesus by pointing out what Moses and the prophets had written about him. ²⁴Some of them were persuaded by what he said, but others refused to believe a word of it. When the unbelievers got cantankerous and started bickering with each other, Paul interrupted: "I have just one more thing to say to you. The Holy Spirit sure knew what he was talking about when he addressed our ancestors through Isaiah the prophet: Go to this people and tell them this: "You're going to listen with your ears, but you won't hear a word; You're going to stare with your eyes, but you won't see a thing. These people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won't have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won't have to look, so they won't have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them." ²⁸ "You've had your chance. The non-Jewish outsiders are next on the list. And believe me, they're going to receive it with open arms!" Paul lived for two years in his rented house. He welcomed everyone who came to visit. He urgently presented all matters of the kingdom of God. He explained everything about Jesus Christ. His door was always open. ²⁹ Once everyone was accounted for and we realized we had all made it, we learned that we were on the island of Malta. The natives went out of their way to be friendly to us. The day was rainy and cold and we were already soaked to the bone, but they built a huge bonfire and gathered us around it. Paul pitched in and helped. He had gathered up a bundle of sticks, but when he put it on the fire, a venomous snake, roused from its torpor by the heat, struck his hand and held on. Seeing the snake hanging from Paul's hand like that, the natives jumped to the conclusion that he was a murderer getting his just deserts. Paul shook the snake off into the fire, none the worse for wear. They kept expecting him to drop dead, but when it was obvious he wasn't going to, they jumped to the conclusion that he was a god! The head man in that part of the island was Publius. He took us into his home as his guests, drying us out and putting us up in fine style for the next three days. Publius's father was sick at the time, down with a high fever and dysentery. Paul went to the old man's room, and when he laid hands on him and prayed, the man was healed. Word of the healing got around fast, and soon everyone on the island who was sick came and got healed. We spent a wonderful three months on Malta. They treated us royally, took care of all our needs and outfitted us for the rest of the journey. When an Egyptian ship that had wintered there in the harbor prepared to leave for Italy, we got on board. The ship had a carved Gemini for its figurehead: "the Heavenly Twins." We put in at Syracuse for three days and then went up the coast to Rhegium. Two days later, with the wind out of the south, we sailed into the Bay of Naples. We found Christian friends there and stayed with them for a week. And then we came to Rome. Friends in Rome heard we were on the way and came out to meet us. One group got as far as Appian Court; another group met us at Three Taverns—emotion-packed meetings, as you can well imagine. Paul, brimming over with praise, led us in prayers of thanksgiving. When we actually entered Rome, they let Paul live in his own private quarters with a soldier who had been assigned to guard him. Three days later, Paul called the Jewish leaders together for a meeting at his house. He said, "The Jews in Jerusalem arrested me on trumped-up charges, and I was taken into custody by the Romans. I assure you that I did absolutely nothing against Jewish laws or Jewish customs. After the Romans investigated the charges and found there was nothing to them, they wanted to set me free, but the Jews objected so fiercely that I was forced to appeal to Caesar. I did this not to accuse them of any wrongdoing or to get our people in trouble with Rome. We've had enough trouble through the years that way. I did it for Israel. I asked you to come and listen to me today to make it clear that I'm on Israel's side, not against her. I'm a hostage here for hope, not doom." They said, "Nobody wrote warning us about you. And no one has shown up saying anything bad about you. But we would like very much to hear more. The only thing we know about this Christian sect is that nobody seems to have anything good to say about it." They agreed on a time. When the day arrived, they came back to his home with a number of their friends. Paul talked to them all day, from morning to evening, explaining everything involved in the kingdom of God, and trying to persuade them all about Jesus by pointing out what Moses and the prophets had written about him. Some of them were persuaded by what he said, but others refused to believe a word of it. When the unbelievers got cantankerous and started bickering with each other, Paul interrupted: "I have just one more thing to say to you. The Holy Spirit sure knew what he was talking about when he addressed our ancestors through Isaiah the prophet: Go to this people and tell them this: "You're going to listen with your ears, but you won't hear a word; You're going to stare with your eyes, but you won't see a thing. These people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won't have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won't have to look, so they won't have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them." "You've had your chance. The non-Jewish outsiders are next on the list. And believe me, they're going to receive it with open arms!"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Acts 13:48-50, Acts 14:4, Acts 17:4, Acts 17:5, Acts 18:6-8, Acts 19:8, Acts 19:9, Romans 3:3, Romans 11:4-6

Reciprocal: Luke 12:52 - General Acts 4:4 - many Romans 10:16 - But they Romans 11:11 - but rather 2 Thessalonians 3:2 - for

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And some believed the things which were spoken,.... By him, concerning the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ; even as many as were ordained unto eternal life, and to whom it was given to believe; for faith is the gift of God, and which comes by hearing of the word, when it is attended with a divine power; and then it is not only notionally understood, and barely assented to as truth, but is cordially believed and embraced, and cheerfully professed, and steadily held fast: this was not a mere historical faith, or a bare assent to the truth of the things spoken, nor a mere profession of faith in them, but a believing in Christ with the heart, the sum and substance of them; as they heard these things, their understandings were enlightened, and they saw their need of Christ, and the things of Christ, which were held forth in the ministry of the word; and so approved of them, savoured, relished, and fed upon them; and until this is the case, none can, nor will believe aright:

and some believed not: notwithstanding the full proof, and clear evidence produced by the apostle: these were not of Christ's sheep, their eyes were blinded, and their hearts were hardened, as was prophesied of them, and therefore they could not believe; they were given up to a judicial blindness and hardness of heart, and were left under the power of obstinate and invincible unbelief: their disbelief of these things arose from the prejudices they had conceived about a worldly kingdom; from the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ, they imagining the Messiah would not die, but abide for ever; from the carnal reasonings of their minds, about divine and spiritual things; and from the ignorance that was in them, because of the obduracy of their hearts. The kingdom the apostle testified of was not an Utopian kingdom, nor any of the real kingdoms of this world, but the kingdom of the Messiah they were expecting; but that which he described, being not such an one as they imagined, they believed him not: the things he said concerning Jesus were not trivial, speculative, and indifferent things; but of the greatest moment and importance, and of which there was full proof in their own writings; and though spoken by Paul, were no other than the word of God; and besides, were good news, and glad tidings, and yet they believed them not: this difference among them, some believing and some not believing, was not owing to the power and free will of man, as if some of themselves would, and did believe, and others would not, but to the distinguishing grace of God; for faith is not of man, it is the gift of God, it is the fruit of electing grace, and is given in consequence of it: nor is this any unusual thing, under the same ministration of the word, for one to believe, and another not believe: this is a common case, and is the usual success the Gospel meets with; so it always has been, and so it is, and will be; so it was in the times of Noah, he was a preacher of righteousness to the old world, even of the righteousness of faith, many were disobedient, few believed; and so it fared with the evangelical prophet Isaiah, and with Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and other prophets of the Old Testament; and with John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, and with Christ himself, as well as with our apostle; and this has been the case ever since his time, now is, and will be, as long as the Gospel is preached.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And some believed ... - See the notes on Acts 14:4.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Acts 28:24. Some believed, c.] His message was there treated as his Gospel is to the present day: some believe, and are converted others continue in obstinate unbelief, and perish. Could the Jews then have credited the spiritual nature of the Messiah's kingdom, they would have found little difficulty to receive Jesus Christ as the MESSIAH.

Multitudes of those now called Christians can more easily credit Jesus as the Messiah than believe the spiritual nature of his kingdom. The cross is the great stumbling block: millions expect Jesus and his kingdom who cannot be persuaded that the cross is the way to the crown.