Acts 26:18

ἀνοῖξαι ὀφθ. αὐτῶν, cf. Acts 9:8; Acts 9:40, and also Matthew 9:30; so too Isaiah 35:5; Isaiah 42:7. Both Jews and Gentiles were blinded (οὕς above, referring to both), the former because seeing they saw not, Matthew 13:13; Romans 11:8; the latter in that knowing God in His creation they glorified Him not as God, and their senseless heart was darkened, Romans 1:21; and to both St. Paul proclaimed the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 4:6; Ephesians 1:18. The infinitive of purpose depending on ἀποστέλλω, Burton, p. 157; Viteau, Le Grec du N.T., p. 169 (1893). ἐπιστρέψαι : “that they may turn,” R.V. (” to turn them,” margin, so A.V.); in St. Luke, who uses the verb more frequently than any other N.T. writer, it is nearly always intransitive, except in Luke 1:16-17, Moulton and Geden, while Grimm adds Acts 26:20 below; so here all E.V [401] before the authorised, cf. Vulgate, “ut convertantur” (Humphry). If we thus take ἐπισ. as intransitive, it is subordinate to the previous infinitive of purpose, ἀνοῖξαι, and τοῦ λαβεῖν again subordinate to ἐπιστ., expressing the final result aimed at (Page, and see also Wendt's note, in loco (1899)). ἀπὸ σκότους εἰς φῶς : throughout St. Paul's Epistles the imagery was frequent with reference not only to Gentiles but also to Jews, cf. Romans 2:19; Romans 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:5; Ephesians 5:18; Colossians 1:12. The words gain in interest here if we think of them as corresponding with the Apostle's own recovering from blindness, spiritual and physical (Plumptre). τοῦ Σατανα, Blass, Gram., pp. 32, 144; no less than ten times by St. Paul in his Epistles; cf. 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2; Ephesians 6:12 (Colossians 1:13. ἐξουσία σκότους, Luke 22:53). There is no reason to suppose with Bengel that St. Paul is here referring to Gentiles rather than to Jews, for whilst the Jews no doubt would regard the Gentiles as loving σκότος and in the power of Satan, cf. also Luke 13:16; Luke 22:31; Acts 5:3. For current ideas with regard to Satan and the teaching of the N.T. cf. Edersheim, Jesus the Messiah, ii., p. 775; Charles, Book of Enoch, Introd., p. 52, and Assumption of Moses, x., 1, where Satan is apparently represented as the head of the kingdom of evil; cf. in the N.T. Ephesians 1:21; Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 2:15, for the whole hierarchy of evil spirits at the disposal of Satan, and 2 Thessalonians 2:9; cf. 2 Corinthians 11:14 for his supernatural powers of deceiving or preventing men; see especially Sanday and Headlam, Romans, p. 145. τοῦ λαβεῖν : expressing the ultimate object of ἀνοῖξαι (see above, and Weiss, in loco). ἄφεσιν ἁμαρ., Acts 3:16, the language here is quite Pauline, cf. Colossians 1:12-14, where also deliverance out of the power of darkness and forgiveness of sins in the Son of God's love are connected as here. τῇ πίστει εἰς ἐμέ : may be connected with λαβεῖν, faith in Christ as the condition of forgiveness placed emphatically at the end; cf. Acts 10:43, A. and R.V. connect the words with ἡγιασμένοις, so Vulgate. κλῆρον ἐν τοῖς ἡγιας., cf. Acts 20:32; Colossians 1:12.

[401] English Version.