26:7a
the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to realize: Paul was still speaking of the promise he mentioned in 26:6. This clause indicates that the Jews still hoped that God will resurrect the righteous people. The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to realize is literally “reach the goal.” The goal was God resurrecting them. Other ways to translate this clause are:
the very thing that the twelve tribes of our people hope to receive (Good News Translation)
-or-
the promise that our twelve tribes…hope to attain (New Jerusalem Bible)
our twelve tribes: The twelve sons of Israel became the founders of the twelve clans or tribes of Israel. Therefore this phrase refers to all of Israel. The nation of Israel refers to the Jews. Paul belonged to one of these clans/tribes and therefore to Israel. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
our twelve clans ⌊of Israel⌋
-or-
all of us Jews
26:7b
as they earnestly serve God day and night: This clause refers to what the Jews do while they wait for God to send the Christ. The word serve refers to doing what God told them to do. This would include things like worshiping him, praying to him, offering sacrifices, teaching others about him, and helping others. Other ways to translate this clause are:
as they earnestly fulfill all their religious duties to God night and day
-or-
as they earnestly do night and day all the things God told them to do
earnestly: This word refers to continuing to do something eagerly. Other ways to translate this word are:
zealously (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
with intense devotion (God’s Word)
day and night: This phrase indicates that various Jews serve God at various times so that altogether someone is serving God at all times.
26:7c
It is because of this hope…that I am accused by the Jews: This clause in Greek is literally “about which hope I am being accused by Jews.” It refers back to the hope that Paul mentioned in 26:7a. The Jews hoped that God would resurrect the righteous people. But the Jewish leaders, at least the Sadducees, accused Paul of wrongdoing because he believed in God resurrecting people (and perhaps because he said that the hope came true in Jesus). Other ways to translate this clause are:
for this hope I am accused by Jews (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
they accuse me for having this hope (New Living Translation (2004))
O king: Paul used the title king instead of his name to show respect.
© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.