Acts 26:4. My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews...
mine own nation at Jerusalem versus my own nation/country, and also at Jerusalem
I first ran across this controversy and contradiction in a Facebook post by translator David Robert Palmer.
- AKJV: My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;
- NASB: So then, all Jews know my manner of life from my youth up, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and at Jerusalem;
- DRP: My manner of life since youth therefore, which took place at first in my own country and also in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews.
Justifying his translation “in my own country and also in Jerusalem” David Robert Palmer writes, “The problem with translations made from the Byzantine Greek text not containing τε is that they are saying Paul’s life was spent in Jerusalem from the beginning, when in fact his country was Cilicia in the city of Tarsus (Acts 9:11; 21:39; 22:3; 23:34). In court hearings, such as where this variant is taking place, it was always determined that Paul’s country legally was Cilicia, see Acts 23:34. Paul himself said he was a citizen of Tarsus, and that Cilicia was his ‘country,’ but Israel he consistently called his ‘nation,’ not his country or citizenship.” (The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments, July 2025 Edition, Palmer Translation, p. 1076. Note is in the Acts PDF, p. 45.)
- WEB: Indeed, all the Jews know my way of life from my youth up, which was from the beginning among my own nation and at Jerusalem;
- EMTV: Therefore my way of life from my youth, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation in Jerusalem, all the Jews know,
- NKJV: My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know.
- NIV: The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem.
Greek texts.
- TR1894: την μεν ουν βιωσιν μου την εκ νεοτητος την απ αρχης γενομενην εν τω εθνει μου εν ιεροσολυμοις ισασιν παντες οι ιουδαιοι
- SBLGNT: Τὴν μὲν οὖν βίωσίν μου τὴν ἐκ νεότητος τὴν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς γενομένην ἐν τῷ ἔθνει μου ἔν τε Ἱεροσολύμοις ἴσασι πάντες Ἰουδαῖοι,
- UBS/NA: Τὴν μὲν οὖν βίωσίν μου [τὴν] ἐκ νεότητος τὴν ἀπ' ἀρχῆς γενομένην ἐν τῷ ἔθνει μου ἔν τε Ἱεροσολύμοις ἴσασι πάντες [οἱ] Ἰουδαῖοι,
The “Problem.”
The modern Critical Text and translations based on it create a controversy and a contradiction where none previously existed.
In this statement Paul referred to his own nation – the Jewish people – not the country of Tarsus. He refers to his manner of life, which was a way of living, not his infant and toddler years! Paul, as Saul, had gained a remarkable reputation as a young scholar, especially when he became a passionate persecutor of the church (cf. Acts 9:4-5; 22:4: 26:11; 1 Corinthians 15:9: Galatians 1:13; Philippians 3:6).
Earlier commentators.
John Gill:
My manner of life, from my youth,.... That is, his conduct and deportment, his behaviour among men, from the time that he was capable of performing religious exercises, and of knowing the difference between one sect and another, and of being observed and taken notice of by men:
which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem; for though he was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, he was very early brought, or sent by his parents to Jerusalem, where he had his education under Gamaliel; so that the first part of his life was spent in Jerusalem, the metropolis of Judea, and among the Jews there; the more learned and knowing part of them, Gamaliel's pupils, and the wise men and their disciples: and his course of life must be well known to them, as he says,
this know all the Jews; that had any knowledge of him, and conversation with him.
Matthew Henry:
His education was neither foreign nor obscure; it was among his own nation at Jerusalem, where religion and learning flourished. All the Jews knew it, all that could remember so long, for Paul made himself remarkable betimes. Those that knew him from the beginning could testify for him that he was a Pharisee, that he was not only of the Jewish religion, and an observer of all the ordinances of it, but that he was of the most strict sect of that religion, most nice and exact in observing the institutions of it himself, and most rigid and critical in imposing them upon others.
Final thoughts.
Did Paul not begin his training in Jerusalem under Gamaliel? He was from Tarsus, but was he not sent to Jerusalem to train under Gamaliel? No one thought Paul meant he was born in Jerusalem, until modern scholars came along to explain a problem no one thought existed! The Textus Receptus (TR) and Majority Text Greek, the King James translations (and others based on these texts) accurately reflect the point Paul is making to Agrippa. The Critical Text and modern translations obscure it.
Just notes.
Palmer Translation of Acts 26:4-5 ⁴My manner of life since youth therefore, which took place at first in my own country and also in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. ⁵They have previously known of me from the start, if they are willing to testify, that I have lived as a Pharisee, following the strictest sect of our religion.
Facebook thread by Palmer on Acts 26:4.
Acts 26:5, Greek.
TR1894: προγινωσκοντες με ανωθεν εαν θελωσιν μαρτυρειν οτι κατα την ακριβεστατην αιρεσιν της ημετερας θρησκειας εζησα φαρισαιος
SBLGNT: προγινώσκοντές με ἄνωθεν, ἐὰν θέλωσι μαρτυρεῖν, ὅτι κατὰ τὴν ἀκριβεστάτην αἵρεσιν τῆς ἡμετέρας θρησκείας ἔζησα Φαρισαῖος
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