“For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.”
My Notes
What Does Acts 28:20 Mean?
Paul reveals to the Roman Jewish leaders the real reason he's in chains: "for the hope of Israel I am bound." The chain on his wrist isn't punishment for a crime — it's the cost of believing what Israel has always hoped for: the resurrection of the dead and the coming of the Messiah.
The phrase "hope of Israel" (elpis tou Israel) identifies the resurrection as Israel's national hope, not a Christian innovation. Paul doesn't present the resurrection as something new he's adding to Judaism; he presents it as the thing Judaism has always been waiting for. His chains are the evidence that Israel's hope has been fulfilled and that fulfillment is controversial.
The chain as a visual aid is powerful: Paul holds it up (literally or metaphorically) and says — this is what hoping in Israel's promises costs. The hope that was supposed to unite Israel has divided it, and the division has produced chains for the man who believes the hope has been realized.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What has your faith cost you — and is there anything as tangible as Paul's chain?
- 2.How does Paul framing his imprisonment as 'for the hope of Israel' change the narrative from crime to conviction?
- 3.What does it mean that Israel's own hope produced chains for the man who believed it was fulfilled?
- 4.Where is your belief in something controversial producing visible cost in your life?
Devotional
"For the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain." Paul lifts his chain and says: this is what believing Israel's own promises costs. The hope you've been waiting for — resurrection, Messiah, restoration — I believe it happened. And the chain is my receipt.
The genius of Paul's framing is that he makes the Jewish leaders' own hope the reason for his imprisonment. He doesn't say "I'm in chains for following a new religion." He says "I'm in chains for believing what you've always believed." The hope of Israel — the resurrection, the messianic promise — isn't Paul's invention. It's Israel's inheritance. Paul just believes it's been fulfilled.
The chain becomes the visual argument. If the hope of Israel is what binds Paul, then the chain is evidence of that hope's reality, not evidence of Paul's criminality. You don't get chained for believing something nobody takes seriously. You get chained for believing something that threatens the current order. The chain proves the hope matters.
For Paul, the chain and the hope are inseparable. You can't have the hope without the chain — at least not in this age. The resurrection of Jesus, which Paul believes is Israel's fulfilled hope, produces conflict in the very community that should celebrate it. And that conflict produces chains.
What hope are you chained by? What belief costs you something visible — something as tangible as metal on your wrist? If your faith hasn't cost you anything, Paul's chain asks whether you've actually embraced the hope or just admired it from a distance.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
For this cause therefore have I called for you,.... To let them know the true state of his case; that though he was a…
Because that for the hope of Israel - On account of the hope which the Jews cherish of the coming of the Messiah; of the…
For the hope of Israel I am bound, etc. - As if he had said: This, and this alone, is the cause of my being delivered…
Paul, with a great deal of expense and hazard, is brought a prisoner to Rome, and when he has come nobody appears to…
For this cause therefore have I called for you to see you, and to speak with you [R. V."did I intreat you to see and to…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture