Acts 28:23-29 meaning

In Acts 28:23-29, Paul will share the gospel with Roman Jews, where some will believe and others will dissent.

Paul, now settled into rented quarters under house arrest in Rome, has been given the opportunity to preach to local Jews.

The leading Jews of Rome planned a specific date for Paul to explain what “his views” are (Acts 28:22), what he thinks is true:

When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening (v. 23).

This day was set in advance, put on the calendar, and was apparently made known to other Jews in Rome, not exclusive to the leading Jews only. Luke, the author of Acts, reports that they came to Paul at his lodging in large numbers. Paul is still a prisoner of the Romans, awaiting his hearing before Caesar, and has been fortunate to be permitted to live in his own lodging, “allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him” (Acts 28:16).

Paul is under house arrest, renting some kind of living space in Rome. His lodging was either ample enough to accommodate these large numbers, or perhaps he was allowed outside by his guard to teach in an open courtyard/garden (a Roman “peristyle”). Whatever the venue, Paul’s audience was large. Many Roman Jews had heard about this “sect” of believers in Jesus, and knew it was spoken against as false, so they wanted Paul to make the case (Acts 24:5).

Paul’s purpose in life was to share the gospel (Acts 20:24, 26:16-18, Romans 1:1, 1 Corinthians 9:16). Though he was called to be the messenger to the Gentiles, he preached to Jews whenever he had the chance. With the Gentiles he had to preach from universal truths and slowly narrow his argument toward the one true God and His Son (Acts 14:15-17, 17:22-31). But with a Jewish audience Paul could cite the Law of Moses and the Prophets (the Old Testament) and his listeners would readily know what he was talking about (Acts 17:2-3, 17, 18:4, 19, 19:8).

Paul was also capable of talking as long as people would listen to him. Once, in Troas, he preached all night (Acts 20:7-11). He spoke to these Roman Jews from morning until evening—the entire day. He had an entire day to talk to them, explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus.

The heart of his solemn testimony was Jesus. His hope was to persuade them concerning Jesus, that He was indeed the Messiah from God, who died for the sins of the world and resurrected three days later, and would come again to fulfill the remaining Messianic promises concerning Him, that He would establish the kingdom of God on earth, not just for Israel, but for the entire world (Isaiah 49:5-6, Jeremiah 23:5-6, Zechariah 9:9-10).

Paul was able to quote and reason from the scriptures while trying to persuade the Roman Jews. This showed that his beliefs were rooted in the promises of God written in the Old Testament. It also showed that he was not against the Law of Moses or the Prophets as he was falsely accused; he knew the scriptures and believed in them.

He believed that many of them had been fulfilled by Jesus, and the remainder would be fulfilled by Him in the future. In this respect, Paul validated what Jesus said of Himself, that He did not come to abolish the Law but rather to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17).

As was typical in Paul’s missionary work, and typical of humanity in general, some were persuaded while others were not:

Some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe (v. 24).

Some believe, others do not. Some of the Roman Jews were being persuaded by the things spoken by Paul, his personal testimony of seeing Jesus Christ, of changing from a persecutor of Christians to a preacher of the gospel he had formerly rejected (Acts 26:12-18), and how the Law and the Prophets were being fulfilled, not attacked, by Jesus and His followers (Matthew 5:17). Yet others who heard Paul’s preaching would not believe.

In this case, the object of belief was Jesus. Some would not believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah sent by God to redeem Israel. This caused debate among them, as some were confessing faith in Jesus as Messiah and others rejected the message:

And when they did not agree with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, (v. 25).

Because some were persuaded by Paul and others would not believe, they did not agree with one another. They seem to have begun to argue there amongst themselves as some confessed faith and others shot it down.

So Paul closes his teaching by showing how the words of Isaiah are being fulfilled by his audience, followed by the declaration that salvation is also offered to the Gentiles, which is usually met with surprise or anger from the Jews (Acts 10:45, 11:2-3, 18, 22:21-22).

Paul quotes one of the Prophets of the Hebrew scripture, Isaiah, who conveyed more Messianic prophecies than any other prophet, which were revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. Paul attributes this word to the Holy Spirit directly who spoke through Isaiah the prophet. All of scripture, Old Testament and New, are inspired or spoken by God’s Spirit to or through the prophet or author (2 Samuel 23:2, Nehemiah 9:30, Zechariah 7:12, 2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:20-21).

Paul says the Holy Spirit rightly spoke, which is to emphasize the truthfulness of what he is about to impart to them, and how it is being fulfilled right then and there. This parting word from Paul will end the gathering, because they began leaving after he reminds them of the prophecy that pertains to them.

This message was originally directed to your fathers, the Jews of Isaiah’s day. Though Paul addressed the Jewish leaders as “brethren” when he first spoke with them earlier (Acts 28:17), he now subtly separates himself from those who do not believe by saying that Isaiah spoke this message to your fathers, rather than “our” fathers. Paul does not belong to the audience of this prophecy, nor do those Jews there who were persuaded by his teaching and believed in Jesus. But for those who denied it and began arguing with the Jews who had believed it, the message was pertinent.

This quote is from a vision Isaiah had where the prophet saw the Lord on His throne, and was made aware of his own uncleanliness, to stand before a holy God, as well as the uncleanliness of the Jewish people. An angel then brought a coal from a heavenly altar and put it on Isaiah’s tongue, saying, “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:7). The Lord then asks who will go speak a message for Him, and Isaiah, now cleansed of sin and able to speak, eagerly volunteers, “Here I am! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8). Then God begins the message which Isaiah is to take to the Jewish people, your fathers, which is what Paul cites.

Paul quotes from Isaiah 6:9-10:

...the Holy Spirit rightly spoke (v. 25) ...saying,

‘GO TO THIS PEOPLE AND SAY,
“YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND;
AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;

FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL,
AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR,
AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES;
OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT SEE WITH THEIR EYES,
AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS,
AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN,
AND I WOULD HEAL THEM”’ (vs. 26-27).

The message which God gave to Isaiah to Go to this people (the Jews) and say was a message that revealed their inability to accept the message. There are multiple illustrations that demonstrate their lack of understanding, their refusal to believe God’s word. They will keep on hearing, meaning the message will come to them and they will not have the excuse that they never heard it, but they will not understand. They will keep on seeing what God shows them, but will not perceive.

They will not really grasp what they are seeing, though they see it. This is what many of the Jewish leaders did who rejected Jesus and plotted His death; they were perfectly aware of the miracles He performed. They did not deny the miracles. Incredibly, they believed the miracles were real and true but lamented that people were believing in Jesus as a result.

These miracles should have helped them perceive and understand that He was the Messiah, but instead they viewed Him as a threat to their power and sought to destroy Him. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the Jewish leadership held a meeting:

“Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, ‘What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.’…So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.”
(John 11:47-48, 53)

Though Jesus was performing supernatural actions as amazing as raising the dead to life, the response was fear and a plot to murder Him. They saw, but did not understand.

The reason that the audience of God’s message will keep on hearing, but will not understand...keep on seeing, but won’t perceive is because of the state of their heart. The heart of this people has become dull. That it has become dull indicates that it was not always dull, but gradually lost its ability to understand and perceive. Their heart gradually declined into dullness, rather than staying sharp and devoted to truth.

This dullness of heart might be the same state described in Romans 1:28 as a “depraved mind.” Romans 1:28 describes the third and last stage of the degradation people go through who refuse to acknowledge God. God’s wrath pours out on them by giving them over to what they desire (Romans 1:18, 24, 26, 28). Their lust becomes addiction which then leads to a loss of mental health.

Isaiah continues to paint a picture of a people whose life is falling apart. Their heart became dull. Their ability to hear has also declined; with their ears they scarcely hear. They have lost their ability to perceive reality. The problem with their eyes is not one of deterioration, but of the choice not to use them: And they have closed their eyes; Otherwise they might see with their eyes. Their eyes would work if they would open them to the truth: they might see with their eyes, but their eyes remain closed, because they have closed them.

They have chosen to believe what is not true, and that blinds them to the possibility of seeing what is true. If they opened their eyes, they would begin to see, which would lead to their failing ears and heart to also regain their abilities of perception. They would hear with their ears, And understand with their heart.

If they opened their eyes and heard with their ears and understood with their heart, then they would take action to reconcile themselves with God. They would return to the Lord, as the Prodigal Son returned to his father, who, in similar language to this prophecy, “came to his senses” and realized he should go home to his father who would forgive him and treat him well (Luke 15:17, 20-24). In the same way that our hearing, sight, and ability to reason are senses we possess to understand what is happening around us in the physical world, so we must use spiritual discernment in our hearts and minds to perceive reality in the spiritual realm.

The Prodigal Son used his senses; on his own, he compared the goodness of his father to the squalor he lived in, and chose to go back home. Like the Prodigal Son, if the hearers of the message returned, God promises, And I would heal them.

God would heal them of their sin. If a series of causal “ifs” happened—if they saw with their eyes, if they heard with their ears, if they understood with their heart, if they would return to Him, then God would heal them. But the implication seems to be that they won’t. They have closed their eyes. Their ears barely hear anything at all, let alone God’s voice. And their hearts are dull.

Paul, applying this prophecy to his present audience of disbelieving Jews, shows them that because of their stubborn denial of God’s message, the door has been open to Gentiles, the people groups outside of God’s chosen people:

Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen” (v. 28).

The word Therefore signals that what will follow is because of what came before. Because some of the Jews resist believing in God’s messiah, Therefore let it be known to you (you who doubt) that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles. This salvation of God was sent first to Israel. Jesus was clear during His ministry that He first came to save the lost sheep of Israel from their sin, and Paul echoed it in his own writings (Matthew 10:5-6, 15:24, John 4:22, Romans 1:16, 15:8).

Had the Jews believed and received Jesus as Messiah, He would have taken the throne of Israel. Apparently, this was still a possibility in the first generation following Jesus, because Peter promised the Jews that the “times of refreshing” would come if Jesus was received by the nation (Acts 3:19). This referred to the return of Jesus as Messiah. In Peter’s sermon of Acts 3 he also mentioned that God had promised to bless all nations through Jesus (Acts 3:25, Genesis 12:3).

Just before He ascended to Heaven after His resurrection, Jesus gave the disciples a plan to bring salvation to all nations. Jesus told the Apostles to make disciples across the whole world, first the Jews, then the Samaritans (half Jewish, half Gentile), then the ends of the earth (Gentiles—all people groups other than Jews) (Matthew 28:19, Acts 1:8). God’s salvation to the entire world includes the opportunity to be received as a child into His family through being justified before God in Christ (John 3:14-15). It also includes the opportunity to reign with Christ in His kingdom (Revelation 3:21).

This salvation found in Jesus was now sent to the Gentiles. Paul concludes, they will also listen. Some of the Jews present had believed that Jesus was the Messiah (v. 24). Paul himself was a Jew. Most of the first churches were begun by Jewish believers. But as God’s chosen people, all of the Jews ought to have believed (particularly the leaders).

As God’s chosen people, they were given the priority and privilege of hearing God’s word first and receiving God’s messiah in their midst. Since some of the Jews were rejecting salvation, room has been made for the Gentiles.

Similarly, Paul and Barnabas told the disbelieving Jews in Pisidian Antioch, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us…” (Acts 13:46).

Here in Rome, at Paul’s teaching, those who rejected Jesus were acting as the people in Isaiah’s prophecy, those of dull hearts, weak ears, and shut eyes. They were missing what was in front of them. This then was an additional fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Even though Paul says this prophecy was spoken to their fathers, he infers that this generation was also a fulfillment of the prophecy. This fits the biblical pattern of multiple prophetic fulfillments.

This salvation of God had been sent to the Gentiles because they will also listen. Just as some Jews have listened and believed, some Gentiles will as well.

Throughout the Book of Acts, there are many moments where Gentiles listen to the gospel and receive this salvation of God through their faith, and they respond with joy that God has saved them (Acts 10:33, 44-48, 11:20-21, 13:48, 15:3). As Paul and Barnabas told the Jerusalem church after their first missionary journey, God “had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27).

Paul finishes his preaching, and his divided audience exits:

[When he had spoken these words, the Jews departed, having a great dispute among themselves.] (v. 29).

At the point When he had spoken these words of Isaiah’s prophecy, describing their failure to believe God’s message, the Jews departed from Paul’s lodging. They continued to argue, having a great dispute among themselves. The dispute arose between those who believed Paul’s preaching and those who rejected it.

Verse 29 is in brackets placed by the translators of the NASB-95 to indicate that this sentence appears in the later copies of the Book of Acts and is absent in the older copies. (The majority texts include verses that appear in most ancient copies, with the observation that errors tend to have fewer repetitions, so older copies with mistakes were likely discarded and found because of lack of use.)

This final moment—where some of the Jews believe and others reject the gospel, leading to a dispute that is not resolved—is reflective of a theme in Paul’s letter to the Romans.

Years earlier, he wrote to the Roman believers, and explained this opening of salvation to the Gentiles due to Jewish rejection as being temporary. Paul asserted that ultimately, because God is faithful to His promises, and the Jews are forever His chosen people, all of Israel will be saved:

“and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written,

‘THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION,
HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.’
‘THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM,
WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.’”
(Romans 11:26-27)

Paul was defending himself against an accusation that his teaching (that God’s grace made adherence to religious ritual unnecessary) meant God had rejected Israel from being His people (Romans 11:1). But Paul made clear that Israel is still the root of the olive tree that is God’s people and that “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:16-17).

For more on this topic, see our commentary on Romans 11.