Agrippa

Biblical Record

In the New Testament, the name "Agrippa" appears only in Acts 25–26. Scholars commonly call this figure Agrippa II. His father, Agrippa I, appears in Acts 12 as "Herod the king," without being named Agrippa. Both men were descendants of Herod the Great, so the name "Herod Agrippa" is applied to both.

Agrippa I (Acts 12)

• He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword and put Peter in prison (Acts 12:1-4). Peter was led out of prison by the angel of the Lord.
• When he made an oration at Caesarea, the people shouted, "It is the voice of a god, and not of a man." Because he did not give God the glory, the angel of the Lord smote him, and Scripture records that he was eaten of worms and died (Acts 12:21-23).

Agrippa II (Acts 25–26)

• He came to Caesarea with Bernice to salute the new governor, Festus. Festus consulted him about the case of the imprisoned Paul (Acts 25:13-22).
• Before him, Paul gave a defense recounting his past, his experience on the road to Damascus, and the commission he had received (Acts 26). This scene is the last of the three accounts of Paul's conversion in Acts.
• When Paul asked, "King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets?" Agrippa replied, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian" (Acts 26:27-28).
• He told Festus that Paul might have been set at liberty if he had not appealed unto Caesar, that is, the Roman emperor (Acts 26:32).

Significance in Scripture

In Acts, the two Agrippas play different roles. Agrippa I is portrayed as a king who persecuted the church and came under judgment. Agrippa II, together with Festus, serves as a witness confirming that Paul had done nothing worthy of death. The scene in which Paul proclaims the gospel before the king is read as a fulfillment of the word that Paul would bear the Lord's name "before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel" (Acts 9:15).

Interpretation and Debate

• Interpretations of Acts 26:28 differ. The King James Version renders the verse "Almost thou persuadest me," and one tradition, following this translation, reads Agrippa as having nearly come to faith. Many scholars today take the original Greek to mean "in a short time" or "with few words" and understand the reply as evasive or sarcastic. The Korean Revised Version, New Edition (Gaeyeok Gaejeong), likewise renders it "with few words."
• There are also records outside the Bible. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus reports that Agrippa I died suddenly after being hailed as a god at Caesarea, an account similar to Acts 12. His death is generally dated to around AD 44. Josephus also reports that Agrippa II sided with Rome during the Jewish War (AD 66–70).
• The Bible contains no record that Agrippa II later became a Christian.

In the Korean Church

Acts 26:28-29 is frequently cited in sermons. Agrippa is treated as an example of someone who heard the gospel yet failed to commit himself, while Paul, who in chains wished that his hearers were "altogether such as I am," is presented as a model of zeal for evangelism. Some mistakenly assume that the Herod of Acts 12 and the Agrippa of Acts 25–26 are the same person, so Bible studies sometimes explain the distinction between the two.