26:5a

a long time: Here this word probably refers to most of Paul’s life. Paul began going to school in Jerusalem at about age six. He was now about fifty years old. The Jews in Jerusalem knew him from the time he began school.

26:5b

testify: This word means “report what one saw.” The word is often used where the person is expected to be truthful and accurate. Other ways to translate this word are:

faithfully report
-or-
accurately/truthfully assert

if they are willing: Here Paul indicates that he doubts that the Jews would be willing to testify. Another way to translate this clause is:

If they want to (New Century Version)

26:5c

I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the strictest sect of our religion: The phrase strictest sect refers to the Pharisees. Paul lived according to their rules. Other ways to translate this clause are:

I have lived as a member of the strictest party of our religion, the Pharisees. (Good News Translation)
-or-
I was a Pharisee, a member of a group that is stricter than any other. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
I was a good Pharisee. And the Pharisees obey the laws of the Jewish religion more carefully than any other group. (New Century Version)

strictest: The Pharisees followed their rules related to the law of Moses very carefully. They also had more rules than the Sadducees or any other group of Jews. Other ways to translate this word are:

the most exact/severe/regulated
-or-
more carefully than any other group (New Century Version)

sect: Here this word refers to one of several groups within a religion. Each group followed that religion according to their own rules. Here the word does not imply whether the group was good or bad. For example:

group (Contemporary English Version)

our religion: The word our implies the Jews here. Paul believed that Christianity was the fulfillment of the promises in the Jewish religion about the Christ. So Paul probably used the word our to imply “the Jews” while speaking to King Agrippa. Paul would say there are differences between Christianity and Judaism but did not want to indicate those differences here. You probably do not want to explain what our refers to in your translation.

religion: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as religion refers to the things that people do when following their religious beliefs. The beliefs of that religion are perhaps included in the meaning of this word but are not important in its meaning. But the best English word here is religion.

I lived as a Pharisee: This clause indicates that Paul was a Pharisee and lived according to their rules. For example:

I was a good Pharisee (New Century Version)

© 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.