Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 28:20

"For this cause therefore did I entreat you to see and to speak with [me]: for because of the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain." — Acts 28:20 (ASV)

For the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.—The mention of “chain” in the singular agrees with the fact stated in Acts 28:30, that he was entrusted to the keeping of a single soldier. There is a certain touch of pathos in this appeal to his sufferings as a prisoner (Ephesians 4:1; Ephesians 6:20).

The hope for which he suffered was twofold:

1. The expectation of the Messiah as bringing in a kingdom of heaven, which was cherished by every Israelite;
2. The hope of a resurrection from the dead, which he proclaimed as attested by the resurrection which proved (Romans 1:3–4) that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God.

(See Notes on Acts 26:6-7.)