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Acts 9:1-9. Saul’s mission to Damascus and his Conversion

1. And [But] Saul, yet breathing out threatenings [threatening] It is better to translate the conjunction adversatively here, as the new subject is not connected except with the first sentence of chap. 8. The verb in this clause should be rendered “breathing,” not “breathing out.” Threatening and slaughter was, as it were, the atmosphere in which Saul was living.

and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord] We are not told of any other death, but Stephen’s, in which Saul was a participator, but we can gather from his own words (Acts 26:10) “when they were put to death, I gave my voice [vote] against them,” that the protomartyr was not the only one who was killed in the time of this persecution. It has been suggested that the zeal which Saul shewed at the time of Stephen’s death led to his election into the Sanhedrin, and so he took a judicial part in the later stages of the persecution, and, it may be, from a desire to justify the choice of those who had placed him in authority, he sought to be appointed over the enquiry after the Christians in Damascus. We gather from Acts 26:10 that before this inquisitorial journey he had been armed with the authority of the chief priests in his search after the Christians in Jerusalem.

went unto the high priest] who would most likely be the authority through whom the power, which the Great Sanhedrin claimed to exercise, in religious matters, over Jews in foreign cities, would be put in motion.

2. and desired of him letters] These are the papers which constituted his “authority and commission” (Acts 26:12). From that passage we learn that the issuing of these papers was the act of the whole body, for Paul there says they were “from the chief priests.”

to Damascus] Of the history of this most ancient (Genesis 14:15) city in the world, see the Dictionary of the Bible. It had from the earliest period been mixed up with the history of the Jews, and great numbers of Jews were living there at this time, as we can see from the subsequent notices of their conduct in this chapter. We are told by Josephus (B. J. ii. 20. 2) that ten thousand Jews were slaughtered in a massacre in Damascus in Nero’s time, and that the wives of the Damascenes were almost all of them addicted to the Jewish religion.

to the synagogues] As at Jerusalem, so in Damascus the synagogues were numerous, and occupied by different classes and nationalities. Greek-Jews were sure to be found in so large a city.

that if he found any of this way] Better, “any that were of the Way.” The name “the Way” soon became a distinctive appellation of the Christian religion. The fuller expression “the way of truth” is found 2 Peter 2:2; and the brief term is common in the Acts. See Acts 19:9; Acts 19:23, Acts 22:4, Acts 24:14; Acts 24:22.

whether … men or women] We can mark the fury with which Saul raged against the Christians from this mention of the “women” as included among those whom he committed or desired to commit to prison. Cp. Acts 8:3 and Acts 22:4. The women played a more conspicuous part among the early Christians than they were allowed to do among the Jews. See note on Acts 1:14.

he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem] That the whole authority of the Great Sanhedrin might be employed for the extinction of the new teaching.

3. And as he journeyed] There were two roads by which Saul could make his journey, one the caravan road which led from Egypt to Damascus, and kept near the coast line of the Holy Land till it struck eastward to cross the Jordan at the north of the Lake of Tiberias. To join this road Saul must have at first turned westward to the sea. The other way led through Neapolis and crossed the Jordan south of the Sea of Tiberias, and passing through Gadara went north-eastward to Damascus. We have no means whereby to decide by which road Saul and his companions took their way. The caravan road was a distance of one hundred and thirty-six miles, and occupied six days for the journey.

he came near Damascus] The original is more full. Read, “it came to pass that he drew nigh unto Damascus.” The party must have reached the near neighbourhood of the city, for his companions (Acts 9:8) “led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus” after the vision.

and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven] In Acts 22:6 we are told that the time of the day was “about noon” when the vision was seen, and in Acts 26:13, Paul says that “at mid-day” the light was “above the brightness of the sun.” The mid-day glare of an Eastern sun is of itself exceedingly bright, and the hour was chosen, we cannot doubt, in order that “the glory” of this heavensent light should not be confounded with any natural phenomenon. It was in the midst of this glory that Christ was seen by Saul (1 Corinthians 15:8), so that he can enumerate himself among those who had beheld the Lord after His resurrection.

4. And he fell to the earth] Dazzled by the intense brightness. From Acts 26:14 we find that not only Saul but his companions were struck down by the light, though there was more in the vision which he beheld than was made evident to them, and by reason of the greater glory which was manifested to him, his natural sight was blinded.

and heard a voice] We cannot represent in English the different case of the noun in this verse, and in 7. The Greek puts here the accusative case and there the genitive, and thus indicates that there was a difference in the nature of the hearing of Saul and of his companions. And Paul in Acts 22:9 marks the distinction in his own narration, for he says “They heard not the voice (accusative) of him that spake to me.” As this difference is made both in St Luke’s first account, and in the speech of St Paul at Jerusalem, it seems reasonable to accept the explanation which has long ago been given of this grammatical variation, and to understand that Saul heard an articulate sound, a voice which spake to him, while his companions were only conscious of a sound from which they comprehended nothing. St Paul then is precise when he says “they heard not the voice” which I heard, and St Luke is correct when in Acts 9:7 he says “they heard a sound.”

saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?] It is very noteworthy that in all the three accounts of the vision the Greek text of Saul’s name is a transliteration of the Hebrew, shewing that we have here a very close adherence to the words of Jesus. The Lord spake in the language of His people, and both the Evangelist and the Apostle have preserved for us this remarkable feature of the heavenly address. The only other place where the Hebrew form of Saul’s name is retained is in the speech of Ananias when (Acts 9:17) he comes to see the convert in his blindness. As he also had received a communication from Jesus in connection with Saul’s conversion, we can understand how the same form of the name would have been given to him. Moreover he was himself, to judge from his name, a Hebrew, and therefore that form would be most natural on his lips. Except in these cases St Luke always employs the Greek form of the word.

Christ speaks of Himself as persecuted by Saul, because “in all the affliction of his people he is afflicted” (Isaiah 63:9), and “whoso toucheth them, toucheth the apple of his eye” (Zechariah 2:8).

5. And he said, Who art thou, Lord?] Saul is sensible of the Divine nature of the vision, and shews this by his address. The appearance of Christ, though in a glorified body, must have been like that which He wore in His humanity, and since Saul does not recognize Jesus, we may almost certainly conclude that he had not known Him during His ministerial life.

And the Lord said] The best texts have only “And he,” the verb “said” being understood.

I am Jesus whom thou persecutest] In Acts 22:8 St Paul gives the fuller form of the sentence, “I am Jesus of Nazareth.” By using this name, the being whose Divine nature Saul has already acknowledged by calling him “Lord,” at once and for ever puts an end to Saul’s persecuting rage, for he is made to see, what his master Gamaliel had before suggested (Acts 5:39), that to persecute Jesus was to “fight against God.”

it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him] These words have been inserted here in some MSS. for the sake of making in this place a complete narrative by the combination and adaptation of the additional particulars given in Acts 26:14 and Acts 22:10. It is easy to understand the desire which prompted such a combination. The best MSS. omit the words here, giving them where they more naturally find place, in the personal narratives of St Paul himself.

6. Arise] The MSS. which omit the above words insert a conjunction here. Read, But arise. Saul had continued prostrate as he had fallen down at the first.

and go into the city] A proof that the party of travellers had arrived very nearly at Damascus. Tradition here, as in many other instances, has fixed on a spot as the scene of this Divine vision. It is placed outside the eastern gate, and about a mile from the city. Such a situation answers very well, but its fitness is the only ground for attaching any weight to the tradition.

and it shall be told thee what thou must do] In Acts 26:16-18 we have an abstract given by the Apostle of the labours for which Christ designed him, and the words in that passage are placed as a portion of the Divine communication made before Saul entered Damascus, but as in that narrative no mention is made of Ananias or his visit, we may conclude that we have instead a brief notice of the message which Ananias brought to him, and that therein is contained a declaration of what Jesus in the vision only spoke of as “what thou must do.”

7. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless] Cp. Daniel 10:7, “I Daniel alone saw the vision, for the men that were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them.”

Saul was not only furnished with authority, but also with men who were to carry out his intentions and bring the prisoners to Jerusalem. Painters have represented the travellers as riding on horseback, but there is no warrant for this in any form of the narrative.

stood here means “remained fixed,” “did not move.” They had been stricken down as well as Saul (Acts 26:14).

hearing a [the] voice] On the variation of case here, and the probable difference of meaning, see note on Acts 9:4.

but seeing [beholding] no man] The verb is the same that is used by Stephen (Acts 7:56), “Behold, I see the heavens opened.” In their astonishment, and guided by the sound, Saul’s companions lifted up their faces to the sky, but as with the words so with the appearance of Jesus; it was unseen by all but one, but to him was manifest enough to form a ground of his confidence in his Apostolic mission: “Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?” (1 Corinthians 9:1).

8. and [but] when his eyes were opened, he saw no man [nothing] The vision had struck him blind. He opened his eyes, but their power had been taken away. Thus his physical condition becomes a fit representation of the mental blindness which he afterwards (Acts 26:9) deplores: “I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.”

but [and] they led him by the hand] His companions saw all things as before, and were able to guide him who had started forth as the leader in their mission of persecution.