Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies

Department of Applied Theology Department

Acts 9:1-9 - Conversion of Saul of Tarsus

Exegesis assignment: Presented in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the course: NTST 562 The Acts of the Apostles

By

Veli-Lauri Kotilainen

September 26, 2021

Outline
 Exegesis - Acts 9:1-9 - Conversion of Saul of Tarsus

1. Historical Background - Saul – transformed to Apostle Paul – his

Early Life

2. a) The historical meaning and the literal meaning Acts 9:1-9.

3. The Structure of Conversion of Paul in Acts 9:1-9

4. The literary genre of Acts. 9: The ancient novel

5. The text Analysis different translations

6. a) Commentary and the Word study on Acts 9:1-9

b) Original Greek text: Saul's Damascus Road Conversion

7. Summary and conclusion

8. Bibliography

1. Historical Background
Saul – transformed to Apostle Paul – his Early Life

Saul came from the lineage of Hebrew parentage, he was of the tribe of Benjamin.
He was born in the city of Tarsus in Cilicia. His parents were strict Pharisees. He was
circumcised, according to the Hebrew law, when he was eight days old 1. He was
trained to observe the law very strictly. He received his schooling at Jerusalem
under the noted rabbi, Gamaliel (Acts 5:29;35, 22:3) 2. His father was a Roman
citizen, therefore, by birth was a Roman.

Roman citizens were required to know the Latin language. Saul’s father, being able
to speak Latin, it is almost certain that Saul learned it when a young man. Born as he
was in a Greek city, the third educational center of the world at that time, he would
unquestionably learn the Greek language. He would be taught to read, by his father,
in the Hebrew Bible and to use the Hebrew in the worship of the synagogue 3.

2. The historical meaning and the literal meaning Acts 9:1-9.

Paul's Interpretation of Both God and Man Is Based on His Doctrine of Christ. To
apostle Paul Jesus is Christ and Christ is Jesus. Acts 9:54 is essential on the Paul´s
conversion experience. As Jankiewicz has correctly observed Conversion expression
in the New Testament is derived from The Hebrew word shubh which was translated
epistrepho in the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Old Testament. In
classical Greek literature, this word was used to denote “turning of the soul to piety
or the divine;” and it was “via the LXX” that this word passed from the secular Greek
“into the vocabulary of the New Testament”

1
https://biblehub.com/philippians/3-5.htm
2
Gamaliel taught between A.D. 22-55, giving us an approximate early date for Paul’s education. If Paul began study at
the latest age of 16, we can guess a birth year of about 6 at the earliest. Polhill observes that several rulings of
Gamaliel appear in the Mishnah, mostly having to do with marriage and divorce. Perhaps Gamiliel’s views influenced
Paul’s personal comments on marriage in 1 Corinthians 7 (Polhill, Paul and his Letters, 30).
3
https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1929/12/pauls-gospel-(romans-216
4
Ibid
 3. Structure of Conversion of Paul in Acts 9:1-9
I. SAUL ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS – The outline of Acts 9 Conversion of
Paul

In the New Testament that we find what many consider5 the “prototype of Christian
conversion – the conversion of Paul”6

A. Saul Was Very Religious

1. As a Pharisee, he studied the OT scriptures and prayed every day

2. He rigorously kept the letter of the law

3. He participate in all the rituals and ceremonies of the temple

B. He Set Out to Pursue the Followers of Jesus

1. Many of the Christians who had left Jerusalem went to Damascus

2. Saul didn't ask God what he wanted him to do

3. He set out, accompanied by soldiers, on the way to Damascus - 150

miles, a 7 day journey on foot

4. He got letters from the high priest to the synagogues there, so he

could bring them back to Jerusalem for trial, prison, & death

C. He Was Like a Wild Beast

1. He was enraged, (v.1) And Saul, yet breathing out threatening and
slaughter

5
Jankiewicz, Edyta, "The Lived Experience of Conversion in the Broader Context of Experience of Faith
Formation: A Phenomenological Study of Third- and Greater-generation Seventh-day Adventist Young
Adults" (2016). Dissertations. 1607.https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations/1607
6
(Gaventa, 1986, p. 3)
 2. All the way, he was thinking about how he would drag those people
back to Jerusalem

3. He thought he was on God's side (Act 26:9) "I verily thought with
myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of
Nazareth."

4. But he found out just how wrong he was (Pro 14:12) There is a way
which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of
death.

II. GOD GETS SAULS ATTENTION

A. Saul is arrested by God

1. He thought he was going to arrest others, but God had a different plan

2. It takes a lot to get through to a hard-head

B. Approaching Damascus Saul was blinded by the light

1. Where he was threatening, now he was trembling

2. Thought he was in control, now...under God’s control

3. God blinded him so He could open his eyes

C. Then He Heard a Voice (4-5)

1. The same voice that spoke the world into existence.

2. Same voice that spoke to Moses and gave the Law

3. Same voice that spoke to Lazarus and raised him...

4. Same voice had cried out, “it is finished” on the cross

D. Saul Asked Two Questions

 1. (Q) "Who art thou Lord?" (v.5) – (A) "I am Jesus whom thou
persecute"

2. (Q) "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" (v.6)

3. (A) "Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou
must do."

III. SAULS LIFE WAS TRANSFORMED

A. Became Like a Little Child

1. Led by the hand into the city

2. Met by Ananias, a disciple

4. The literary genre of Acts. 9:

The ancient novel

Richard Pervo has stated about the literary genre of Acts written by Luke following:
Pervo begins with the question: Why discuss the ancient novel in a study of Acts?

Thematic, structural, and stylistic affinities [of Acts] with various novels should at
the very least provoke further reflection upon the ancient novel and upon the
usefulness of the genre for enhancing present-day appreciation of early Christian
narrative. The aim should not be such sensationalistic oversimplifications as, Acts is
a novel, concocted by Luke. My study intends to be more subtle. There is more at
stake here than a label to pin upon Acts or an against-the-grain proposal to embrace
or despise. . . .

The purpose of this chapter is not to devise a definition of “novel” into which
works like Acts may be squeezed but to determine whether comparison with a body
of texts so defined may shed more light upon the form and function of this book
than will comparison with learned pieces of historiography . (pp 86-7) 7

5. The text Analysis and different translations

The text: Acts 9:1-9 NIV

“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s
disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in
Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or
women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on
his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground
and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you,
Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up
and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” The men traveling with
Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got
up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led
him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or
drink anything.”

NKJV -The Damascus Road: Saul Converted

9 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,
went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of
Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women,
he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.3 As he journeyed he came near
Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to

7
The literary genre of Acts. 9: The ancient novel Creative Commons License by Neil Godfrey
https://vridar.org/2008/01/21/the-literary-genre-of-acts-9-the-ancient-novel/
the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting
me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”

Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. [a]It is hard for you to
kick against the goads.”6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do you
want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will
be told what you must do.”

7 And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing
no one. 8 Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw
no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was
three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

6. a)Commentary and the Word study on Acts 9:1-9

Saul’s purpose in traveling to Damascus.
Acts 9:1 “Saul, making dire threats. The expression “breathing out threats and murder” is
an idiomatic expression for “making threats to murder” (see L&N 33.293). Although the
two terms “threats” and “murder” are syntactically coordinate, the second is semantically
subordinate to the first. In other words, the content of the threats is to murder the
disciples.

ἐμπνέων ἀπειλῆς κ. φόνου εἰς τ. μαθ.] - out of threatening and murder breathing hard at the
disciples, whereby is set forth the passionate with which he was eager to terrify the Christians by
threats, and to hurry them to death. In ἐμπνέων, observe the compound, to which the εἰς τ. μαθ.
belonging to it corresponds; so that the word signifies: to breathe hard at or upon an object; as
often also in classical writers, yet usually with the dative instead of with εἰς. The expression is
stronger than if it were said πνέων ἀπειλὴν κ.τ.λ.8

8
Lobeck, ad Aj. p. 342; Boeckh, Expl. Pind. p. 341
The genitives ἀπειλῆς and φόνου denote whence this ἐμπνέειν issued; threatening and murder,
i.e. sanguinary desire (Romans 1:29), was within him what excited and sustained his breathing
hard. Comp. ἐμπνέον ζωῆς,

The “yet” implies a considerable interval since the death of Stephen, probably coinciding with the
time occupied by the mission-work of Philip in the previous chapter. During this interval the
persecution had probably been continuing. The Greek participle, literally, breathing-in, is
somewhat more emphatic than the English. He lived, as it were, in an atmosphere of threats and
slaughter. It was the very air he breathed.

Patristic writers and their followers have not unnaturally seen a half-prophetic parallelism
between the language of Jacob, “Benjamin shall be ravenous as a wolf: in the morning he shall
devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil” (Genesis 49:27), and this description of one
who gloried in being of that tribe (Philippians 3:5), and bore the name of its great hero-king 9.

Went unto the high priest.—It will be remembered that the high priest (whether we suppose
Annas or Caiaphas to be meant) was a Sadducee, and that Saul gloried in being a Pharisee of the
strictest sect (Acts 26:5). The temper of the persecutor, however, does not shrink from strange
companionship, and the coalition which had been formed against our Lord (Matthew 26:3) was
renewed against His followers. If, as is probable, the admission of the Samaritans to the new
community had become known at Jerusalem, it would naturally tend to intensify their hatred. It
would seem to them as if the accursed people were now allied with the Galileans against the Holy
Place, and those who were zealous for its honor.

τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ] If the conversion of Paul occurred in the year 35 (Introduction, sec. 4), then Caiaphas
was still high priest, as he was not deposed by Vitellius until the year 36 (Anger, de temp. rat. p.
184). Jonathan the son of Ananus (Joseph. Antt. xviii. 4. 3) succeeded him; and he, after a year,
was succeeded by his brother Theophilus (Joseph. Antt. xviii. 5. 3)

Ὁ δὲ Σαῦλος: takes up and continues the narrative from Acts 8:3; the presumptive use of δέ.—ἔτι

Λαμασκός, ‫דַ מֶּשֶׂ ק‬, the old capital of Syria, in which, since the period of the Seleucid, so many Jews
resided that Nero could cause 10,000 to be executed (Joseph. Bell. Jud. i. 2. 25, ii. 20. 2).

9
EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE) Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers https://biblehub.com/commentaries/acts/9-
1.htm
It was specially to Damascus that the persecuting Saul turned his steps, partly, doubtless, because
the existence of the hated sect in that city was well known to him (the church there may have
owed its origin and its enlargement as well to the journeys of the resident Jews to the feasts, as to
visits of the dispersed from Jerusalem); partly, perhaps, also, because personal connections
promised for his enterprise there the success which he desired 10

Verse 2 And desired of him letters to Damascus.—We learn from 2 Corinthians 11:32-33, that
Damascus was at this time under the government of Aretas, the king of Arabia Petræa.

How it came to be so, having been previously under Vitellius, the Roman president of Syria (Jos.
Ant. xiv. 4, § 5), is not clear. It is probable, however, that in the war which Aretas had declared
against Herod Antipas, in consequence of the Tetrarch’s divorcing his daughter in order that he
might marry Herodias (see Notes on Matthew 14:3; Luke 3:14), he had been led, after defeating
the Tetrarch (Jos. Ant. xviii. 5, § 1), to push his victories further; and, taking advantage of the
absence of Vitellius, who had hastened to Rome on hearing of the death of Tiberius (A.D. 37) had
seized on Damascus.

In this abeyance of the control of the Roman power, Aretas may have desired to conciliate the
priestly party at Jerusalem by giving facilities to their action against the sect which they would
naturally represent as identified with the Galileans against whom he had been waging war. The
Jewish population at Damascus was, at this time, very numerous.

Josephus relates that not less than 10,000 were slain in a tumult under Nero 11 and the narrative of
the Acts (Acts 9:14) implies that there were many “disciples of the Lord” among them. Many of
these were probably refugees from Jerusalem, and the local synagogues were called upon to
enforce the decrees of the Sanhedrin of the Holy City against them.

If he found any of this way. — Literally, of the way. We have here the first occurrence of a term
which seems to have been used familiarly as a synonym for the disciples of Christ (Acts 19:9; Acts
19:23; Acts 22:4; Acts 24:14; Acts 24:22).

It may have originated in the words in which Christ had claimed to be Himself the “Way,” as well
as the “Truth” and the “Life” (John 14:6); or in His language as to the “strait way” that led to

10
Meyer's NT Commentary https://biblehub.com/commentaries/meyer/acts/9.htm
11
(Wars, ii. 25),
eternal life (Matthew 7:13); or, perhaps, again, in the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3) cited by the
Baptist (Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3), as to preparing “the way of the Lord.”

Prior to the general acceptance of the term “Christian” (Acts 11:26) it served as a convenient,
neutral designation by which the disciples could describe themselves, and which might be used by
others who wished to speak respectfully, or, at least, neutrally, instead of the opprobrious epithet
of the “Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5). The history of the term “Methodists,” those that follow a distinct
“method” or “way” of life, offers a partial but interesting analogue.

Acts 9:2 The expression “the way” in ancient religious literature refers at times to “the whole way
of life fr. a moral and spiritual viewpoint” (BDAG 692 s.v. ὁδός 3.c), and it has been so used of
Christianity and its teachings in the book of Acts (see also 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22). It is a variation
of Judaism’s idea of two ways, the true and the false, where “the Way” is the true one (1 En. 1:18;
2 En. 30:15).

Whether they were men or women. — The mention of the latter has a special interest. They too
were prominent enough to be objects of the persecution. It is probable that those who were most
exposed to it would have fled from Jerusalem, and among these we may think of those who had
been foremost in their ministry during our Lord’s life on earth (Luke 8:2), and who were with the
Apostles at their first meeting after His Ascension (Acts 1:14).

Might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. — The mission implied that the offence, as being against
the Holy Place and the Law, as involving what would be called, in modern language, sacrilege and
heresy, was beyond the jurisdiction of the subordinate tribunals, and must be reserved for that of
the Council. (See Notes on Matthew 5:22; Matthew 10:17.

Acts 9:2 Greek “bring them bound”; the translation “bring someone as prisoner” for δεδεμένον
ἄγειν τινά (dedemenon agein tina)12

Acts 9:2 From Damascus to Jerusalem was a six-day journey. Christianity had now expanded into
Syria.

Acts 9:2. ᾐτήσατο, see on Acts 3:2, with παρά, in Acts 3:3, we have the imperfect, but “inest in
aoristo quod etiam accepit,”13 sub v.—ἐπιστολὰς, cf. Acts 22:5, Acts 26:12; on the jurisdiction of

12
is given by BDAG 221 s.v. δέω 1.b.
13
Blass; on the use of the verb in N.T., see also Blass, Gram., p. 182, and Grimm-Thayer,
the Sanhedrim, see above on Acts 4:514only within the limits of Judæa had the Sanhedrim any
direct authority, although its orders were regarded as binding over every Jewish community.

But the extent to which this obligation prevailed depended on the disposition of the Jewish
communities towards the Sanhedrim.—Δαμασκὸν: “In the history of religion,” writes Dr. G. A.
Smith, “Damascus was the stage of two great crises. She was the scene of the conversion of the
first Apostle of Christianity to the Gentiles; she was the first Christian city to be taken by Islam. It
was fit that Paul’s conversion, with his first sense of a mission to the Gentiles, should not take
place till his journey had brought him to Jewish soil.”15

If Damascus was not the oldest, it may at all events be called the most enduring city in the world.
According to Josephus16, it was founded by Uz, the grandson of Shem, whilst a Moslem tradition
makes Eliezer its founder, and Abraham its king17

Damascus was situated some seventy miles from the seaboard (about six or eight days’ journey
from Jerusalem), to the east of Anti-Lebanon in a great plain, watered by the river Abana with her
seven streams, to which the city owes her beauty and her charm.

Travelers of every age and of every nationality have celebrated the gardens and orchards, the
running waters and the fountains of Damascus, and as the Arab passes from the burning desert to
its cooling streams and rich verdure, it is not surprising that he hails it as an earthly paradise.

From a commercial point of view Damascus has been called the meeting-place and mart of the
nations, and whilst the armies of the ancient world passed through her streets, she was also the
great avenue of communication for the wealth of north and south, east and west (cf. the
significant passage, Ezekiel 27:16; Ezekiel 27:18, and Amos 3:12, R.V.), from which it seems that
the city was known at an early date for her own manufactures, although the passing trade of the
caravans would be its chief source of income18.

—πρὸς τὰς συναγωγάς, cf. Acts 6:9, as at Jerusalem—the number of Jews dwelling in Damascus
was so numerous that in a tumult under Nero ten thousand were put to death, as at Jerusalem,

14
Weber, Jüdische Theol., p. 141 (1897); O. Holtzmann, Neutest. Zeitgeschichte, pp. 174, 175; and Schürer, Jewish
People, div. ii., vol. i., p. 185, E.T.:
15
Expositor's Greek Testament
16
Ant., i., 6, 4
17
see also Jos., Ant., i., 7, 2). Here, too, was the traditional scene of the murder of Abel (Shakespeare, 1 King Henry VI.,
i., 3).
18
B.D., Conybeare and Howson (smaller edition, p. 67 ff.); Schürer, Jewish People, div. ii., vol. i., p. 96, E.T.
the Christians of Damascus may not as yet have formally separated from their Jewish brethren; cf.
the description of Ananias in Acts 22:12; but as communication between Damascus and the capital
was very frequent, refugees from Jerusalem would no doubt have fled to Damascus, and it is
difficult to believe that the views advocated by Stephen had in him their sole representative.

There is no reason to question with the existence in Damascus of a community of believers in the
claims of Jesus at this early date; but whilst those Christians who devoutly observed the law would
not have aroused hostility hitherto, Saul came armed with a commission against all who called on
the name of Christ, and so probably his object was not only to bring back the refugees to
Jerusalem, but also to stir up the synagogue at Damascus against their own fellow-worshippers
who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ.

—ἐάν τινας εὕρῃ: the phrase does not mean that the existence of Christians was doubtful, but
whether Saul would succeed in finding them out (Weiss).

—ὄντες τῆς ὁδοῦ: the genitive with εἶναι or γίγνεσθαι, very common in N.T. (as in classical Greek);
may be explained as the genitive of the class to which a man belongs, or as the genitive of the
property in which any one participates, expressed by the genitive singular of an abstract noun, and
also, as here, of a concrete noun19 “The Way,” R.V., all E.V[222], “this way,” except Wycliff, who
has “of this life,” apparently reading vitæ instead of viæ in the Vulgate; see Humphry on the R.V.,
in loco. (In Acts 18:25 we have τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ . of the instruction given to Apollos, cf. the common
metaphorical use of the word in LXX.)

In the text (as in Acts 19:9, Acts 22:4, Acts 24:14; Acts 24:22) the noun is used absolutely, and this
use is peculiar to St. Luke (cf. ὁ λόγος, sc., τοῦ θ., Acts 10:44, Acts 14:25, etc., and τὸ ὄνομα, Acts
5:41). The term may have originated amongst the Jews who saw in the Christians those who
adopted a special way or mode of life, or a special form of their own national belief, but if so, the
Christians would see in it nomen et omen—in Christ they had found the Way, the Truth, the Life,
John 14:6 (so Holtzmann points out the parallel in St. John, and thus accounts for the article τῆς
ὁδοῦ—there is only one way of salvation, viz., Christ).

Chrysostom (so Theophylact) thinks that the believers were probably so called because of their
taking the direct way that leads to heaven (Hom., xix.): see also Dean Plumptre’s interesting note.
The expression seems to point to the early date of Acts. As it is used thus, absolutely, and with no

19
Winer-Moulton, xxx., 5, c. (and Winer-Schmiedel, pp. 269, 270)
explanation in the context, Hilgenfeld sees in chap. 9 the commencement of a third source (see
Introd., p. 29).—γυναῖκας, see above on Acts 8:3.

Although no doubt the women referred to were Jewesses, yet it is of interest to note the remark
of Josephus, B. J., ii., 20, 2, viz., that the women of Damascus were addicted to the Jewish religion.
Their mention also indicates the violence of Saui. “quod nullum sexus respectum habuit, cui etiam
armati hostes in medio belli ardore parcere solent” Calvin.

Acts 9:3-9. The conversion of Saul does not appear, on an accurate consideration of the three
narratives (9, 22, 26) which agree in the main points, to have had the way psychologically
prepared for it by scruples of conscience as to his persecuting proceedings.

On the contrary, Luke represents it in the history at our passage, and Paul himself in his speeches
(22 and 26; comp. also Galatians 1:14-15; Php 3:12), as in direct and immediate contrast to his
vehement persecuting zeal, amidst which he was all of a sudden internally arrested by the
miraculous fact from without20.

Moreover, previous scruples and inward struggles are à priori, in the case of a character so pure
(at this time only erring), firm, and ardently decided as he also afterwards continued to be,
extremely improbable: he saw in the destruction of the Christian church only a fulfilment of duty
and a meritorious service for the glory of Jehovah (Acts 22:3; comp. Galatians 1:14; Php 3:6).

For the transformation of his firm conviction into the opposite, of his ardent interest against the
gospel into an ardent zeal for it, there was needed—with the pure resoluteness of his will, which
even in his unwearied persecutions was just striving after a righteousness of his own (Php 3:6)—a
heavenly power directly seizing on his inmost conscience; and this he experienced, in the midst of
his zealot enterprise, on the way to Damascus, when that perverted striving after righteousness
and merit was annihilated.

The light which from heaven suddenly shone around him brighter than the sun (Acts 26:13), was
no flash of lightning.

The similarity of the expression in all the three narratives militates against this assumption so
frequently made (and occurring still in Schrader); and Paul himself certainly knew how to

20
Comp. Beyschlag in the Stud. u. Krit. 1864, p. 251 f.
distinguish in his recollection a natural phenomenon, however alarming, from a φῶς ἀπὸ τοῦ
οὐρανοῦ associated with a heavenly revelation21.

This φῶς was rather the heavenly radiance, with which the exalted Christ appearing in His δόξα is
surrounded.

In order to a scripturally true conception of the occurrence, moreover, we may not think merely
in general of an internal vision produced by God (Weiss, Schweizer, Schenkel, and others); nor is it
enough specially to assume a self-manifestation of Christ made merely to the inner sense of Saul,
—although externally accompanied by the miraculous appearance of light,—according to which by
an operation of Christ, who is in heaven, He presented Himself to the inner man of Saul, and made
Himself audible in definite words22. On the contrary, according to 1 Corinthians 15:8 (comp. Acts
9:1), Christ must really have appeared to him in His glorified body (comp. Acts 9:17; Acts 9:27).

For only the objective (this also against Ewald) and real corporeal appearance corresponds to the
category of appearances, in which this is placed at 1 Corinthians 15:8, as also to the requirement
of apostleship, which is expressed in 1 Corinthians 9:1 most definitely, and that in view of Peter
and the other original apostles, by τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν ἑώρακα. Comp.

Paul in Hilgenfeld’s Zeitschr. 1863, p. 182 ff. The Risen One Himself was in the light which
appeared, and converted Saul (and hence Galatians 1:1 : τοῦ ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν), with
which also Galatians 1:16 (see in loc.) fully agrees; comp. Php 3:12.

This view is rightly adopted, after the old interpreters23, and by most modern interpreters except
the Tübingen School; as well as by Olshausen and Neander, both of whom, however, without any
warrant in the texts, assume a psychological preparation by the principles of Gamaliel, by the
speech of Stephen, and by the sight of his death24.

On the other hand, de Wette does not go beyond an admission of the enigmatical character of the
matter25; connects the objective fact with a visionary perception of it; and Holsten 26.), after the
example of Baur, attempts to make good the vision, which he assumes, as a real one, indeed, but

21
Source: https://biblehub.com/commentaries/acts/9-3.htm
22
Bengel, üb d. Bekehr. Pauli, aus d. Lat. übers, v. Niethammer, Tüb. 1826).
23
by Lyttleton (on the conversion, etc., translated by Hahn, Hannov. 1751), Hess, Michaelis, Haselaar (Lugd. Bat. 1806)
24
For the correct view comp. Baumgarten; Diestelmaier, Jugendleben des Saulus, 1866, p. 37 ff.; Oertel, Paulus in d.
Apostelgesch. p. 112 ff., who also enlarges on the connection of the doctrine of the apostle with his conversion.
25
Lange (Apost. Zeitalt. II. p. 116 f.)
26
(in Hilgenfeld’s Zeitschr. 1861, p. 223 ff
yet as an immanent psychological act of Saul’s own mind,—a view which is refuted by the
necessary resemblance of the fact to the other Christophanies in 1 Corinthians 15.

All the attempts of Baur and his school to treat the event as a visionary product from the
laboratory of Saul’s own thoughts are exegetical impossibilities, in presence of which Baur himself
at last stood still acknowledging a mystery27.

It is no argument against the actual bodily appearance, that the text speaks only of the light, and
not of a human form rendered visible. For, while in general the glorified body may have been of
itself inaccessible to the human eye, so, in particular, was it here as enclosed in the heavenly
radiance; and the texts relate only what was externally seen and apparent also to the others,—
namely, the radiance of light, out of which the Christ surrounded by it made Himself visible only to
Saul, as He also granted only to him to hear His words, which the rest did not hear.

Whoever, taking offence at the diversities of the accounts in particular points as at their
miraculous tenor, sets down what is so reported as unhistorical, or refers it, with Zeller, to the
psychological domain of nascent faith, is opposed, as regards the nature of the fact recorded, by
the testimony of the apostle himself in 1 Corinthians 15:8; 1 Corinthians 9:1 with a power
sustained by his whole working, which is not to be broken, and which leads ultimately to the
desperate shift of supposing in Paul, at precisely the most decisive and momentous point of his
life, a self-deception as the effect of the faith existing in him; in which case the narrative of the
Book of Acts is traced to a design of legitimating the apostleship of Paul, which in the sequel is
further confirmed by the authority of Peter

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 sea28.

Verse by verse

Acts 9:3 tn Grk “As he was going along, it happened that when he was approaching.” The phrase
ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is
redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

27
See his Christenth. d. drei ersten Jahrh. p. 45, ed. 2.
28
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Acts 9:3 tn Or “shone” (BDAG 799 s.v. περιαστράπτω). The light was more brilliant than the sun
according to Acts 26:13.

Acts 9:4 tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai)
has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

Acts 9:4 tn The double vocative suggests emotion.

Acts 9:4 sn Persecuting me. To persecute the church is to persecute Jesus.

Acts 9:6 tn Or “But arise.”

Acts 9:6 tn Literally a passive construction, “it will be told to you.” This has been converted to
another form of passive construction in the translation.

Acts 9:7 tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anēr), which is used only rarely in a generic sense of both
men and women. In the historical setting here, Paul’s traveling companions were almost certainly
all males.

Acts 9:7 tn That is, unable to speak because of fear or amazement. See BDAG 335 s.v. ἐνεός.

Acts 9:7 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. Acts 22:9 appears to indicate that they saw
the light but did not hear a voice. They were “witnesses” that something happened.

Acts 9:8 tn Grk “his eyes being open,” a genitive absolute construction that has been translated as
a concessive adverbial participle.

Acts 9:8 sn He could see nothing. This sign of blindness, which was temporary until v. 18, is like the
sign of muteness experienced by Zechariah in Luke 1. It allowed some time for Saul (Paul) to
reflect on what had happened without distractions.

Acts 9:8 tn Grk “they”; the referents (Saul’s companions) have been specified in the translation for
clarity.

Acts 9:9 tn Grk “And for.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins
sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been
translated here.

Acts 9:9 tn The word “anything” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often
omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English
reader. The fasting might indicate an initial realization of Luke 5:33-39. Fasting was usually
accompanied by reflective thought.

6. b) Original Greek text: Saul's Damascus Road Conversion

Ὁ Δὲ Σαῦλος ἔτι ἐμπνέων ἀπειλῆς καὶ φόνου εἰς τοὺς μαθητὰς τοῦ Κυρίου,
προσελθὼν τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ, ᾐτήσατο παρ’ αὐτοῦ ἐπιστολὰς εἰς Δαμασκὸν πρὸς τὰς
συναγωγάς, ὅπως ἐάν τινας εὕρῃ τῆς Ὁδοῦ ,

ὄντας ἄνδρας τε καὶ γυναῖκας , δεδεμένους , ἀγάγῃ εἰς Ἰερουσαλήμ Ἐν τῷ

πορεύεσθαι, ἐγένετο

αὐτὸν ἐγγίζειν τῇ Δαμασκῷ, ἐξαίφνης τε αὐτὸν περιήστραψεν φῶς ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ

καὶ πεσὼν ἐπὶ

τὴν γῆν , ἤκουσεν φωνὴν λέγουσαν αὐτῷ, Σαοὺλ , Σαούλ , τί με διώκεις ? Εἶπεν δέ ,
Τίς εἶ , Κύριε ?

Ὁ δέ, Ἐγώ εἰμι Ἰησοῦς, ὃν σὺ διώκεις {σκληρόν σοι πρὸς κέντρα λακτίζειν} {τρέμων
τε καὶ θαμβῶν

εἶπε, Κύριε, τί με θέλεις ποιῆσαι} ἀλλὰ ἀνάστηθι καὶ εἴσελθε εἰς τὴν πόλιν, καὶ
λαληθήσεταίm σοι

ὅ τί σε δεῖ ποιεῖν Οἱ δὲ ἄνδρες οἱ συνοδεύοντες αὐτῷ εἱστήκεισαν ἐνεοί , ἀκούοντες

μὲν τῆς

φωνῆς, μηδένα δὲ θεωροῦντες . ἠγέρθη δὲ Σαῦλος ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ; ἀνεῳγμένων δὲ

τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν

αὐτοῦ, οὐδὲν ἔβλεπεν. χειραγωγοῦντες δὲ αὐτὸν, εἰσήγαγον εἰς Δαμασκόν. καὶ ἦν

ἡμέρας τρεῖς

μὴ βλέπων, καὶ οὐκ ἔφαγεν οὐδὲ ἔπιεν .

 7. Summary and conclusion

In Acts Chapter 9:1-9, the narrative which depicts the conversion of Saul is the main
focus. We are told that while he was traveling near Damascus, the Lord spoke to
him. A bright light came from the skies and those who were accompanying Saul
were overwhelmed as they could hear a voice, but they could not see who was
speaking. Then Jesus Speaks to Saul; The Lord then was asking why he is persecuting
Him and His disciples. He then told him to go to the city and he would know what he
was supposed to do once he got there. Saul did as he was told and he remained
sightless for three days as a result of that bright light. He did not eat or drink until he
received his eyesight.

He was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank: It seems that Saul was
so shaken by the experience that he was unable to eat or drink for three days. All
Saul could do was simply sit in a blind silence. This was a humbling experience, and a
time when Saul must have challenged all his previous ideas about who God was and
what pleased God.

In the three days of blindness and deprivation, Saul was dying to himself. It would
only be after the three days of dying that he would receive resurrection life from
Jesus29

29
https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/acts-9/
8. Bibliography

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges by Herbert Edward Ryle; Samuel
Rolles Driver; A. T. Chapman; A. W. Streane and Publisher: Cambridge University
Press , 1882–1922

Expositor's Greek Testament

Meyer's NT Commentary

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE) Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

The literary genre of Acts. 9: The ancient novel Creative Commons License by Neil
Godfrey https://vridar.org/2008/01/21/the-literary-genre-of-acts-9-the-ancient-
novel/

Jankiewicz, Edyta, "The Lived Experience of Conversion in the Broader Context of

Experience of Faith Formation: A Phenomenological Study of Third- and Greater-
generation Seventh-day Adventist Young Adults" (2016). Dissertations.
1607.https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations/1607