Acts 22:6-8

22:6 As¹ I was en route and near Damascus,² about noon a very bright³ light from heaven⁴ suddenly flashed⁵ around me. 22:7 Then I⁶ fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 22:8 I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’

Acts 22:14-21

22:14 Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors⁷ has already chosen⁸ you to know his will, to see⁹ the Righteous One,¹⁰ and to hear a command¹¹ from his mouth, 22:15 because you will be his witness¹² to all people¹³ of what you have seen and heard. 22:16 And now what are you waiting for?¹⁴ Get up,¹⁵ be baptized, and have your sins washed away,¹⁶ calling on his name.’¹⁷ 22:17 When¹⁸ I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance¹⁹ 22:18 and saw the Lord²⁰ saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 22:19 I replied,²¹ ‘Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat those in the various synagogues²² who believed in you. 22:20 And when the blood of your witness²³ Stephen was shed,²⁴ I myself was standing nearby, approving,²⁵ and guarding the cloaks²⁶ of those who were killing him.’²⁷ 22:21 Then²⁸ he said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

¹tn Grk “It happened that as.” The introductory 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.

²tn Grk “going and nearing Damascus.”

sn En route and near Damascus. This is the first retelling of Paul’s Damascus Road experience in Acts (cf. Acts 9:1-9; the second retelling is in Acts 26:9-20).

³tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 3.b has “φῶς a very bright light Ac 22:6.”

⁴tn Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

⁵tn Or “shone.”

⁶tn This is a continuation of the same sentence in Greek using the connective τέ (te), but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence a new sentence was begun in the translation here. To indicate the logical sequence for the modern English reader, τέ was translated as “then.”

⁷tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

sn The expression God of our ancestors is a description of the God of Israel. The God of promise was at work again.

⁸tn L&N 30.89 has “‘to choose in advance, to select beforehand, to designate in advance’…‘the God of our ancestors has already chosen you to know his will’ Ac 22:14.”

⁹tn Grk “and to see.” This καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

¹⁰sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ (Acts 3:14).

¹¹tn Or “a solemn declaration”; Grk “a voice.” BDAG 1071-72 s.v. φωνή 2.c states, “that which the voice gives expression to: call, cry, outcry, loud or solemn declaration (… = order, command)…Cp. 22:14; 24:21.”

¹²tn Or “a witness to him.”

sn You will be his witness. See Acts 1:8; 13:31. The following reference to all people stresses all nationalities (Eph 3:7-9; Acts 9:15). Note also v. 21.

¹³tn Grk “all men,” but this is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo").

¹⁴tn L&N 67.121 has “to extend time unduly, with the implication of lack of decision – ‘to wait, to delay.’ νῦν τί μέλλεις… ἀναστὰς βάπτισαι ‘what are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized’ Ac 22:16.”

¹⁵tn Grk “getting up.” The participle ἀναστάς (anasta") is an adverbial participle of attendant circumstance and has been translated as a finite verb.

¹⁶sn The expression have your sins washed away means “have your sins purified” (the washing is figurative).

¹⁷sn The expression calling on his name describes the confession of the believer: Acts 2:17-38, esp. v. 38; Rom 10:12-13; 1 Cor 1:2.

¹⁸tn Grk “It happened to me that.” The introductory 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.

¹⁹tn BDAG 309 s.v. ἔκστασις 2 has “γενέσθαι ἐν ἐκστάσει fall into a trance Ac 22:17.”

²⁰tn Or “Jesus”; Grk “him.” The referent (the Lord, cf. v. 19) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²¹tn Grk “And I said.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai, in καγώ [kagw]) has not been translated here.

²²tn For the distributive sense of the expression κατὰ τὰς συναγωγάς (kata ta" sunagwga") BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.1.d has “of places viewed serially, distributive use w. acc.…κατ᾿ οἶκαν from house to house…Ac 2:46b; 5:42…Likew. the pl.…κ. τὰς συναγωγάς 22:19.” See also L&N 37.114.

sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

²³sn Now Paul referred to Stephen as your witness, and he himself had also become a witness. The reversal was now complete; the opponent had now become a proponent.

²⁴sn When the blood of your witness Stephen was shed means “when your witness Stephen was murdered.”

²⁵tn Grk “and approving.” This καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

²⁶tn Or “outer garments.”

sn The cloaks. The outer garment, or cloak, was taken off and laid aside to leave the arms free (in this case for throwing stones).

²⁷tn Or “who were putting him to death.” For the translation of ἀναιρούντων (anairountwn) as “putting to death” see BDAG 64 s.v. ἀναιρέω 2.

²⁸tn Grk “And.” Since this represents a response to Paul’s reply in v. 19, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.