Acts 9:11-13

9:11 Then the Lord told him, “Get up and go to the street called ‘Straight,’ ¹  and at Judas’ house look for a man from Tarsus named Saul. For he is praying, 9:12 and he has seen in a vision ²  a man named Ananias come in and place his hands on him so that he may see again.” 9:13 But Ananias replied, ³  “Lord, I have heard from many people ⁴  about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem,

Acts 9:19-21

9:19 and after taking some food, his strength returned.

For several days ⁵  he was with the disciples in Damascus, 9:20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, ⁶  saying, “This man is the Son of God.” ⁷  9:21 All ⁸  who heard him were amazed and were saying, “Is this not ⁹  the man who in Jerusalem was ravaging ¹⁰  those who call on this name, and who had come here to bring them as prisoners ¹¹  to the chief priests?”

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¹ sn The noting of the detail of the locale, ironically called ‘Straight’ Street, shows how directive and specific the Lord was.

² tc ‡ The words ἐν ὀράματι (en oramati, “in a vision”) are not found in some of the earliest and best mss (Ì⁷⁴ א A 81 pc lat sa bo), but are implied from the context. The phrase is included, although sometimes in a different order with ἄνδρα (andra, “man”) or omitting ἄνδρα altogether, by B C E Ψ 33 1175 1739 Ï. The order of words in NA²⁷, ἄνδρα ἐν ὁράματι, is supported only by B C 1175. Generally speaking, when there are three or more variants, with one an omission and the others involving rearrangements, the longer readings are later scribal additions. Further, the reading looks like a clarifying note, for an earlier vision is explicitly mentioned in v. 10. On the other hand, it is possible that some scribes deleted the words because of perceived repetition, though this is unlikely since it is a different vision two verses back. It is also possible that some scribes could have confused ὁράματι with ὀνόματι (onomati, “name”); TCGNT 319 notes that several mss place ονόματι before ᾿Ανανίαν (Ananian, “Ananias”) while a few others drop ὀνόματι altogether. The Sahidic mss are among those that drop the word, however, and they also lack ἐν ὁράματι; all that is left is one version and father that drops ὀνόματι. Perhaps the best argument for the authenticity of the phrase is that B C 1175 preserve a rare, distinctively Lukan word order, but this is not nearly as harsh or unusual as what Luke does elsewhere. A decision is difficult in this case, but on balance the omission of the phrase seems to be authentic. The words are nevertheless added in the translation because of contextual considerations. NA²⁷ places the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.

sn Apparently while in Damascus Paul had a subsequent vision in the midst of his blindness, fulfilling the prediction in 9:6.

³ sn Ananias replied. Past events might have suggested to Ananias that this was not good counsel, but like Peter in Acts 10, Ananias’ intuitions were wrong.

⁴ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

⁵ tn Grk “It happened that for several days.” 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.

⁶ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

⁷ tn The ὅτι (Joti) is understood to introduce direct (“This man is the Son of God”) rather than indirect discourse (“that this man is the Son of God”) because the pronoun οὗτος (Jouto") combined with the present tense verb ἐστιν (estin) suggests the contents of what was proclaimed are a direct (albeit summarized) quotation.

sn This is the only use of the title Son of God in Acts. The book prefers to allow a variety of descriptions to present Jesus.

⁸ tn Grk “And all.” 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.

⁹ tn The Greek interrogative particle used in this verse (οὐχ, ouc) expects a positive reply. They all knew about Saul’s persecutions.

¹⁰ tn Normally, “destroying,” but compare 4 Macc 4:23; 11:4 and MM 529 s.v. πορθέω for examples from Koine papyri. See also BDAG 853 s.v. πορθέω.

¹¹ tn Grk “bring them bound”; the translation “bring someone as prisoner” for δεδεμένον ἄγειν τινά (dedemenon agein tina) is given by BDAG 221 s.v. δέω 1.b.