Acts 9:3-18

9:3 As he was going along, approaching¹ Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed² around him. 9:4 He³ fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul,⁴ why are you persecuting me?”⁵ 9:5 So he said, “Who are you, Lord?” He replied, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting! 9:6 But stand up⁶ and enter the city and you will be told⁷ what you must do.” 9:7 (Now the men⁸ who were traveling with him stood there speechless,⁹ because they heard the voice but saw no one.)¹⁰ 9:8 So Saul got up from the ground, but although his eyes were open,¹¹ he could see nothing.¹² Leading him by the hand, his companions¹³ brought him into Damascus. 9:9 For¹⁴ three days he could not see, and he neither ate nor drank anything.¹⁵

9:10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The¹⁶ Lord¹⁷ said to him in a vision, “Ananias,” and he replied, “Here I am,¹⁸ Lord.” 9:11 Then the Lord told him, “Get up and go to the street called ‘Straight,’¹⁹ and at Judas’ house look for a man from Tarsus named Saul. For he is praying, 9:12 and he has seen in a vision²⁰ a man named Ananias come in and place his hands on him so that he may see again.” 9:13 But Ananias replied,²¹ “Lord, I have heard from many people²² about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem, 9:14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to imprison²³ all who call on your name!”²⁴ 9:15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man is my chosen instrument²⁵ to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel.²⁶ 9:16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”²⁷ 9:17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, placed²⁸ his hands on Saul²⁹ and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came here,³⁰ has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”³¹ 9:18 Immediately³² something like scales³³ fell from his eyes, and he could see again. He³⁴ got up and was baptized,

¹tn 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.

²tn Or “shone” (BDAG 799 s.v. περιαστράπτω). The light was more brilliant than the sun according to Acts 26:13.

³tn 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.

⁴tn The double vocative suggests emotion.

⁵sn Persecuting me. To persecute the church is to persecute Jesus.

⁶tn Or “But arise.”

⁷tn Literally a passive construction, “it will be told to you.” This has been converted to another form of passive construction in the translation.

⁸tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), 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.

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

¹⁰sn 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.

¹¹tn Grk “his eyes being open,” a genitive absolute construction that has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

¹²sn He could see nothing. This sign of blindness, which was temporary until v. 18, is like the sign of deafness experienced by Zechariah in Luke 1. It allowed some time for Saul (Paul) to reflect on what had happened without distractions.

¹³tn Grk “they”; the referents (Saul’s companions) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴tn 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.

¹⁵tn 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.

¹⁶tn Grk “And the.” 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.

¹⁷sn The Lord is directing all the events leading to the expansion of the gospel as he works on both sides of the meeting between Paul and Ananias. “The Lord” here refers to Jesus (see v. 17).

¹⁸tn Grk “behold, I,” but this construction often means “here is/there is” (cf. BDAG 468 s.v. ἰδού 2).

¹⁹sn The noting of the detail of the locale, ironically called ‘Straight’ Street, shows how directive and specific the Lord was.

²⁰tc ‡ 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.

²¹sn 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.

²²tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

²³tn Grk “to bind.”

²⁴sn The expression “those who call on your name” is a frequent description of believers (Acts 2:21; 1 Cor 1:2; Rom 10:13).

²⁵tn Or “tool.”

²⁶tn Grk “the sons of Israel.” In Acts, Paul is a minister to all nations, including Israel (Rom 1:16-17).

²⁷tn Or “because of my name.” BDAG 1031 s.v. ὑπέρ 2 lists Acts 9:16 as an example of ὑπέρ (Juper) used to indicate “the moving cause or reason, because of, for the sake of, for.”

²⁸tn Grk “and placing his hands on Saul, he said.” The participle ἐπιθείς (epiqei") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. For the same reason καί (kai) has not been translated before the participle.

²⁹tn Grk “on him”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³⁰tn Grk “on the road in which you came,” but the relative clause makes for awkward English style, so it was translated as a temporal clause (“as you came here”).

³¹sn Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Here someone who is not an apostle (Ananias) commissions another person with the Spirit.

³²tn Grk “And immediately.” 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.

³³tn The comparison to “scales” suggests a crusty covering which peeled away (cf. BDAG 592 s.v. λεπίς 2).

³⁴tn 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 was started, with “and” placed before the final element of the previous clause as required by English style.