Discovery BoxActs 22:5-11 
Context22:5 as both the high priest and the whole council of elders 1 can testify about me. From them 2 I also received 3 letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way 4 to make arrests there and bring 5 the prisoners 6 to Jerusalem 7 to be punished. 22:6 As 8 I was en route and near Damascus, 9 about noon a very bright 10 light from heaven 11 suddenly flashed 12 around me. 22:7 Then I 13 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.’ 22:9 Those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand 14 the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 22:10 So I asked, 15 ‘What should I do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up 16 and go to Damascus; there you will be told about everything 17 that you have been designated 18 to do.’ 22:11 Since I could not see because of 19 the brilliance 20 of that light, I came to Damascus led by the hand of 21 those who were with me.
1 tn That is, the whole Sanhedrin. BDAG 861 s.v. πρεσβυτέριον has “an administrative group concerned with the interests of a specific community, council of elders – a. of the highest Judean council in Jerusalem, in our lit. usu. called συνέδριον…ὁ ἀρχιερεύς καὶ πᾶν τὸ πρ. Ac 22:5.”
2 tn Grk “from whom.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was translated by the third person plural pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.
3 tn Grk “receiving.” The participle δεξάμενος (dexameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
4 tn Grk “letters to the brothers, [and] I was going to Damascus.” Such a translation, however, might be confusing since the term “brother” is frequently used of a fellow Christian. In this context, Paul is speaking about fellow Jews.
5 tn Grk “even there and bring…” or “there and even bring…” The ascensive καί (kai) shows that Paul was fervent in his zeal against Christians, but it is difficult to translate for it really belongs with the entire idea of arresting and bringing back the prisoners.
6 tn BDAG 221 s.v. δέω 1.b has “δεδεμένον ἄγειν τινά bring someone as prisoner…Ac 9:2, 21; 22:5.”
7 tn Grk “I was going…to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners that they might be punished.”
map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
8 tn 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.
9 tn 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).
10 tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 3.b has “φῶς a very bright light Ac 22:6.”
11 tn Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).
12 tn Or “shone.”
13 tn 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.”
14 tn Grk “did not hear” (but see Acts 9:7). BDAG 38 s.v. ἀκούω 7 has “W. acc. τὸν νόμον understand the law Gal 4:21; perh. Ac 22:9; 26:14…belong here.” If the word has this sense here, then a metonymy is present, since the lack of effect is put for a failure to appreciate what was heard.
15 tn Grk “So I said.”
16 tn Grk “Getting up.” The participle ἀναστάς (anasta") is an adverbial participle of attendant circumstance and has been translated as a finite verb.
17 tn Grk “about all things.”
18 tn Or “assigned,” “ordered.” BDAG 991 s.v. τάσσω 2.a has “act. and pass., foll. by acc. w. inf.…περὶ πάντων ὧν τέτακταί σοι ποιῆσαι concerning everything that you have been ordered to do 22:10.” There is an allusion to a divine call and commission here.
19 tn BDAG 106 s.v. ἀπό 5.a has “οὐκ ἐνέβλεπον ἀπὸ τῆς δόξης τοῦ φωτός I could not see because of the brilliance of the light Ac 22:11.”
20 tn Or “brightness”; Grk “glory.”
21 tn Grk “by” (ὑπό, Jupo), but this would be too awkward in English following the previous “by.”
