Discovery BoxActs 26:12-23 
Context26:12 “While doing this very thing, 1 as I was going 2 to Damascus with authority and complete power 3 from the chief priests, 26:13 about noon along the road, Your Majesty, 4 I saw a light from heaven, 5 brighter than the sun, shining everywhere around 6 me and those traveling with me. 26:14 When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 7 ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself 8 by kicking against the goads.’ 9 26:15 So I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord replied, 10 ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 26:16 But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this reason, to designate you in advance 11 as a servant and witness 12 to the things 13 you have seen 14 and to the things in which I will appear to you. 26:17 I will rescue 15 you from your own people 16 and from the Gentiles, to whom 17 I am sending you 26:18 to open their eyes so that they turn 18 from darkness to light and from the power 19 of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share 20 among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
26:19 “Therefore, King Agrippa, 21 I was not disobedient 22 to the heavenly 23 vision, 26:20 but I declared to those in Damascus first, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, 24 and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, 25 performing deeds consistent with 26 repentance. 26:21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple courts 27 and were trying to kill me. 26:22 I have experienced 28 help from God to this day, and so I stand testifying to both small and great, saying nothing except 29 what the prophets and Moses said 30 was going to happen: 26:23 that 31 the Christ 32 was to suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, to proclaim light both to our people 33 and to the Gentiles.” 34
1 tn Grk “in which [activity].” Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 12 in the translation. The referent of the relative pronoun (“which”) was specified as “this very thing” for clarity.
2 tn Grk “going.” The participle πορευόμενος (poreuomenos) has been taken temporally.
3 tn L&N 37.40 s.v. ἐπιτροπή states, “the full authority to carry out an assignment or commission – ‘authority, complete power.’ πορευόμενος εἰς τὴν Δαμασκὸν μετ᾿ ἐξουσίας καὶ ἐπιτροπῆς τῶν ἀρχιερέων ‘going to Damascus with authority and complete power from the high priests’ Ac 26:12. In Ac 26:12 the combination of ἐξουσία and ἐπιτροπή serves to reinforce the sense of complete authority.”
4 tn Grk “O King.”
5 tn Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).
6 tn The word “everywhere” has been supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning of περιλάμψαν (perilamyan). Otherwise the modern reader might think that each of the individuals were encircled by lights or halos. See also Acts 9:7; 22:6, 9.
7 tn Grk “in the Hebrew language.” See Acts 22:7 and 9:4.
8 tn Grk “It is hard for you.”
9 tn “Goads” are pointed sticks used to direct a draft animal (an idiom for stubborn resistance). See BDAG 539-40 s.v. κέντρον 2.
sn Sayings which contain the imagery used here (kicking against the goads) were also found in Greek writings; see Pindar, Pythians 2.94-96; Euripides, Bacchae 795.
10 tn Grk “said.”
11 tn L&N 30.89 has “‘to choose in advance, to select beforehand, to designate in advance.’”
12 sn As a servant and witness. The commission is similar to Acts 1:8 and Luke 1:2. Paul was now an “eyewitness” of the Lord.
13 tn BDAG 719 s.v. ὁράω A.1.b states, “W. attraction of the relative ὧν = τούτων ἅ Lk 9:36; Ac 22:15. The attraction may be due to colloq. breviloquence in μάρτυρα ὧν τε εἶδες με ὧν τε ὀφθήσομαί σοι a witness to the things in which you saw me and to those in which I shall appear to you Ac 26:16b.”
14 tc ‡ Some
15 tn Grk “rescuing.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the participle ἐξαιρούμενος (exairoumeno") has been translated as a finite verb and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 17.
16 tn That is, from the Jewish people. Grk “the people”; the words “your own” have been supplied to clarify the meaning.
17 tn The antecedent of the relative pronoun is probably both the Jews (“your own people”) and the Gentiles, indicating the comprehensive commission Paul received.
18 sn To open their eyes so that they turn… Here is Luke’s most comprehensive report of Paul’s divine calling. His role was to call humanity to change their position before God and experience God’s forgiveness as a part of God’s family. The image of turning is a key one in the NT: Luke 1:79; Rom 2:19; 13:12; 2 Cor 4:6; 6:14; Eph 5:8; Col 1:12; 1 Thess 5:5. See also Luke 1:77-79; 3:3; 24:47.
19 tn BDAG 352-53 s.v. ἐξουσία 2 states, “Also of Satan’s power Ac 26:18.” It is also possible to translate this “the domain of Satan” (cf. BDAG 353 s.v. 6)
20 tn Or “and an inheritance.”
21 sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.
22 sn I was not disobedient. Paul’s defense is that he merely obeyed the risen Jesus. He was arrested for obeying heavenly direction and preaching the opportunity to turn to God.
23 tn According to L&N 1.5, “In Ac 26:19 the adjective οὐράνιος could be interpreted as being related simply to the meaning of οὐρανόςa ‘sky,’ but it seems preferable to regard οὐράνιος in this context as meaning simply ‘from heaven’ or ‘heavenly.’”
24 tn BDAG 1093-94 s.v. χώρα 2.b states, “of the provincial name (1 Macc 8:3) ἡ χώρα τῆς ᾿Ιουδαίας Ac 26:20.”
25 sn That they should repent and turn to God. This is the shortest summary of Paul’s message that he preached.
26 tn BDAG 93 s.v. ἄξιος 1.b, “καρποὶ ἄ. τῆς μετανοίας fruits in keeping with your repentance…Lk 3:8; Mt 3:8. For this ἄ. τῆς μετανοίας ἔργα Ac 26:20.” Note how Paul preached the gospel offer and the issue of response together, side by side.
27 tn Grk “in the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.
28 tn Grk “So experiencing…I stand.” The participle τυχών (tucwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
29 tn BDAG 311 s.v. ἐκτός 3.b, “functions as prep. w. gen. οὐδὲν ἐ. ὧν nothing except what (cf. 1 Ch 29:3; 2 Ch 17:19; TestNapht. 6:2) Ac 26:22.”
30 sn What the prophets and Moses said. Paul argued that his message reflected the hope of the Jewish scriptures.
31 tn BDAG 277-78 s.v. εἰ 2 has “marker of an indirect question as content, that…Sim. also (Procop. Soph., Ep. 123 χάριν ἔχειν εἰ = that) μαρτυρόμενος…εἰ παθητὸς ὁ Χριστός testifying…that the Christ was to suffer…Ac 26:23.”
32 tn Or “the Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
sn See the note on Christ in 2:31.
33 tn That is, to the Jewish people. Grk “the people”; the word “our” has been supplied to clarify the meaning.
34 sn Note how the context of Paul’s gospel message about Jesus, resurrection, and light both to Jews and to the Gentiles is rooted in the prophetic message of the OT scriptures. Paul was guilty of following God’s call and preaching the scriptural hope.
