Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

9:1-2 The account of Saul resumes from 8:3. Saul's papers from the high priest may have been official extradition documents or letters of introduction to the synagogues at Damascus. It is not known how Christianity had come to Damascus--perhaps through converts at Pentecost or by some of those "scattered" following Stephen's martyrdom (8:1). This is the first time in Acts that Christians are described as belonging to the Way (Gk. hodos, "road, highway, way of life"), meaning either the way of salvation (16:17; cf. Jesus' teachings in Matt. 7:14; John 14:6) or the true way of life in relation to God (cf. Acts 18:25-26; cf. Ps. 1:1, 6; 27:11). The expression also occurs at Acts 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22.

9:3 Damascus was 135 miles (217 km) northeast of Jerusalem, a six-day journey by foot. Settled as early as the second millennium b.c., Damascus was an oasis on the border of the Arabian desert and on the main route from Mesopotamia to Egypt. The Nabatean king Aretas IV maintained an ethnarch (i.e., governor) in Damascus (2 Cor. 11:32). Although the modern city of Damascus stands atop the ancient remains, one can still see the "street called Straight" (Acts 9:11) running east to west with its East Gate and monumental arch. Also visible are the ancient theater and the concentric courts of its temple to Jupiter (now replaced by a mosque). Jewish presence in Damascus (assumed by the mention of synagogues in vv. 2, 20) is confirmed in Josephus's record that many thousands of Jewish people were killed in Damascus during the time of the First Jewish Revolt (a.d. 66-73; see Jewish War 2.559-561). For the brilliance of the light, see Acts 22:6 and 26:13, where it is described as exceeding the midday sun.

9:4 Jesus' reference to Saul's "persecuting me" shows his close identity with his followers: to persecute Christians was to persecute Christ.

9:5 "Who are you, Lord?" Though Paul was ultimately blinded by the bright light (cf. vv. 3, 8-9), he indicates elsewhere that he actually saw the risen Christ on this occasion (see 1 Cor. 9:1; 15:8; Gal. 1:16; cf. Acts 9:27). The scene is significant not only because of Saul's conversion but also because it shows that he would have known of the resurrection from direct experience of Jesus and thus could come to appreciate why this was a key part of the Christian message (see 1 Corinthians 15).

9:7 Saul's companions heard the voice but saw no one. In his later testimony to the Jews, Paul spoke of them seeing the light but not understanding the voice (22:9). They had no vision of Jesus nor did they hear the message to Saul, but they could testify to a brilliant light and a sound, which pointed to an objective event that was not a matter of Saul's imagination.

9:9 Saul's blindness and his fasting should not be seen as punishment but as a result of the intensity of his encounter with Christ. However, like the deaf-muteness of Zechariah in Luke 1, it was designed to produce a time of reflection.

9:10 The Lord is Jesus and not the Father (see v. 17). Ananias's response, Here I am, is reminiscent of OT predecessors such as Abraham (Gen. 22:1, 11), Jacob (Gen. 31:11; 46:2), Moses (Ex. 3:11), Samuel (1 Sam. 3:4-8), and Isaiah (Isa. 6:8).

9:11 The street called Straight is one of the world's oldest continually occupied streets, still existing today (see note on v. 3). Tarsus. See note on v. 30.

9:15 In the remainder of Acts, Saul (later called Paul) preaches to Gentiles and also to kings (Agrippa II, ch. 26) as well as to the children of Israel, since in each city he always goes first to Jewish synagogues.

9:17 Ananias's laying his hands (see note on 6:6) on Saul was a physical symbol of the invisible power of the Holy Spirit coming to heal Saul from his blindness and dwell within him in new covenant fullness (see note on 2:4).

9:18 something like scales fell from his eyes. This physical event was also a symbol that Saul's spiritual blindness had been overcome and he could now see and understand the truth (cf. 2 Cor. 3:14 for a related image). (Note that the change of Saul's name to Paul [which will be first reported in Acts 13:9] is not connected with his conversion; he continues having a right to both names, the first Jewish, the second Roman; Paul continues to call himself [and to be called] Saul until his ministry in Cyprus [13:9].) was baptized. Through baptism Saul made an immediate public declaration of his faith in Jesus as the Messiah.

9:19b-20 Saul likely received instruction in the Christian "way" from the disciples at Damascus. In Galatians, Paul notes that during this time he "went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus" (Gal. 1:17). ("Arabia" here means the Nabatean Kingdom, northeast of the Dead Sea, not the Arabian Peninsula.) synagogues. The pattern of Paul's beginning his witness in the synagogues occurs throughout Acts, as does the pattern of opposition developing there (Acts 9:23).

9:23 The Jews does not mean all Jews, of course, since many Jews had believed in Jesus and Paul himself was a Jew. But from this point forward in Acts, Luke often uses the phrase "the Jews" as a shorthand expression to refer to Jewish people who opposed the gospel (see 12:3; 13:45, 50; 14:4; 17:5, 13; 18:12, 14, 28; 19:33; 20:3, 19; etc.). Often it is the leaders of communities who are involved in this rejection. plotted to kill him. Enemies of the gospel cannot defeat it by free and open debate, so they often resort to force, falsehood, murder, and governmental suppression (cf. 9:29). But the gospel is from God and cannot be stopped. Elsewhere Paul specifies that "the governor under King Aretas" was helping in the attempt to kill him (see 2 Cor. 11:32-33).

9:24 their plot became known to Saul. The Holy Spirit intervenes again and again to protect Saul (cf. 23:16-22).

9:25 Sometimes God does not call his people to stand and lose their lives but rather to escape from the danger that he has revealed to them. Because his disciples took decisive action, Paul's life was preserved for his future ministry, for at this point he had not begun his major missionary journeys or written any of his letters.

9:27 Barnabas, "son of encouragement" (4:36), interceded for Saul, introducing him to the apostles (in Jerusalem), who were initially skeptical about his conversion. According to Gal. 1:18-19, this visit took place three years (see note on Acts 11:27-30) after his conversion (which could make this c. a.d. 37), and Paul met with Peter for 15 days but had no substantial interaction with the other apostles, except for meeting James, the brother of Jesus.

9:29 The Hellenists here are not the same as the Jewish believers called "Hellenists" in 6:1; in this instance they were Jews and not Christians, perhaps some of the same who had seized Stephen (6:8-14). (For the term "Hellenist," see note on 6:1.)

9:30 On Caesarea, see note on 8:40. Paul's hometown of Tarsus was a strategically important Cilician city in southeast Asia Minor on the road from Syria into central Asia Minor. Paul calls it "no obscure city" (21:39). Founded on the banks of the river Cydnus, it oversaw the important harbor on Lake Rhegma (approximately 5 miles/8 km south on the Cydnus). The vital Cilician Gates, which allowed passage across the Taurus Mountains, were approximately 25 miles (40 km) north. Alexander the Great had stayed in Tarsus, Pompey had based his campaign against sea pirates on the city, and Antony first met Cleopatra in Tarsus. Tarsus was known as a home to philosophers, especially those of the Stoic school. Archaeologists have uncovered a basalt street with limestone gutters from the NT period, and one can also see the foundations of a huge second-century-a.d. temple (known as the Donuktash). to Tarsus. This corresponds to Gal. 1:21, where Paul says he went to "Cilicia," the province in which Tarsus was located. Paul would be based in Tarsus and minister in Syria-Cilicia for the next eight years (c. a.d. 37-45). Some of the events of 2 Cor. 11:23-27 perhaps occurred during this time, and probably also his intense vision of heaven (2 Cor. 12:2-4). Saul is not mentioned again in Acts until Barnabas goes to Tarsus to find him in Acts 11:25. Saul will begin to be called Paul in 13:9.

9:31 the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria. There must have been hundreds of churches in the small cities and towns throughout this large region, but all of them together can be called a "church" (Gk. ekklēsia, singular in the earliest and best manuscripts of this verse, though some later manuscripts have the plural). The NT can apply the singular word "church" to the church meeting in a home (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:19), in an entire city (1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 1:1), in a large region (as here), or throughout the whole world (1 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 5:25). Peace came to the church after the conversion of its prime persecutor (see also Gal. 1:22-24). Fear of the Lord does not mean fear of final judgment but is a common theme in Acts referring either to fear as godly awe, reverence, and devotion (as in Acts 2:43; 10:2; 13:26) or fear of God's displeasure and fatherly discipline (as in 5:5, 11; 16:29; 19:17; see also Heb. 12:7-10).