1 “Men, brethren, and fathers, hear my defense to you now.” 2 And hearing that he called to them in the Hebrew language, they got more silent. And he says, 3 “I am indeed a Jewish man, having been born in Tarsus of the Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, having been disciplined i according to strictness of the ii fathers' law, being zealous for the God, just as all you are today.”
4 “Which, iii this way I persecuted unto death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, 5 as the chief priest bears me witness, and all the council of elders, also from whom receiving letters from the brethren, I proceeded to go unto Damascus, bringing also those there, being bound, unto Jerusalem in order to be punished.”
6 “And it happened to me, iv proceeding and coming near Damascus, at about noon, suddenly from the heaven a great light shone around me. 7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' v 8 And I answered, 'Who are you Lord?' And he said to me, 'I am Joshua, the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.' 9 And those with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of the one speaking to me. vi 10 And I said, 'What should I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Arising, go into Damascus. There you will be told about all that has been appointed for you to do.'”
11 “And since I was not seeing from the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those who were with me, I came into Damascus. 12 And a certain Ananias, a godly man according to the law, testified by all the inhabiting Jews, 13 coming to me and standing over me, he said, 'Brother Saul, look up.' vii And that same hour I looked up at him. 14 And he said, 'The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, and to see the just one, and to hear an utterance from his mouth. 15 For you shall be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now, why do you delay? Arising, be immersed and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'”
17 “And it happened to me, returning to Jerusalem and when I was praying in the temple, I was in a trance 18 and seeing him speak to me, 'Hurry and go out in speed out of Jerusalem. Because, they will not receive your testimony about me.' 19 And I said, “Lord, they themselves understand that I was imprisoning and beating throughout the synagogues those who were believing on you. 20 And when the blood of Stephen your witness was shed, also I myself was standing and approving to his killing, guarding the clothes of those killing him.' 21 And he said to me, 'Go, for I will send you unto nations far away.'”
22 And they heard him until this word, and raised their voice saying, “Away with such a one from the earth, for it was not fitting viii for him to live!” 23 And as they were crying out and throwing off the clothes and throwing dust into the air, 24 the commander of a thousand ordered him to be brought into the barrack, saying by whipping to examine him, so that he might know for what reason they were shouting so against him.
25 And as he stretched ix him out for the straps, x the Paul said to the centurion standing by, “If a man is a Roman and uncondemned, is it lawful for you to whip?” 26 And the centurion hearing, going, he reported to the commander of a thousand, saying, “See what you are about to do. For this man is a Roman.” 27 And coming, the commander of a thousand said to him, “Tell me, if you are a Roman.” And he said, “Yes.” 28 And the commander of a thousand said, “With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.” And the Paul said, “But I had even been born.”
29 Then immediately, those about to examine him withdrew from him. And the commander of a thousand also was afraid, upon knowing that he is a Roman, and that he was binding him. 30 And on the next day, wanting to know the certainty, the why he is being accused by the Jews, he loosed him from the bonds, and ordered the chief priests and their whole council to go, and bringing down the Paul, he stood among them.
Translated by Darwin Fish. See original pdf.
- πεπαιδευμένος (pepaideumenos) “having been disciplined” - found also in Luke 23:16 (“chastise”), 22 (“chastise”); Acts 7:22 “learned”); 1 Corinthians 11:32 (“chastened”); 2 Corinthians 6:9 (“chastened”); 1 Timothy 1:20 (“learn” in a chastening context); 2 Timothy 2:25 (“correcting”); Titus 2:12 (“teaching”); Hebrews 12:6-7 (“chasten”), 10 (“chastened”); Revelation 3:19 (“chasten”). ^
- τοῦ (tou) “the” KJV, YLT, Green; “our” NKJV, NAS ^
- ὃς (hos) “Which”; DLNT, DARBY “who; NKJV no translation ^
- Ἐγένετο δέ μοι (Egeveto de moi) “And it happened to me” Green, OJB; “But something happened to me” ERV, ICB; “Now it happened . . . I” NKJV - μοι (moi) “me” is dative here, thus “to me,” same word for “to me” in verse 7. ^
- Joshua spoke in Hebrew, see Acts 26:14. ^
- See footnotes for Acts 9:7. ^
- ἀνάβλεψον (anablepson) “look up” YLT, Green; “receive your sight” NKJV, NAS – can be translated either way. Same root word as “I looked up” (NKJV) later in this verse, ἀνέβλεψα (aveblepsa). ^
- καθῆκεν (kathêken) “it was not fitting” imperfect (past tense); DARBY “it was not fit”; DLNT “it was not proper”; NKJV “he is not fit”; YLT “it is not fit” ^
- προέτεινεν (proeteinen) MT “he stretched . . . out”; YLT “he was stretching”; RT & CT προέτειναν (proeteivan) “they stretched . . . out” NAS; CSB, DARBY, DLNT; “they bound” NKJV, KJV ^
- ἱμᾶσιν (himasin) “straps” CEB, DLNT; “thongs” NKJV, yet elsewhere “strap” (Mark 1:7; Luke 3:16; John 1:27). ^
And the officers reported these words to the captains. And hearing they are Romans, they were afraid. -- Acts 22:25-29
And he became hungry, and desired to taste. And while they prepared, a trance fell upon him.. -- ἔκστασις (ekstasis) “trance” - this word is also found in Mark 5:42 (“amazement”); 16:8 (“amazed”); Luke 5:26 (“amazed”); Acts 3:10 (“amazement”); 11:5 (“trance”); 22:17 (“trance”).
He asked from him letters into Damascus to the synagogues, so that if he found some being of the way, both men and women, he might bring bound into Jerusalem. -- ὁδοῦ (hodou) “way” - common word for way or road. Used like this, see Matthew 7:13-14; John 14:6; Acts 19:9; 22:4; 24:14, 22.
And falling upon the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” -- Σαούλ (Saoul) - “Saul” - same as in Greek OT (LXX) and closer phonetically to ל ואאוּש) shâ'ul) of the Hebrew OT. Σαούλ (Saoul) is different than the “Saul” Σαῦλος (Saulos) of Acts 9:1; etc.. See Acts 7:58 and footnote therein. Σαούλ (Saoul) is also found in Acts 9:17; 13:21 (King Saul of OT); 22:7, 13; 26:14.
And the men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing indeed the voice and seeing no one. -- ἀκούοντες μὲν τῆς φωνῆς (akouontes men tês phônês) - “hearing indeed the voice” - Acts 22:9 says the opposite: τὴν δὲ φωνὴν οὐκ ἤκουσαν (tên de phônên ouk êkousan) “and they did not hear the voice.” Scripture teaches one can hear and not hear, “hearing they do not hear” (Matthew 13:13) = hearing without understanding.
μηδένα δὲ θεωροῦντες (mêdena de theôrountes) - “and seeing no one.” - Acts 22:9 says they “indeed saw the light” τὸ μὲν φῶς ἐθεάσαντο (to men phôs etheasanto). So, they saw the light, but didn't see Christ. But, Paul did see Him (Acts 9:17 “who appeared to you”; 26:16 “I have appeared to you”).
And upon knowing, the brethren brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus. -- Ταρσόν (Tarson) “Tarsus” - found also in Acts 11:25; 22:3.
And some arose from what was called the synagogue of the Freedmen (and Cyrenians and Alexandrians and those from Cilicia and Asia) disputing with Stephen. -- Κιλικίας (Kilikias) - “Cilicia” - found also only in Acts 15:23, 41; 21:39; 22:3; 23:34; 27:5; Galatians 1:21.
And after they departed, behold, a messenger of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, “Arise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to seek for the child to destroy him.” -- mellei (mellei) - “is about to” - found also e.g. in Matthew 17:12 ("is . . . about to"); 17:22 ("is about to"); 20:22 ("I am about to"); Luke 9:31 ("was about to"); 9:44 ("is about to"); 10:1 ("was about to"); 21:7 ("are about to"); John 6:15 ("they were about to"); Acts 3:3 ("about to"); 12:6 ("was about to"); 16:27 ("was about to"); 18:14 ("was about to"); 20:3 ("was about to"); 21:37 ("was about to"); 22:29 ("were about to"); 23:27 ("was about to"); 27:33 ("was about to"); Hebrews 8:5 ("was about to"); Revelation 2:10(2x) ("you are about to" & "is about to"); 8:13 ("are about to"); 10:4 ("I was about to"); 10:7 ("he is about to"). See also footnotes for Matthew 12:32; Acts 22:16; 23:15.
..and came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” -- nazwraiov (nazôraios) - “Nazarene” - found also only in Matthew 26:71; Luke 18:37; 24:19 (Majority & Received Texts); John 18:5, 7; 19:19; Acts 2:22; 3:6; 4:10; 6:14; 22:8; 24:5; 26:9. The term for “of Nazareth” is nazarhnov (nazarênos) found only in Mark 1:24; 10:47; 14:67; 16:6; Luke 4:34; 24:19 (Critical Text).
All things were delivered to me by my father, and no one understands the son except the father, nor does any one understand the father except the son and to whom the son wills to reveal. -- epiginwskei (epiyinôskei) - "understands" - used also in Matthew 7:16, 20; 11:27; 14:35; 17:12; Mark 2:8; 5:30; 6:33, 54; Luke 1:4, 22; 5:22; 7:37; 23:7; 24:16, 31; Acts 3:10; 4:13; 9:30; 12:14; 19:34; 22:24, 29; 23:28; 24:8, 11; 25:10; 27:39; 28:1; Romans 1:32; 1 Corinthians 13:12; 14:37; 16:18; 2 Corinthians 1:13-14; 6:9; 13:5; Colossians 1:6; 1 Timothy 4:3; 2 Peter 2:21.
The second coming will not happen until after the man of sin is revealed. After which, the rapture will take place. Then following, there will be approximately three and a half years of tribulation. And finally, a thousand years of Christ ruling this current earth. Near the end of those thousand years, there will be a rebellion, and Christ will defeat it and He will make a new heaven and a new earth. From there will be the eternal life in the kingdom of God, for those who were chosen from the creation of the first earth to believe.
And when Joshua heard that John had been delivered up, he departed to Galilee. -- παρεδοθη (paredothê) - “delivered up” (NAS footnotes “Lit. delivered up”) - from παραδιδωμι (paradidômi) - “to hand over,” “deliver” (e.g. Matthew 5:25; 10:17, 19, 21; 11:27; 18:34; 20:19; Romans 1:24, 26, 28; 4:25) also translated “betray” (e.g. Matthew 10:4; 17:22; 20:18). NKJV & NIV translate “had been put in prison,” KJV “was cast into prison,” NAS “had been taken into custody.” The Greek word for “prison” is not in this text as it is in Acts 8:3 (παρεδιδου εις φυλακην [paredidou eis phulakên]) and 22:4 (παραδιδους εις φυλακας [paradidou eis phulakas]) where the Greek words for both “delivered” and “prison” are found.
And when this sound happened, the multitude came together and was confused, because they heard, each one's own language spoken from them. -- διαλέκτῳ (dialektô) - “language” - found also in Acts 2:8; 21:40; 22:2; 26:14.