Acts 26:15

Act 26:15. Ὁ δὲ, but He) Alex. has ὁ δὲ Κύριος: so also others, along with the Latin Vulg. This reading is derived from ch. Act 9:5, where the narrative of Luke has it so.[144] But Paul, who speaks here, omits the word also in ch. Act 22:8.[145] The omission is elegant. For it was not until afterwards, in continuation, that he heard who was the Lord that here addressed him.—ἐγὼ, I) Therefore He doth live, Festus (notwithstanding thy cavil, “One Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive”): ch. Act 25:19. Paul often refers to the words of the speech which Jesus spake to Saul, as we shall presently observe. Comp. note on Act 26:17-18.—Ἰησοῦς, Jesus) ὁ Ναζωραῖος, of Nazareth, is added in ch. Act 22:8. Paul does not add it in this place, in order to avoid offending (to spare) Agrippa, that he may not seem to upbraid him with the impiety of the Herods against the Christ. Also in Act 26:26, he speaks somewhat generally.—στῆθι ἐπὶ τοὺς πόδας σου) So the LXX., Eze 2:1.

[144] ABCEe Vulg. both Syriac Versions, Memph. have the Κύριος. Rec. Text omits it without the sanction of any very old authority.—E. and T.

[145] To which its omission by transcribers here is probably due.—E. and T.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 26:15 . Evidently the following verses contain a summary of what in the other two accounts of the Conversion is spoken to Paul by Ananias, and revealed by the Lord in a vision, cf. Act 9:15 , Act 22:14 (so Alford, Felten, Zöckler). This is far more satisfactory than to suppose that the two narratives in 9 and 22 are really dependent upon 26, the author having employed in them an oral tradition relating to Ananias, without being at all aware that by introducing such an account he was really contradicting a point upon which Paul lays special stress, viz. , the fact that he had received his apostleship neither from man nor through man, Gal 1:1 (so Wendt (1899), p. 189, and McGiffert, pp. 120 and 355). But in the first place nothing is said as to the Apostle receiving his Apostleship from Ananias; he receives recovery of sight from him, but his call to his Apostleship commences with his call before Damascus: “epocha apostolatus Paulini cum hoc ipso conversionis articulo incipit,” Bengel; and see specially Beyschlag, Studien und Kritiken , p. 220, 1864, on Gal 1:15 ( Witness of the Epistles , p. 379, 1892); and, further, the introduction and omission of Ananias are in themselves strong corroborations of the naturalness of the three accounts of the Conversion. Thus in chap. 22, Act 26:12 , cf. Act 9:10 , “non conveniebat in hunc locum uberior de An. narratio, Act 9:10 ff., sed conveniebat præconium ejus, quod non est illic” (Blass); so too it was natural and important to emphasise before a Jewish audience the description of Ananias (in Act 9:10 he is simply τις μαθητής ) as εὐλαβὴς κατὰ τὸν κόμον , well reported of by all the Jews , whereas in 26 “tota persona Ananiæ sublata est, quippe quæ non esset apta apud hos auditores” (Blass). The three narratives agree in the main facts (see notes in comment., and Zöckler, Apostelgeschichte , 2nd edit., p. 216), and “the slight variations in the three accounts do not seem to be of any consequence,” Ramsay, Saint Paul , p. 379, cf. also Renan, Apostles , p. 13, E.T., Salmon, Introd. , p. 121. Clemen, who agrees in the main with Wendt in regarding 26 as the original narrative, refers chap. 9 to his Redactor Antijudaicus, and chap. 22 to his Redactor Judaicus; he sees evidences of the hand of the former in 9, 10, 15, 17, and of the latter in Act 22:12 ; Act 22:14 . If Act 22:17 f., and the words in Act 26:15 , πρὸς πάντας ἀνθρώπους , do not fit in with this theory, they are ascribed by Clemen to the later Redactor Antijudaicus; but the latter expression πρὸς π . ἀνθ . is already contained in the meaning of the original source, Act 26:17 ; Act 26:20 a and c (20 b belonging, according to Clemen, to the Redactor Judaicus). Space forbids any further examination of passages in the three narratives with regard to which the partition critics, Clemen and Jüngst, are again hopelessly at variance with each other, but cf. Jüngst, Apostelgeschichte , pp. 84, 87, 89, 94, and the strictures of Knabenbauer, Actus Apostolorum , p. 11 (1899). But it is strange to find that Clemen should be prepared to fall back upon the view of Baur, Paulus , Act 2:13 , that the narrative of Paul’s blindness was derived from the spiritual blindness referred to in Act 26:17 , and that therefore this narrative is evidently older than the other accounts in 9 and 22, which introduce a tragical blindness. As Wendt points out, there is no hint in the text that Paul’s blindness was symbolical, and there is nothing to suggest the circumstantial narratives relating to Ananias in the phrase Act 26:17 , which relates not to the Apostle’s own conversion, but to his power of converting others.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. Who art thou, Lord] The readiness with which “Lord,” an expression of allegiance, comes to the Apostle’s lips lends probability to the notion that God’s promptings had been working in his heart before, and that the mad rage against “the Way” was an attempt to stifle them.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And I said, who art thou, Lord? and he said,.... Or "the Lord said", as the Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions read,

I am Jesus whom thou persecutest; the Syriac and Ethiopic versions read, "Jesus of Nazareth"; See Gill on Act 9:5.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.

Ver. 15. See Act 9:5.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The foot is trod upon on earth, and the Head cries out out from heaven, as Act 9:5.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Lord for he, A.V. and T.R.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes on verse 12

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Connecting Statement:

Paul continues giving his defense to King Agrippa. In these verses he continues quoting his conversation with the Lord.

to open their eyes

Helping people to understand the truth is spoken of as if a person were literally helping someone to open his eyes. (See: Metaphor)

to turn them from darkness to light

Helping someone to stop doing what is evil and to start trusting and obeying God is spoken of as if the person is literally leading someone out of a dark place into a place of light. (See: Metaphor)

to turn them ... from the power of Satan to God

Helping someone to stop obeying Satan and to start obeying God is spoken of as if a person were literally turning a person and taking them from the place where Satan rules and leading him to the place where God rules. (See: Metaphor)

they may receive from God the forgiveness of sins

The abstract noun "forgiveness" can be stated as the verb "forgive." AT: "God may forgive their sins" (See: Abstract Nouns)

the inheritance that I give

The abstract noun "inheritance" may be stated as the verb "inherit." AT: "they may inherit that which I give" (See: Abstract Nouns)

the inheritance

The blessings that Jesus gives to those who believe in him are spoken of as if they were an inheritance that children receive from their father. (See: Metaphor)

sanctified by faith in me

Jesus choosing some people to belong to him is spoken of as if he literally set them apart from other people. (See: Metaphor)

by faith in me

"because they believe in me." Here Paul finishes quoting the Lord.

translationWords

lord

Jesus

persecute

appoint

servant

testimony

Gentile

darkness

light

power

Satan

God

forgive

sin

inherit

sanctify

faith

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

15. ὁ δὲ κύριος εἶπες with אABCEIL. Vulg. ‘Dominus autem dixit.’

15. τίς εἶ, κύριε; who art thou, Lord? The readiness with which ‘Lord,’ an expression of allegiance, comes to the Apostle’s lips lends probability to the notion that God’s promptings had been working in his heart before, and that the mad rage against ‘the Way’ was an attempt to stifle them.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15-18.] There can be no question that Paul here condenses into one, various sayings of our Lord to him at different times, in visions, see ch. 22:18-21; and by Ananias, ch. 9:15; see also ch. 22:15, 16. Nor can this, on the strictest view, be considered any deviation from truth. It is what all must more or less do who are abridging a narrative, or giving the general sense of things said at various times. There were reasons for its being minute and particular in the details of his conversion; that once related, the commission which he thereupon received is not followed into its details, but summed up as committed to him by the Lord himself. It would be not only irreverent, but false, to imagine that he put his own thoughts into the mouth of our Lord; but I do not see, with Stier, the necessity of maintaining that all these words were actually spoken to him at some time by the Lord. The message delivered by Ananias certainly furnished some of them; and the unmistakeable utterings of God’s Spirit (τὸ πνεῦμα Ἰησοῦ, ch. 16:7) which supernaturally led him, may have furnished more, all within the limits of truth.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.