Acts 9

Acts 9:4

And it struck him with great terror, as at the presence of God, which he knew was wont thus to exhibit himself. This made him fall prostrate on his face, and as he did so, there came to his ears a clap of thunder, and out of that this speech directed to him, Saul, Saul— b it is thy best way to be obedient to the commands that shall now be given thee, and not to be refractory. c I am most ready to do whatever thou commandest me, if thou wilt please to give me knowledge of thy will. And the Lord— d were so frightened with the thunderclap which they heard, (though they neither saw any man nor heard what was said unto him,) that they were not able to speak. e was not able to see, ver. 9, but was fain to be led to Damascus.

Acts 9:5

[a] to kick against the pricks] It was a proverbial speech to kick against the goad, signifying to be refractory to punishment and discipline when it comes to teach us our duty; for then the refractoriness doth but involve us in more guilt and punishment. So in Æschylus Prometh. 321.

Ὁκουν ἔμοιγε χρώμενος διδασκάλῳ Πρὸς κέντρα κῶλον ἐκτενεῖς, and in his Alex. Πρὸς κέντρα μὴ λάκτιζε, μὴ πήσας μογῆς,

“If thou wilt take my counsel, thou shalt never kick against the goad, for thou wilt bring more sufferings upon thyself by that means.” Parallel to this is ἀδάμαντα παίειν, “striking the adamant,” πῦρ πατεῖν, “treading on the fire,” in Chrysostom; so again, Ὁ γὰρ τὸν ἀδάμαντα πλήττων αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ πληττόμενος. Καὶ ὁ κέντρα λακτίζων αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ κεντούμενος, “He that strikes the adamant is himself stricken, and he that kicks the goads is himself goaded:” stimulus pugnis cædere, in Plautus, “to beat the goads with his fists,” Truc. 4. 2. For this of goads was used, not to beasts only, but servants, which he calls stimuleum supplicium, Mil. 2. 6. And the servant thus handled severely is by him called carnificinum cribrum, his back was “a kind of sieve full of holes.”

Acts 9:7

[b] hearing a voice] What is here said of those that were with Paul, that they heard the voice, seems directly contrary to what is affirmed, ch. xxii. 9, τὴν δὲ φωνὴν οὐκ ἤκουσαν, they heard not the voice. As for the way of reconciling it, by saying that the former belongs to Paul’s voice, the latter to the voice of him that spake to him, there is little ground in the text for that nicety; but on the contrary, the μηδέναι θεωροῦντες, seeing no man, which follows in this place, belongs surely not to their not seeing of Paul, but of him that spake to him. The only way of reconciling the difficulty is by observing the notion of the word קול in Hebrew, which signifies φωνὴν and βροντὴν, a voice, and thunder, and those promiscuously taken the one for the other. So Heb. xii. 26, whose voice shook the earth, that is, whose thunder and lightnings and voice of a trumpet exceeding loud, Exod. xix. 16, and so Luke ix. 35, the voice of a cloud, saying, was the thunder with a voice in it, a revelation from heaven given in thunder. So Matt. iii. 17, a voice from heaven saying, that is, a thunder from heaven sending forth this voice, which therefore was wont to be called בת קול, the daughter of voice, or a voice coming out of it, or as the voice from heaven, John xii. 28, is expressed by the bystanders by βροντὴν γεγονέναι, that it thundered, and an angel spake to him, which is explained distinctly by St. John, Rev. iv. 5, where βρονταὶ and φωναὶ both are named, and ch. x. 3, Ἐλάλησαν ἑπτὰ βροντοὶ τὰς ἑαυτῶν φωνὰς, the seven thunders delivered their voices. By this the difficulty will be cleared: for here, ch. ix, τὴν φωνὴν, the voice, ought to be rendered (according to the notion of קול, for βροντὴ) thunder, which was here joined with lightning, which shone or flashed about him, ver. 3, περιήστραψε φῶς. As for the φωνὴν λαλοῦντός μοι, the voice of him that spake to me, ch. xxii. 9, that was the voice of the

b Hom. 42. in Matt. p. 278. l. 2. l Hom. 24. in Matt. p. 174.

Acts 9:9

And he was not in three days recovered out of that fit, but continued blind, and able to eat nothing, in a kind of trance or ecstasy, ver. 12. goads, xivroa. hearing indeed the voice, or, thunder.

Acts 9:14

And now he is come with commission from the sanhedrim (see ver. 2.) to secure all that publicly avow the worship of Christ, Acts xxii. 16.

‘a prime special person, whom as a most honourable instrument, or piece of householdstuff in my family, (the church, which I am now to erect,) I have set apart for my peculiar service, (see ch. xxvi. 17,) viz., to preach the gospel not only to the Jews but the Gentiles also, the greatest and supreme among them.

Acts 9:16

And as fierce as he now appears against the Christian faith, he shall suffer very heavy pressures, run many hazards suddenly, vv. 23 and 29, and labour most abundantly, and at last suffer death itself in propugning of it, and this shall now be foretold him by thee.

Acts 9:17

And Ananias went to him, and laying his hands on him, told him that Jesus (that appeared to him as he came to Damascus) had sent him to him, not only to restore his sight to him, but to endow him with many extraordinary gifts and graces, thereby to fit him for God’s service in the church, to which he had designed him, and to which he is consecrated, ch. xiii. 2.

’ nations, 1800.

Acts 9:21

And all that heard it were amazed at this sudden change, remembering that he had so lately been a special person in the stoning of Stephen, and very vehement against all Christians, and was come to Damascus with commission for this very purpose.

Acts 9:22

But Saul grew every day in spiritual strength, and was soon able to repel all the Jews’ arguments to the contrary, and pressed them with such evidence that they were not able to avoid, collecting from the characters and prophecies of the Messias (and thereby demonstrating) that this Jesus is the Messias.

had a design, and entered into a conspiracy, and laid wait to assault and kill him.

the Christians (see note [a] Matt. v.) took him— Christians there, but they durst not venture to teaching.

Acts 9:29

And he proclaimed the faith of Christ publicly, and argued and discoursed with the Jews that understood Greek (see note [a] ch. vi.): but they— ° the city where he was born.

Acts 9:31

Now all the Christian assemblies through Judæa, Galilee, and Samaria, were permitted a quiet use of their religion, and daily more and more confirmed and improved, superstructing all Christian doctrine, and pure pious practice on that foundation already laid, and more were daily converted to them by the apostles’ discharging that office and duty, to which they were designed by the coming of the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, upon them: (see note [b] John xiv.)

Acts 9:32

And as Peter went his perambulation thorough all those churches he came to the Jewish Christians that dwelt at Lydda. p being sick of the palsy, was not able to move from his bed for the space of eight years.

Acts 9:35

And hereupon the inhabitants of Lydda and Saron generally received the faith, seeing this man on whom this miracle was wrought.

Acts 9:36

And at Joppa there was a woman that had received the faith, her name was Tabitha, which signifies a roe, she was a very laborious woman, one that wrought much, (see note [k] Luke i., and note [a] Titus iii.,) and by that means was very liberal and charitable. ’ and having, by way of preparation for her interring, washed her, according to their custom of burying, they laid her— ’ the Christians of Joppa had heard— ’ poor widows, which had been clothed by her liberality, came weeping to him, and shewed him the evidences and monuments of her charity, the inner and upper garments, (see note [r] Matt. v.,) which either she made, or caused to be made them, while she lived, ver. 36.