Add parallel Print Page Options

Chapter 9

Saul’s Conversion. [a]Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord,(A) went to the high priest(B)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 9:1–19 This is the first of three accounts of Paul’s conversion (with Acts 22:3–16 and Acts 26:2–18) with some differences of detail owing to Luke’s use of different sources. Paul’s experience was not visionary but was precipitated by the appearance of Jesus, as he insists in 1 Cor 15:8. The words of Jesus, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” related by Luke with no variation in all three accounts, exerted a profound and lasting influence on the thought of Paul. Under the influence of this experience he gradually developed his understanding of justification by faith (see the letters to the Galatians and Romans) and of the identification of the Christian community with Jesus Christ (see 1 Cor 12:27). That Luke would narrate this conversion three times is testimony to the importance he attaches to it. This first account occurs when the word is first spread to the Gentiles. At this point, the conversion of the hero of the Gentile mission is recounted. The emphasis in the account is on Paul as a divinely chosen instrument (Acts 9:15).

Saul’s Conversion(A)

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.(B) He went to the high priest

Read full chapter

13 But Ananias replied, “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, what evil things he has done to your holy ones[a] in Jerusalem.(A)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 9:13 Your holy ones: literally, “your saints.”

13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people(A) in Jerusalem.(B)

Read full chapter

I persecuted this Way to death, binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.(A)

Read full chapter

I persecuted(A) the followers of this Way(B) to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,(C)

Read full chapter

(A)I myself once thought that I had to do many things against the name of Jesus the Nazorean, 10 and I did so in Jerusalem. I imprisoned many of the holy ones with the authorization I received from the chief priests, and when they were to be put to death I cast my vote against them.(B) 11 Many times, in synagogue after synagogue, I punished them in an attempt to force them to blaspheme; I was so enraged against them that I pursued them even to foreign cities.

Read full chapter

“I too was convinced(A) that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose(B) the name of Jesus of Nazareth.(C) 10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people(D) in prison,(E) and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.(F) 11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished,(G) and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

Read full chapter

[a]I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people,

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 5:9–13 Paul here corrects a misunderstanding of his earlier directives against associating with immoral fellow Christians. He concedes the impossibility of avoiding contact with sinners in society at large but urges the Corinthians to maintain the inner purity of their own community.

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate(A) with sexually immoral people—

Read full chapter

13 [a]For you heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it,(A)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1:13–17 Along with Phil 3:4–11, which also moves from autobiography to its climax in a discussion on justification by faith (cf. Gal 2:15–21), this passage is Paul’s chief account of the change from his former way of life (Gal 1:13) to service as a Christian missionary (Gal 1:16); cf. Acts 9:1–22; 22:4–16; 26:9–18. Paul himself does not use the term “conversion” but stresses revelation (Gal 1:12, 16). In Gal 1:15 his language echoes the Old Testament prophetic call of Jeremiah. Unlike the account in Acts (cf. Acts 22:4–16), the calling of Paul here includes the mission to proclaim Christ to the Gentiles (Gal 1:16).

13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism,(A) how intensely I persecuted the church of God(B) and tried to destroy it.(C)

Read full chapter