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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - Acts 9:4 - 9:4
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He fell upon the earth (pesōn epi tēn gēn). Second aorist active participle. So in Act 22:7 Paul says: “I fell unto the ground” (epesa eis to edaphos) using an old word rather than the common gēn. In Act 26:14 Paul states that “we were all fallen to the earth” (pantōn katapesontōn hēmōn eis tēn gēn, genitive absolute construction). But here in Act 9:7”the men that journeyed with him stood speechless” (histēkeisan eneoi). But surely the points of time are different. In Act 26:14 Paul refers to the first appearance of the vision when all fell to the earth. Here in Act 9:7Luke refers to what occurred after the vision when both Saul and the men had risen from the ground.
Saul, Saul (Saoul, Saoul). The Hebrew form occurs also in Act 22:7; Act 26:14 where it is expressly stated that the voice was in the Hebrew (Aramaic) tongue as also in Act 9:17 (Ananias). Deissmann (Bible Studies, p. 316) terms this use of Saoul “the historian’s sense of liturgical rhythm.” For the repetition of names by Jesus note Luk 10:41 (Martha, Martha), Luk 22:31 (Simon, Simon).
Me (me). In persecuting the disciples, Saul was persecuting Jesus, as the words of Jesus in Act 9:5made plain. Christ had already spoken of the mystic union between himself and his followers (Mat 10:40; Mat 25:40, Mat 25:45; Joh 15:1-5). The proverb (Pindar) that Jesus quotes to Saul about kicking against the goad is genuine in Act 26:14, but not here.