Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Acts 9:21

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Acts 9:21 - 9:21

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Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Acts 9:21 - 9:21

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21. ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες, but all were amazed. Saul’s fame as a persecutor of Christians was apparently well known to the Jews of Damascus, and the authorities of the synagogues may have been instructed beforehand to welcome him as a zealous agent. If so their amazement is easy to understand. It is clear from what follows in this verse that they knew of his mission and the intention thereof, though Saul did not bring them his ‘commission and authority.’ We should gather also from the strong expression ὁ πορθήσας ‘he that destroyed,’ used to describe Saul’s career in Jerusalem, that the slaughter of the Christians there had not been limited to the stoning of Stephen.

ἐληλύθει, ἵνα … ἀγάγῃ, came hither that he might bring. The subjunctive after the past tense seems however to indicate that in the mind of the speaker the intention is still thought to be persistent. ‘He came that he may (as he is resolved to do) bring,’ &c.