Acts 9:23

Saul’s Escape from Damascus

9:23 Now after some days had passed, the Jews plotted ¹  together to kill him,

Acts 9:29

9:29 He was speaking and debating ²  with the Greek-speaking Jews, ³  but they were trying to kill him.

¹ sn Fitting the pattern emphasized earlier with Stephen and his speech in Acts 7, some Jews plotted to kill God’s messenger (cf. Luke 11:53-54).

² tn Or “arguing.” BDAG 954 s.v. συζητέω 2 gives “dispute, debate, argue…τινί ‘w. someone’” for συνεζήτει (sunezhtei).

³ tn Grk “the Hellenists,” but this descriptive term is largely unknown to the modern English reader. The translation “Greek-speaking Jews” attempts to convey something of who these were, but it was more than a matter of language spoken; it involved a degree of adoption of Greek culture as well.