Acts 9:5-8

9:5 So he said, “Who are you, Lord?” He replied, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting! 9:6 But stand up ¹  and enter the city and you will be told ²  what you must do.” 9:7 (Now the men ³  who were traveling with him stood there speechless, ⁴  because they heard the voice but saw no one.) ⁵  9:8 So Saul got up from the ground, but although his eyes were open, ⁶  he could see nothing. ⁷  Leading him by the hand, his companions ⁸  brought him into Damascus.

¹ tn Or “But arise.”

² tn Literally a passive construction, “it will be told to you.” This has been converted to another form of passive construction in the translation.

³ tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which is used only rarely in a generic sense of both men and women. In the historical setting here, Paul’s traveling companions were almost certainly all males.

⁴ tn That is, unable to speak because of fear or amazement. See BDAG 335 s.v. ἐνεός.

⁵ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. Acts 22:9 appears to indicate that they saw the light but did not hear a voice. They were “witnesses” that something happened.

⁶ tn Grk “his eyes being open,” a genitive absolute construction that has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

⁷ sn He could see nothing. This sign of blindness, which was temporary until v. 18, is like the sign of deafness experienced by Zechariah in Luke 1. It allowed some time for Saul (Paul) to reflect on what had happened without distractions.

⁸ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Saul’s companions) have been specified in the translation for clarity.