Acts 22:6-16

22:6 As ¹  I was en route and near Damascus, ²  about noon a very bright ³  light from heaven ⁴  suddenly flashed ⁵  around me. 22:7 Then I ⁶  fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 22:8 I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ 22:9 Those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand ⁷  the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 22:10 So I asked, ⁸  ‘What should I do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up ⁹  and go to Damascus; there you will be told about everything ¹⁰  that you have been designated ¹¹  to do.’ 22:11 Since I could not see because of ¹²  the brilliance ¹³  of that light, I came to Damascus led by the hand of ¹⁴  those who were with me. 22:12 A man named Ananias, ¹⁵  a devout man according to the law, ¹⁶  well spoken of by all the Jews who live there, ¹⁷  22:13 came ¹⁸  to me and stood beside me ¹⁹  and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight!’ ²⁰  And at that very moment ²¹  I looked up and saw him. ²²  22:14 Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors ²³  has already chosen ²⁴  you to know his will, to see ²⁵  the Righteous One, ²⁶  and to hear a command ²⁷  from his mouth, 22:15 because you will be his witness ²⁸  to all people ²⁹  of what you have seen and heard. 22:16 And now what are you waiting for? ³⁰  Get up, ³¹  be baptized, and have your sins washed away, ³²  calling on his name.’ ³³ 

[22:6]  ¹ tn Grk “It happened that as.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[22:6]  ² tn Grk “going and nearing Damascus.”

[22:6]  ³ tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 3.b has “φῶς a very bright light Ac 22:6.”

[22:6]  ⁴ tn Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

[22:6]  ⁵ tn Or “shone.”

[22:7]  ⁶ tn This is a continuation of the same sentence in Greek using the connective τέ (te), but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence a new sentence was begun in the translation here. To indicate the logical sequence for the modern English reader, τέ was translated as “then.”

[22:9]  ⁷ tn Grk “did not hear” (but see Acts 9:7). BDAG 38 s.v. ἀκούω 7 has “W. acc. τὸν νόμον understand the law Gal 4:21; perh. Ac 22:9; 26:14…belong here.” If the word has this sense here, then a metonymy is present, since the lack of effect is put for a failure to appreciate what was heard.

[22:10]  ⁸ tn Grk “So I said.”

[22:10]  ⁹ tn Grk “Getting up.” The participle ἀναστάς (anasta") is an adverbial participle of attendant circumstance and has been translated as a finite verb.

[22:10]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “about all things.”

[22:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “assigned,” “ordered.” BDAG 991 s.v. τάσσω 2.a has “act. and pass., foll. by acc. w. inf.…περὶ πάντων ὧν τέτακταί σοι ποιῆσαι concerning everything that you have been ordered to do 22:10.” There is an allusion to a divine call and commission here.

[22:11]  ¹² tn BDAG 106 s.v. ἀπό 5.a has “οὐκ ἐνέβλεπον ἀπὸ τῆς δόξης τοῦ φωτός I could not see because of the brilliance of the light Ac 22:11.”

[22:11]  ¹³ tn Or “brightness”; Grk “glory.”

[22:11]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “by” (ὑπό, Jupo), but this would be too awkward in English following the previous “by.”

[22:12]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “a certain Ananias.”

[22:12]  ¹⁶ sn The law refers to the law of Moses.

[22:12]  ¹⁷ tn BDAG 534 s.v. κατοικέω 1.a translates this present participle “ὑπὸ πάντων τῶν (sc. ἐκεῖ) κατοικούντων ᾿Ιουδαίων by all the Jews who live there Ac 22:12.”

[22:13]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “coming.” The participle ἐλθών (elqwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[22:13]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “coming to me and standing beside [me] said to me.” The participle ἐπιστάς (epistas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[22:13]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Brother Saul, look up” (here an idiom for regaining one’s sight). BDAG 59 s.v. ἀναβλέπω places this usage under 1, “look up Ac 22:13a. W. εἰς αὐτόν to show the direction of the glance…22:13b; but perh. this vs. belongs under 2a.” BDAG 59 s.v. 2.a.α states, “of blind persons, who were formerly able to see, regain sight.” The problem for the translator is deciding between the literal and the idiomatic usage and at the same time attempting to retain the wordplay in Acts 22:13: “[Ananias] said to me, ‘Look up!’ and at that very moment I looked up to him.” The assumption of the command is that the effort to look up will be worth it (through the regaining of sight).

[22:13]  ²¹ tn Grk “hour,” but ὥρα (Jwra) is often used for indefinite short periods of time (so BDAG 1102-3 s.v. ὥρα 2.c: “αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ at that very time, at once, instantly…Lk 2:38, 24:33; Ac 16:18; 22:13”). A comparison with the account in Acts 9:18 indicates that this is clearly the meaning here.

[22:13]  ²² tn Grk “I looked up to him.”

[22:14]  ²³ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[22:14]  ²⁴ tn L&N 30.89 has “‘to choose in advance, to select beforehand, to designate in advance’…‘the God of our ancestors has already chosen you to know his will’ Ac 22:14.”

[22:14]  ²⁵ tn Grk “and to see.” This καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[22:14]  ²⁶ sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ (Acts 3:14).

[22:14]  ²⁷ tn Or “a solemn declaration”; Grk “a voice.” BDAG 1071-72 s.v. φωνή 2.c states, “that which the voice gives expression to: call, cry, outcry, loud or solemn declaration (… = order, command)…Cp. 22:14; 24:21.”

[22:15]  ²⁸ tn Or “a witness to him.”

[22:15]  ²⁹ tn Grk “all men,” but this is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo").

[22:16]  ³⁰ tn L&N 67.121 has “to extend time unduly, with the implication of lack of decision – ‘to wait, to delay.’ νῦν τί μέλλεις… ἀναστὰς βάπτισαι ‘what are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized’ Ac 22:16.”

[22:16]  ³¹ tn Grk “getting up.” The participle ἀναστάς (anasta") is an adverbial participle of attendant circumstance and has been translated as a finite verb.

[22:16]  ³² sn The expression have your sins washed away means “have your sins purified” (the washing is figurative).

[22:16]  ³³ sn The expression calling on his name describes the confession of the believer: Acts 2:17-38, esp. v. 38; Rom 10:12-13; 1 Cor 1:2.