Acts 9:20-25

9:20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, ¹  saying, “This man is the Son of God.” ²  9:21 All ³  who heard him were amazed and were saying, “Is this not ⁴  the man who in Jerusalem was ravaging ⁵  those who call on this name, and who had come here to bring them as prisoners ⁶  to the chief priests?” 9:22 But Saul became more and more capable, ⁷  and was causing consternation ⁸  among the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving ⁹  that Jesus ¹⁰  is the Christ. ¹¹ 

Saul’s Escape from Damascus

9:23 Now after some days had passed, the Jews plotted ¹²  together to kill him, 9:24 but Saul learned of their plot against him. ¹³  They were also watching ¹⁴  the city gates ¹⁵  day and night so that they could kill him. 9:25 But his disciples took him at night and let him down through an opening ¹⁶  in the wall by lowering him in a basket. ¹⁷ 

[9:20]  ¹ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[9:20]  ² tn The ὅτι (Joti) is understood to introduce direct (“This man is the Son of God”) rather than indirect discourse (“that this man is the Son of God”) because the pronoun οὗτος (Jouto") combined with the present tense verb ἐστιν (estin) suggests the contents of what was proclaimed are a direct (albeit summarized) quotation.

[9:21]  ³ tn Grk “And all.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[9:21]  ⁴ tn The Greek interrogative particle used in this verse (οὐχ, ouc) expects a positive reply. They all knew about Saul’s persecutions.

[9:21]  ⁵ tn Normally, “destroying,” but compare 4 Macc 4:23; 11:4 and MM 529 s.v. πορθέω for examples from Koine papyri. See also BDAG 853 s.v. πορθέω.

[9:21]  ⁶ tn Grk “bring them bound”; the translation “bring someone as prisoner” for δεδεμένον ἄγειν τινά (dedemenon agein tina) is given by BDAG 221 s.v. δέω 1.b.

[9:22]  ⁷ tn Grk “was becoming stronger,” but this could be understood in a physical sense, while the text refers to Saul’s growing ability to demonstrate to fellow Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. The translation “to become capable” for ἐνδυναμόω (endunamow) is given in L&N 74.7, with this specific verse as an example.

[9:22]  ⁸ tn Or “was confounding.” For the translation “to cause consternation” for συγχέω (suncew) see L&N 25.221.

[9:22]  ⁹ tn Or “by showing for certain.”

[9:22]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “that this one”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:22]  ¹¹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Note again the variation in the titles used.

[9:23]  ¹² 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).

[9:24]  ¹³ tn The words “against him” are implied, as suggested by L&N 30.71.

[9:24]  ¹⁴ tn Or “guarding.” This is a negative term in Luke-Acts (Luke 6:7; 14:1; 20:20).

[9:24]  ¹⁵ tn The word πύλη (pulh) may refer to a house door or gate, or to the large gates used in a palace, temple, or city wall. Here the context clearly indicates a reference to the latter, so the translation “city gates” is used.

[9:25]  ¹⁶ tn The opening in the wall is not specifically mentioned here, but the parallel account in 2 Cor 11:33 mentions a “window” or “opening” (θυρίς, quris) in the city wall through which Paul was lowered. One alternative to introducing mention of the opening is to translate Acts 9:25 “they let him down over the wall,” as suggested in L&N 7.61. This option is not employed by many translations, however, because for the English reader it creates an (apparent) contradiction between Acts 9:25 and 2 Cor 11:33. In reality the account here is simply more general, omitting the detail about the window.

[9:25]  ¹⁷ tn On the term for “basket” used here, see BDAG 940 s.v. σπυρίς.