Acts 9 is the ninth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records Saul's conversion and the works of Saint Peter. The book containing this chapter is anonymous but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the Gospel of Luke.
Text
The original text was written in Koine Greek and is divided into 43 verses.
Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: In Greek Papyrus 53 (3rd century; extant verses 33 to chapter 10:1) Codex Vaticanus (325–350) Codex Sinaiticus (330–360) Codex Bezae (~400) Codex Alexandrinus (400–440) Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450) Codex Laudianus (~550) In Latin León palimpsest (7th century; complete)
New Testament references
: ;
On the Damascus Road (9:1–9) The purposeful journey to Damascus by Saul (verse 1) was abruptly halted (verse 3) when a heavenly light blinded him (verse 8) while a heavenly voice made his followers speechless (verse 7), so now Saul had to be 'told what to do' (verse 6) and 'led by the hand' (verse 8). What was the most terrifying for Saul is that the heavenly voice was the voice of 'Jesus, whom you are persecuting' (verse 5), confirming that 'Stephen's vision (Acts 7:56) was not total delusion'.
Verse 5
And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city."
Ananias's vision (9:10–19)
Just like the story of Cornelius, there were two visions involved in Saul's story, 'each confirming the other'. While Saul was blinded from his vision and in chastened state ('he is praying', verse 11), Ananias, who was a resident of Damascus (verse 13) and a disciple of Christ (verse 10), received instructions with precise directions to Saul's address (verse 11; the 'street called Straight' is still shown in the Old City of Damascus). It also contains 'a divine commission' (in distinctly Pauline language) highlighting the contrast between Saul's dark past and God's 'elective grace' (verse 15: cf. 1 Corinthians 15:9–10; Romans 9:23) for Saul's future career, as prophetically outlined in verses 15–16. Ananias was initially reluctant and argued with 'the Lord' (cf. Moses in Exodus 3:11–4:17), but he obediently followed the instructions with generous response (verse 17) to lay hands (primarily for healing) and to baptize Saul (verse 18).
Verse 17
And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
Verse 19
So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus. John Gill suggested in his Exposition of the Bible that these disciples were among those dispersed from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria at the onset of the Christian persecution described in Acts 8:1
Saul in Damascus (9:19–25)
Saul's conversion immediately showed apparent effect, as characteristically recorded in Luke's style to be a 'universal amazement' (verse 21). Luke's narrative here and Paul's own account of his conversion in Galatians 1 are not identical but reconcilable: Paul didn't mention that his call was in Damascus, yet in after going to Arabia, Paul wrote that he 'returned to Damascus', implying that the call took place there. Another mention of Damascus in Paul's letters is at in relation to his escape (being let down over the walls in a basket), which could hardly have happened twice, so it must refer to the same episode. In the epistle to Corinthians, Paul wrote that the person wanting to capture him was Aretas was king of the Arabian kingdom of Nabatea, who only had any kind of judicial authority in Damascus between 37-39 CE, thus providing a narrow date range of the event.
Verse 25
Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket. Cross reference: 2 Corinthians 11:33 Saul or Paul was helped to escape the city in a similar manner to how Rahab helped two spies to escape prior to the Battle of Jericho (), and Michal, the daughter of King Saul helped her husband, David ().