[The posts which follow make extensive use of The Acts of the Apostles, by Madame Cecilia, (Religious of St Andrew's Convent, Streatham), with an Imprimi potest dated 16 October 1907 (Westminster); Burns, Oates & Washbourne Ltd. (London). With grateful prayers for the author and her team:
REQUIEM æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.ETERNAL rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.]
Acts IX : 1-9
_-_Conversion_of_Saint_Paul_-_P.1978.PG.357_-_Courtauld_Gallery.jpg) |
| The conversion of Saul. Rubens (1614). Courtauld Gallery. |
[2] And asked of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues: that if he found any men and women of this way, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
[3] And as he went on his journey, it came to pass that he drew nigh to Damascus; and suddenly a light from heaven shined round about him.
[4] And falling on the ground, he heard a voice saying to him: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
[5] Who said: Who art thou, Lord? And he: I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the goad.
[6] And he trembling and astonished, said: Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
[7] And the Lord said to him: Arise, and go into the city, and there it shall be told thee what thou must do. Now the men who went in company with him, stood amazed, hearing indeed a voice, but seeing no man.
[8] And Saul arose from the ground; and when his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. But they leading him by the hands, brought him to Damascus.
[9] And he was there three days, without sight, and he did neither eat nor drink.
[1] Saulus autem adhuc spirans minarum, et caedis in discipulos Domini, accessit ad principem sacerdotum, [2] et petiit ab eo epistolas in Damascum ad synagogas : ut si quos invenisset hujus viae viros, ac mulieres, vinctos perduceret in Jerusalem. [3] Et cum iter faceret, contigit ut appropinquaret Damasco : et subito circumfulsit eum lux de caelo. [4] Et cadens in terram audivit vocem dicentem sibi : Saule, Saule, quid me persequeris? [5] Qui dixit : Quis es Domine? Et ille : Ego sum Jesus, quem tu persequeris : durum est tibi contra stimulum calcitrare.
[6] Et tremens ac stupens dixit : Domine, quid me vis facere? [7] Et Dominus ad eum : Surge, et ingredere civitatem, et ibi dicetur tibi quid te oporteat facere. Viri autem illi, qui comitabantur cum eo, stabant stupefacti, audientes quidem vocem, neminem autem videntes. [8] Surrexit autem Saulus de terra, apertisque oculis nihil videbat. Ad manus autem illum trahentes, introduxerunt Damascum. [9] Et erat ibi tribus diebus non videns, et non manducavit, neque bibit.
Notes
1. And. Better, ‘‘But” (δε). This conjunction and the adverb “yet” (ἐτι) connect this narrative with what has previously been related concerning Saul in ch. viii. 3. While Philip was evangelizing the Samaritans and instructing the Ethiopian, Saul was carrying on the persecution in Jerusalem; having now heard, probably on good authority, that there were many Christians in Damascus, he was roused up to further efforts.
Saul. He was of the tribe of Benjamin, and Tertulliian (adv. Marcion, v. 1), St John Chrysostom, and St Ambrose apply by accommodation the prophecy of Jacob to this persecutor of the Church : cf. Benjamin, a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide the spoil (Gen. xlix. 27).
breathing out. (ἐμπνεων.) The word expresses his great rage ; threats and slaughter were, as it were, the very element that he breathed in, and without which he could not exist.
went. He volunteered to persecute them, and in so doing he was moved by zeal for the Law.
Cf. I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it. And I made progress in the Jews' religion above many of my equals in my own nation, being more abundantly zealous for the traditions of my fathers (Gal. i. 13-14).
high-priest. Until 36 a.d. Caiphas held this office ; he was succeeded by Jonathan, who only held office for one year, when Theophilos was appointed (37 a.d.). Both Jonathan and Theophilos were sons of Annas.
As we are uncertain of the year of Saul’s conversion, it is impossible to determine which of these three gave him his commission. If we accept 33 or 35 as the date of Saul's conversion then certainly Caiphas still held office. Saul applied to the high-priest as the head of the Sanhedrin.
2. letters, — i.e. written documents to the heads of the synagogues in Damascus, urging them to second Saul in his work of uprooting the new heresy. In his defence before Agrippa, St Paul states that he went to Damascus with authority and permission of the chief priest (infra, xxvi. 12). In another passage he adds that these letters were from the high-priest and the ancients. Hence Saul held his commission from the Sanhedrin.
Damascus. This is probably one of the most ancient cities of the world. It existed in the time of Abraham, and the Israelites obtained possession of it under David. Its beauty and prosperity made it an object of envy ; hence its fortune was very chequered, and different conquerors held it in turn. At the present time it is a large city, with a population of 250,000, of whom some 70,000 are Christians. It is built on a large plain, about 150 miles north-east of Jerusalem, and it is well watered by the river Barrada, with its tributaries.
The Greeks named this river “ Chrysorrheas ” (Hood of gold), and Naaman the Syrian, who dwelt In Damascus, thus speaks of its rivers : Are not the Abana and the Pharphar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? (4 Kings v. 12). Damascus is famed for the beauty of its gardens ; the houses are built of white stone, hence the Orientals speak of it as “ a handful of pearls cast in a goblet of emeralds.”
to the synagogues, — i.e. to the presidents of the synagogues. There were, according to Josephus, between thirty and forty synagogues in Damascus. As the Christians still frequented the synagogues, it would often be possible to arrest them at the hours of prayer.
if he found. The doubt does not fall on whether there were Christians at Damascus, but on whether he would be able to apprehend them. Saul knew by experience that they might evade his search.
men and women. The fact that Saul also persecuted women is referred to in ch. xxii. 4 : Who persecuted this way unto deaths binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.
of this way. This expression, among the early Christians, designated Christianity (see Acts xxii. 4, xxviii. 22). It was also a Hebraism referring to a given method of living or acting. In the Old Testament, the expression is used both of God's conduct towards men, and of the mode of life He wishes them to adopt, e.g . —
(a) For I know that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord (Gen, xviii. 19).
(b) And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him (1 Kings xviii. 14).
(c) Master, we know that thou speakest and teachest rightly ; and thou dost not respect any person, but teachest the way of God in truth (St Luke xx. 21).
3. a light from heaven. The vision of Christ in glory manifested to Saul (see 1 Cor. xv. 8) qualified him for his work as an apostle, since he, too, could bear witness to the Resurrection of Christ.
4 . falling on the ground. Most artists represent Saul falling from his horse, and this may have been so, since it would have been a long journey to undertake on foot, but there is nothing in the text to justify this inference. St Augustine assumes that the journey was made on foot, and he remarks that the Pharisees rarely used horses. Camels, however, were much employed for long journeys.
heard a voice. All the circumstances point to a true vision, i.e. an objective reality, and not a mere subjective impression.
Saul, Saul. In all three narratives these words are given in the Hebrew form (Shaul), and St Paul asserts that our Lord spoke in Hebrew (infra, xxvi. 14). Elsewhere St Luke gives the Greek form of the name (Σαυλος).
why persecutest thou me ? The pronouns “ thou and “ me ” are very emphatic, but it is impossible to bring out this antithesis in the English rendering, Jesus here confirms what He had said in His description of the last judgment. Amen, I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to me (St Matt. xxv. 45).
In like manner the Lord of hosts identified Himself with His beloved people : He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of my eye (Zach. ii. 8). Thus Saul was taught his first lesson, that between Christ and His mystical body, the Church, a most intimate union existed.
5 . And he. The verb “said” must be supplied. In Greek as in Middle English, the verb “to say” is often omitted in animated discourse. In verse 11 we have the same idiomatic expression; And the Lord to him (sc. said).
I am Jesus etc. “ If He had said to Saul, I am the Son of God, I am the Eternal Word, He who made the heavens, then Saul could have replied: ‘The object of my persecution was a different one. . . .’ So the Glorified One answered; ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest ’ ” (St John Chrys ).
It is hard, etc. This passage and verse 6 have no good MS. authority, since they are wanting in A, B, C, E, H, etc. They are evidently taken from ch. xxvi. 14, where they are undoubtedly genuine. “To kick against the goad ” is expressive of vain efforts to resist a superior force. The proverb is found in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and the metaphor is taken from the oxen plunging and resisting when goaded by the ploughman.
6 . Lord, For the first time, Saul uses this word in the Christian sense.
what wilt thou have ? etc. Saul generously responds to our Lord, and humbly offers himself to do the will of Jesus the Nazarene, whom hitherto he had so despised and hated.
7. it shall he told thee. Jesus Christ has ordained that souls must enter the Church through the agency of men, and thus Saul was admitted into the One Fold by the ministry of Ananias. Therefore, although Saul was converted by extraordinary means, he was not dispensed from receiving grace by the ordinary channels, i.e. the sacraments.
amazed. Better, “ speechless ” (ἐνεοι) with fright.
8. leading him, etc. “ Thus came Saul into Damascus — not as he had expected, to triumph in an enterprise on which his soul was set, to brave all difficulties and dangers, to enter into houses and carry off prisoners to Jerusalem, but he passed himself like a prisoner beneath the gateway, and through the colonnades of the street called ‘ Straight,' where he saw not the crowd of those who gazed on him ; he was led by the hands of others, trembling and helpless, to the house of Judas, his dark and solitary lodging” (Conybeare and Howson, ch. iii. p. 76).
9. three. Not necessarily three days, though it may have been as long a period. The expression “three days” in the Scriptures often covers but one whole day and a part of two others. Thus Christ is said to have been in the grave “ three days.”
without sight. Various incidents shew that Saul was absolutely blind — his being led by the hands, the scales falling from his eyes ; besides which, the fact is twice stated distinctly, he saw nothing, he was without sight.
neither eat nor drink. Saul observed a rigorous fast. The thoughts that preoccupied him rendered him insensible to the needs of the body.
How bitterly he regretted having persecuted the Christians - the death of Stephen, the punishments inflicted many times on others in the synagogues, the hatred he had borne to the very name of Jesus of Nazareth. Now the Galilean had conquered. Saul, like Stephen, had seen the Son of Man in glory. Then, too, be must have contrasted his actual position in Damascus, which was so different from what he had anticipated. If he contemplated the future, what obstacles seem to rise before him ; what sacrifices of friends, position and reputation he had to make ; what heroism he was called to practise for the cause of the Gospel. During this terrible interior conflict, well might the future Apostle of the Gentiles fast and pray in solitude.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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