[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 XXII : 1-21
_-_Conversion_of_Saint_Paul_-_P.1978.PG.357_-_Courtauld_Gallery.jpg) |
| The Conversion of Saul. Rubens (1577-1640). Courtauld Gallery. |
[2] (And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew tongue, they kept the more silence.)
[3] And he saith: I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the truth of the law of the fathers, zealous for the law, as also all you are this day:
[4] Who persecuted this way unto death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.
[5] As the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the ancients: from whom also receiving letters to the brethren, I went to Damascus, that I might bring them bound from thence to Jerusalem to be punished.
[6] And it came to pass, as I was going, and drawing nigh to Damascus at midday, that suddenly from heaven there shone round about me a great light:
[7] And falling on the ground, I heard a voice saying to me: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
[8] And I answered: Who art thou, Lord? And he said to me: I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
[9] And they that were with me, saw indeed the light, but they heard not the voice of him that spoke with me.
[10] And I said: What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said to me: Arise, and go to Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things that thou must do.
[11] And whereas I did not see for the brightness of that light, being led by the hand by my companions, I came to Damascus.
[11] And whereas I did not see for the brightness of that light, being led by the hand by my companions, I came to Damascus.
[12] And one Ananias, a man according to the law, having testimony of all the Jews who dwelt there,
[13] Coming to me, and standing by me, said to me: Brother Saul, look up. And I the same hour looked upon him.
[14] But he said: The God of our fathers hath preordained thee that thou shouldst know his will, and see the Just One, and shouldst hear the voice from his mouth.
[15] For thou shalt be his witness to all men, of those things which thou hast seen and heard.
[16] And now why tarriest thou? Rise up, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, invoking his name. [17] And it came to pass, when I was come again to Jerusalem, and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance,
[16] And now why tarriest thou? Rise up, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, invoking his name. [17] And it came to pass, when I was come again to Jerusalem, and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance,
[18] And saw him saying unto me: Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem; because they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.
[19] And I said: Lord, they know that I cast into prison, and beat in every synagogue, them that believed in thee.
[20] And when the blood of Stephen thy witness was shed, I stood by and consented, and kept the garments of them that killed him.
[21] And he said to me: Go, for unto the Gentiles afar off, will I send thee.
[21] And he said to me: Go, for unto the Gentiles afar off, will I send thee.
[1] Viri fratres, et patres, audite quam ad vos nunc reddo rationem. [2] Cum audissent autem quia hebraea lingua loqueretur ad illos, magis praestiterunt silentium. [3] Et dicit : Ego sum vir Judaeus, natus in Tarso Ciliciae, nutritus autem in ista civitate, secus pedes Gamaliel eruditus juxta veritatem paternae legis, aemulator legis, sicut et vos omnes estis hodie : [4] qui hanc viam persecutus sum usque ad mortem, alligans et tradens in custodias viros ac mulieres, [5] sicut princeps sacerdotum mihi testimonium reddit, et omnes majores natu, a quibus et epistolas accipiens, ad fratres Damascum pergebam, ut adducerem inde vinctos in Jerusalem ut punirentur.
[6] Factum est autem, eunte me, et appropinquante Damasco media die, subito de caelo circumfulsit me lux copiosa : [7] et decidens in terram, audivi vocem dicentem mihi : Saule, Saule, quid me persequeris? [8] Ego autem respondi : Quis es, Domine? Dixitque ad me : Ego sum Jesus Nazarenus, quem tu persequeris. [9] Et qui mecum erant, lumen quidem viderunt, vocem autem non audierunt ejus qui loquebatur mecum. [10] Et dixi : Quid faciam, Domine? Dominus autem dixit ad me : Surgens vade Damascum : et ibi tibi dicetur de omnibus quae te oporteat facere.
[11] Et cum non viderem prae claritate luminis illius, ad manum deductus a comitibus, veni Damascum. [12] Ananias autem quidam, vir secundum legem testimonium habens ab omnibus cohabitantibus Judaeis, [13] veniens ad me, et astans dixit mihi : Saule frater respice. Et ego eadem hora respexi in eum. [14] At ille dixit : Deus patrum nostrorum praeordinavit te, ut cognosceres voluntatem ejus, et videres justum, et audires vocem ex ore ejus : [15] quia eris testis illius ad omnes homines eorum quae vidisti et audisti.
[16] Et nunc quid moraris? Exsurge, et baptizare, et ablue peccata tua, invocato nomine ipsius. [17] Factum est autem revertenti mihi in Jerusalem, et oranti in templo, fieri me in stupore mentis, [18] et videre illum dicentem mihi : Festina, et exi velociter ex Jerusalem : quoniam non recipient testimonium tuum de me. [19] Et ego dixi : Domine ipsi sciunt quia ego eram concludens in carcerem, et caedans per synagogas eos qui credebant in te : [20] et cum funderetur sanguis Stephani testis tui, ego astabam, et consentiebam, et custodiebam vestimenta interficientium illum.
[21] Et dixit ad me : Vade quoniam ego in nationes longe mittam te.
Notes
Note. — The three accounts of St Paul’s conversion are harmonized, and the apparent discrepancies explained in the article which precedes Chapter IX, (see p, 191). The student would do well to read those remarks before studying Chapter XXII, as explanations given there are not repeated in this chapter.
1. Men brethren, and fathers. St Paul divides his hearers into two classes — men, who are his brethren, and the fathers, i.e. the ancients, among whom many priests and ancients were certainly present.
St Paul either took their presence for granted, or he may have recognized some members of the Sanhedrin us he looked down on the vast multitude. St Stephen began his apology with the same words (see ch. vii. 2), whence we may infer that this was the usual formula for commencing an address to a Jewish audience.
the account. St Paul now proceeds to justify his conduct, and St Luke gives the technical Greek term for a refutation of an accusation. The works written in defence of the Christian Religion by the early Fathers were known by this name ; thus we have the “ Apologia ” of Tertullian, of St Justin Marytr, etc.
2. they kept the more silence. The R.V. renders, “ they were the more quiet.” The crowd ceased shouting and remained stationary in order to hear St Paul better. In that dead silence St Paul began his discourse.
“Note St Paul’s cool courage. Most men would have been in a state of such wild alarm as to desire nothing so much as to be hurried out of sight of the crowd. Not so with St Paul. Snatched from his persecutors after imminent risk— barely delivered from that most terrifying of all forms of danger, the murderous fury of masses of his fellow-men— he asks leave not only to face, but even to turn round to address, the densely-thronging thousands, who were only kept from him by a little belt of Roman swords” (Farrar, Life and Epistles of St Paul, p. 534).
3. I am a Jew. These words would at once shew those who, in the tumult, had thought him to he the Egyptian rebel, that they were mistaken. “ In the East, crowds are much more easily swayed by their emotions than they are among us.”
born at Tarsus. See Annot. on xi. 26. St Jerome records a tradition that St Paul was born at Giscala in Galilee, and taken by his parents to Tarsus when the Romans devastated Palestine, but this probably refers to the parents of St Paul, not to the apostle himself, who certainly knew where he was born (see de Viris Illustr., 5).
at the feet of Gamaliel etc. Some commentators omit the comma after “ Gamaliel,” and connect this phrase with taught according, etc. But the majority hold that there are three distinct assertions : —
(a) St. Paul was born at Tarsus.
(b) He was educated in Jerusalem, at the feet of Gamaliel.
(c) He was brought up as a strict Pharisee.
“At the feet of ” is the idiomatic Hebrew expression for “a pupil of.” In the East, the master sat on a raised platform, so that his pupils literally sat at his feet, often on the ground.
On Gamaliel, see Annot. v. 34. When St Paul uttered these words, Gamaliel had been dead about eight years.
to the truth of the law. Better, “ to the strict acceptation of the law.” St Paul refers to the rigid observances inculcated and practised by the Pharisees. The same word occurs in ch. xxvi. 5, where it is translated “ most, sure ” (straitest, R. V.).
zealous for the law. The best MSS. read “a zealot for God.” See Annot. on ch. xxi. 20.
4. who ‘persecuted, etc. The original gives the relative ; the sense, of course, is “ I persecuted,” as the R.V. renders it.
For references to these persecutions in the Acts, see vii. 69, viii. 1-3, ix. 1-2 and 13, xxvi. 10. St Paul makes the same confession in his epistles, e.g. Who before was a blasphemer and a persecutor and contumelious. But I obtained the mercy of God, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief (I Tim. i. 13,)
this way. See Annot. on ix. 2, xviii. 25, xix. 9, 23.
unto death. See ix. 1.
binding and delivering. Now he himself was bound and delivered as an adherent of “the Way ” of the Gospel.
into prisons. Into the prisons of the different cities where Saul pursued his victims.
5. As the high-priest doth bear me witness. These words may designate the high-priest Ananias (xxiii. 2), who was then holding office, and who at the time of St Paul’s conversion was a member of the Sanhedrin, or they may refer to the high-priest from whom St Paul received his commission.
If St Paul was converted circa 35 A.D., Caiphas was the high-priest. He was succeeded by Jonathan, the son of Annas, in 30 A.D., The following year Theophilos, his brother, held office. St Paul’s words shew that the high -priest who gave him his commission, at least some twenty years previously, was still alive,
all the ancients. As the “ancients” were not necessarily old men, many of those who had known St Paul as a strict Pharisee were still alive. In any case, records of the commission must have been kept, since so many “men and women ” were taken bound to Jerusalem and punished there.
to the brethren, — i.e. to the Jewish authorities. In this discourse the word “brethren” always refers to the unbelieving Jews.
that I might bring them, — i.e. those that inhabited Damascus. The Greek reads literally “those who were there” (τους ἐκεισε ὀντας).
to be punished. Either by scourging or by death.
6. at mid-day. This detail is not given in ch. ix., but it is found again in ch. xxvi. 13.
8. Jesus of Nazareth. Lit. “Jesus the Nazarene.”
9. saw indeed the light. Some MSS. add, “and were afraid,” but these words have not the support of the best uncials ; they are not found in א, A, B, H, nor are they represented in the Vulgate.
10. that thou must do. Better, “ which are appointed for thee to do ” ( ὡν τετακταιυ σοι ποιησαι). These “appointed things," namely, that Saul was called to evangelise the Gentiles, were revealed separately to Ananias and to St Paul.
12. one Ananias, a man according, etc. Notice St Paul’s tact. He does not speak of Ananias as a disciple of Christ, but he mentions those qualities which shewed him to be a good Jew.
according to the law. Better, “devout according,” etc.
having testimony. “Well spoken of.” (μαρτυρουμενος.)
13. look up. (ἀναβλεψον.) This Verb means “to look up ” or “to look again”; hence it is used of recovering sight, as in this passage (which the B.V. renders “Receive thy sight”), and of the faculty of sight in general.
See St John ix. 11, where the same verb is used of the man born blind, for whom Jesus worked a miracle.
14. The God of our fathers. See ch. vii. 32, where we find St Stephen quoting the same idiom ; and he also speaks of Jesus as the “Just One,” which was the recognized title of the Messias.
see the Just One. As St Paul was called to be an apostle, i.e. a witness of the Resurrection of Christ, it was necessary that he should see Him in His glory.
15. to all men. Here St Paul avoids using the word “Gentiles,” which he only employs when quoting the words of our Lord ; “all men” had a wider signification than “ Gentiles,” since it embraced the Jews. St Paul always began by preaching in the synagogue.
hast seen and heard. St Paul was instructed by a divine revelation in all the things which Jesus Christ had taught His disciples when He was with them. The apostle frequently dwells on this revelation, e.g. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, etc. (1 Cor. xi. 23). Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God (1 Cor. i. 1).
16. wash away thy sins. This effect of baptism — the inward grace of the sacrament — is frequently mentioned in the Scriptures, e.g . —
Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins (supra, ii. 38).
According to his mercy he saved us, by the laver of regeneration (Titus iii. 6).
invoking his name. A few MSS. have “ of the Lord,” but “ His name ” is the best supported reading.
This mention of prayer to Jesus of Nazareth, “the Just One,’’ shews that He was invoked as God, and hence is a proof of His Divinity.
17. I was come again to Jerusalem. St Paul probably refers to the visit to Jerusalem which he made three years after his conversion (see supra, ix. 26, and Gal. i. 17-18). He left Jerusalem as a persecutor of the Nazarenes, he returned there again later as a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth.
Some critics refer these words to the visit mentioned in xi. 30, since, shortly after that visit, St Paul began his missionary journeys and evangelized the Gentiles. But he preached to the Gentiles of Antioch and Tarsus after his first visit, and the words Unto the Gentiles afar off will I send thee were partially realized then. At the time of his conversion, St Paul had been informed that his special mission was not in Judea, nor among the brethren of the circumcision, but among the Gentiles.
was praying. Far from being a blasphemer of the Temple, St Paul was a devout worshipper in its courts, and God had given him there a certain token of His favour.
in a trance. See Annot. on “ ecstasy,” ch. x. 10.
18. saw him. The “ Just One.”
Make haste. This vision is not mentioned in ch. ix, 28-30, where we are told that the immediate cause of St Paul's departure was the hostility of the Jews. But God overruled their plans, and made them conduce to His own purpose. The opposition of the Jews on this occasion harmonizes with the reason given for the apostle’s hasty departure ; certainly, those who desired to kill him would not receive his testimony concerning Christ. St Paul only remained fifteen days in Jerusalem when the brethren “sent him away,” and he then left, knowing from the vision that God willed that he should retire from their violence and rage.
19. they know. St Paul’s argument appears to be this : “ Surely they will accept my testimony when they know how I formerly persecuted the Nazarenes in my zeal for the Law, and that nothing short of a divine intervention could have changed a persecutor of the disciples into a follower of Christ.”
beat in every synagogue. Scourging was often inflicted in the synagogues. Cf. For they will deliver you up in councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues (St Matt, x, 17. See also St Mat-t. xxiii. 34 ; St Mark xiii. 9 ; St Luke xii. 11).
20. when the blood, etc. “ A noble endeavour to make public reparation for a public sin, by public confession in the same place where the sin was committed. As St Paul did not speak Greek on this occasion (v. 2), he did not use the word martyr. The Septuagint often employs the word ‘martyr’ for the Hebrew ‘edh’ (or witness). The application of this word to the first person who shed his blood for Christ was enough to designate it as the fittest to be assigned to those who followed St Stephen in his testimony to the truth, even unto death ” (Wordsworth, in h. 1.).
stood .... consented .... kept. . . . The Greek gives the participial form “ I was standing, consenting and keeping,’' thus shewing the continuance of the actions.
A few MSS. after “consented,” add “to his death,” but this phrase is not found in א, A, B, D, E, nor in the Vulgate.
21. unto the Gentiles, etc. This commission is more fully given in xxvi. 16 - 18
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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