Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
General Christian
Religious Events
When Paul Met Jesus on the Road to Damascus: 3 Versions

When Paul Met Jesus on the Road to Damascus: 3 Versions

Last updated on: December 21, 2024 at 8:46 pm by B. J. Oropeza

When Paul Met Jesus on the Road to Damascus: 3 Versions 2024-12-21T20:46:37-07:00 B. J. Oropeza

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Paul, known as Saul of Tarsus, meets Jesus for the first time on the road to Damascus. His Damascus road experience includes seeing a bright light, falling to the ground, and hearing a heavenly voice telling him that he has been persecuting Jesus by persecuting those who follow Jesus. Actually, there are three different versions of this encounter in Acts. In Acts 9 the author of Acts, traditionally Luke, provides the first narrative. In Acts 22 Paul’s own testimony is recorded of this event before a hostile crowd in Jerusalem. In Acts 26 he once again gives his testimony, this time before King Herod Agrippa II, his sister Bernice, and procurator Festus.

Each retelling of Paul’s Damascus road experience is different in details than the other two. Despite the differences, the three accounts provide us with a general sketch of Paul’s first encounter with Jesus. Paul’s Damascus experience provides us with recollections about the apostle of an actual event that forever changed his life.

Luke’s sources probably include oral traditions about Paul remembered, and these ancient traditions tended to be flexible when it came to details. If Luke’s information came from eyewitness testimonies (Luke 1:1–4; Act 1:1–3), one of those witnesses might be Paul himself. Already in second-century traditions (e.g., Irenaeus Heresies, 3.14.1), Luke is named as the author of Acts, and he happens to be one of Paul’s travelling colleagues (Colossians 4:14; Philemon 24; 2 Timothy 4:11). The “we” passages in Acts 16:10–17, 20:5–21:18, and 27:1–28:16 support such a relationship.*

Let’s look more closely at the three different versions of Paul’s Damascus road experience in Acts 9:1–7, 22:5–11, and 26:12–18.

Similarities and Differences between Paul’s Damascus Road Experiences in Acts 9, 22, and 26

Although these lists are not exhaustive, they provide a good gist of similarities and differences.

Damascus Experience

A statue of the Apostle Paul: “Saint Paul Sao Paulo” via pixabay.com

Similarities:

Paul was authorized by religious authorities to arrest Christians in Damascus
Paul saw a light and heard a voice on the way to Damascus
He fell to the ground
The voice said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
Paul replies, “Who are you lord?”
The voice responds, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”
Paul is called to witness both to Jews and the gentile nations
Paul is told to arise and he proceeds to the city
Paul is temporarily blinded by the event (Acts 9, 22)
Paul is led by the hand by his companions to Damascus (Acts 9, 22)
In Damascus, Paul subsequently meets Ananias who heals his blindness (Acts 9, 22)
Paul is baptized (and this probably assumes also being filled with the Spirit, mentioned once, too) (Acts 9, 22)

Distinctions/one-time mentions:

I am Jesus “the Nazarene” who you are persecuting (Acts 22:8)
Jesus spoke in Hebrew to Paul (Acts 26:14)
Jesus adds, “It is hard to kick against the goads” (26:14); inferior mss support this reading also in Acts 9.
Paul asks the Lord what he should do (22:10)
The men with Paul saw no one (9:7)/ the men saw light (22:9)/ a light shined around Paul and the men (26:13).
The men “stood speechless” (9:7)/ but “all” “fell down to the ground” (26:14)
The men were hearing the voice (9:7)/ the men did not hear the voice of the one speaking to Paul (22:9)
More details are given regarding Paul’s calling in Acts 26:16–18
Paul did not eat and drink for three days (9:9)
The Lord calls Ananias to seek out Paul (9:10–16)
The story about Ananias diminishes in Paul’s retelling (Acts 22) and is missing in his second (Acts 26)
Scales fall from Paul’s eyes when he is healed (9:18)
Paul’s sins are to be washed away (22:16)
Paul is to call on the name of the Lord (22:16)
Paul has some food (9:19).

Explanations Regarding the Differences

Among the differences include whether Paul’s call to testify to Jews and gentile nations came through Ananias (Acts 9:15–16) or Jesus (Acts 22:13–16; 26:16–18). There is no reason why it could not be both. One possibility is that originally Ananias told Paul, but the Lord already revealed Paul’s calling to him, whether on the road to Damascus, or (more plausibly in my opinion) during his three days of blindness and fasting once in the city of Damascus (Acts 9). Also, three years later, when falling into a trance in Jerusalem, the Lord himself confirmed Paul’s calling to the nations (Acts 22:17–21).

The extended calling in Acts 26:16–18 may conflate information of the two visions, or if not, it perhaps conflates Paul’s Damascus experience (both on the road and once in Damascus) with things that Ananias told him.

Another factor has to do with the Luke’s desire to disclose information about the Damascus experience progressively with some information disclosed in Acts 9, more details in Acts 22, and yet more in Acts 26, which functions as a climax for Paul’s testimony.

The intensity of the scene increases with each version. Notice the intensity of persecution (Acts 9:1; 22:4; 26:9–11), the growing brightness of the light (Acts 9:3; 22:6; 26:13), and Paul’s response more marked (Acts 9:7; 22:7; 26:14). Regarding Paul’s calling, Jesus’s instructions first stress Paul to wait for a response (Acts 9:6), but then more is told to Paul in Acts 22:10, and even more in Acts 26:16–18. Luke thus creates suspense, curiosity, and reversal of expectations when signaling Paul’s call to the nations (see Steve Walton, “Paul in Acts,” Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, 2023:779–91).

Variations in the Details

Some interpreters suggest that Luke may have been careless or contradictory with some of the details, especially in relation to the others that were travelling with Paul. But Luke claims to have done respectable research with his sources, which come from eyewitness testimony in Luke 1:1-4 and Acts 1:1–3.

Could it be that some of his sources or witnesses provided him with conflicting information? If so, why did he not try to harmonize the text better? Naturally, different rhetorical aims, contexts, and perhaps theological concerns play into such interpretations. Likewise, Luke is narrating Acts 9, whereas he has Paul giving his own testimony in Acts 22 and 26.

Luke should not be judged as though he were a modern historian. He is an ancient author writing an ancient historical work about the early communities in Christ with an aim of showing how the gospel spread from Jerusalem to Rome (Acts 1:8).

It is clear that ancient historians were not as obsessed as modern ones are regarding minute details and proper documentation. They were more willing to improvise the histories they present. They do so creatively and rhetorically so as to provide a good, entertaining read. This is clear from the amazing stories we find in Herodotus’s History, the improvised speeches in Thucydides’s Peloponnesian War, the intriguing biographies of noble Greeks and Romans by Plutarch, and Josephus’s history of the Jewish people in Antiquities, large portions of which resemble what we find in the Bible (he uses it as a primary source). Luke resembles more the style of these works than modern histories and biographies.

Paul’s Travelling Companions During the Experience

Ironically, the most difficult discrepancies in Paul’s Damascus experience are perhaps to Luke the least important tidbits of information. They have to do not with what Paul heard or experienced, but with what his other travelling companions saw and heard. If we bracket out their experience, nothing much is lost in the testimony of Paul’s own experience other than these witnesses being present for the encounter. They also help lead Paul, now blind, into Damascus. Perhaps their insignificant role is the reason why Luke does not bother to clarify the differences between what pertains to them in the texts. They are, comparatively speaking, not very important in the story. Either that or Luke may not have thought their report was problematic. After all, he did not write Acts thinking that readers and scholars 2,000 years later would be scrutinizing his every word!**

Paul fell to the ground but the men stood speechless (Acts 9:4, 7)/ We all fell to the ground (Acts 26:14)

This discrepancy may be due to Luke having two or three different sources of information about the event. Then again, it is quite possible that all the companions initially fell to the ground at the bright light, but then the men got up and stood still while Saul remained on the ground as Christ kept speaking to him (see F. F. Bruce, Acts NICOT, 1986:197). The notion that these witnesses “stood speechless” implies that they were fearful, confused, awe struck, or dumbfounded at what was happening. Compare this with prophetic epiphanies, where fearful sights or sounds are sensed without full comprehension of what is taking place (Deut 4:12; Dan 10:7).

They saw no one (Acts 9:7)/ They saw the light (Acts 22:9)

Here the devil is in the details. Seeing no one*** and seeing a light are two different things. The men saw the light but did not see the person of Jesus. This distinction is important—their not seeing any person implies that Paul did see someone. He did not merely see “light” and that’s all. He saw the Lord Jesus, as is clarified in Acts 9:27 and 22:14, and in Paul’s own letters (cf. 1 Cor 9:1; 15:8–10).

It also is strongly implied in the third version of Acts 26:14, that the reason the men fell down was because of the bright light in 26:13. Why else would they fall? We have a double witness, then, that they saw a bright light, and that this should be distinguished from seeing no person in that light.

They heard from the voice (9:7)/They did not hear the voice of the one speaking to me (26:9)

A comparison between the texts suggests that the voice comes from Jesus, obviously having to do with his speech. A first view simply lets the discrepancy stand without explanation; Luke is at fault here.

A second view is that Acts 26:14 provides the further detail that Jesus was speaking to Paul in Hebrew. If the men were Hellenistic Jews, it is quite possible that they could hear Jesus’s voice and yet not understand what is being spoken. Persecution, after all, began with the Hellenistic Jews in Jerusalem who contested Stephen, and Paul apparently one of them though as a Pharisee he would seem to know Hebrew (Acts 6–7).

A third, complementary interpretation with the second is given by Ben Witherington. He distinguishes between the accusative case phônên (22:9: φωνήν), which can mean hearing and understanding. The genitive case phônês (9:7: φωνῆς) is to simply hear the sound of someone or something. They didn’t understand what was said, or could not make out what was being said (Witherington, Acts, 1998:312–13).

A fourth view is that Luke means Paul’s voice in 9:7 and Paul means Jesus’s voice in 26:9 (Bruce, Acts, 197, who dislikes the accusative and genitive distinction of meaning above since it is not normative for the term).

A fifth view admits there were conflicting reports about what was heard (and perhaps seen). The travelling companions of Paul did not all experience the same thing. As seems to be common with witnesses who experience supernatural phenomena, their reports tend to be in conflict with one another. An example of this took place with the phenomenon of the “dancing sun” experienced by reportedly thousands of people in Portugal during the appearance of the Lady Fatima to three children in 1917. Their testimonies of the sun falling and changing colors were in conflict with others who claimed to have seen nothing. Conflicting reports may be the norm when unusual phenomena take place before groups of people.

In John’s Gospel a voice came from heaven speaking about Jesus as God’s son, which was interpreted differently by the people hearing it. Some claim to have heard it, others said it thundered (John 12:28–30). Even the risen Christ appearing before his disciples in Matthew’s Gospel includes the unusual tag, “but some doubted” (Matt 28:17).

Could the men have given conflicting experiences themselves, with some hearing something, others hearing nothing? If so, Luke may have given a voice to both views.

Conclusion

I believe that the triple tradition in Acts 9, 22, and 26 provides adequate historical confirmation that Paul’s initial calling******** took place during his early days on the road to and in Damascus. His prior life as a persecutor of the Christ-community and his Damascus experience are also confirmed in Paul’s own letters: Galatians 1:11–17; 1 Cor 9:1; 15:8–9; Phil 3:4–12; 2 Cor 4:6 [innuendo]; Rom 1:1; 1 Cor 1:17; cf. Eph 3:2–3; 1 Tim 1:12–16; 2 Tim 1:11–12. For more on Paul in Damascus, see 2 Cor 11:32-33 (cf. Acts 9:19b-25).

Notes

* Against scholars who contest the first-person plurals in Acts as referring to Paul’s colleague, Craig Keener, Acts (Baker Academic, 2014), 3:2350–74, provides a compelling rebuttal.

** Interestingly, this very text turns out to be the one from Scripture that five competing interpreters are required to explain in Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy, ed. J. Merrick and S. M. Garrett (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013).

*** The Greek here is the masculine μηδείς: commonly, no one, nobody. It is not the neuter μηδέν: commonly, nothing (see Bauer, Danker, Ardnt, and Gingrich, Greek Lexicon, 3rd ed., 647).

**** Sometimes Paul uses the terms calling and (what we might understand as) conversion interchangeably (Rom 1:6–7; 8:30; 1 Cor 1:9; 7:17–24; Gal 1:6; etc). A more Pauline word for the latter would be a “turn” (e.g. 1 Thess 1:9-10: epistrepho). If one uses “conversion” for Paul’s own experience, this should be explained. Paul remained a Jew, though now one that followed Jesus as Messiah. “Christianity” did not exist as such at this time in the first century, though “Christian” was an emerging term. Even so, there was surely a “turn” and transformation for Paul through the Damascus event. He changed from a persecutor of Jesus-Messiah followers to a follower himself. He received baptism-initiation into the Jesus Christ community (1 Cor 12:13; cf. Acts 9:17-18; 22:16). He was now “in Christ” (Gal 2:20).

Contemplative

Religious Events

History and Religion

Paul the Apostle: Studies

About B. J. Oropeza

B. J. Oropeza, Ph.D., Durham University (England), is Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Azusa Pacific University and Seminary. Among his many publications include Perspectives on Paul: Five Views (Baker Academic), Practicing Intertextuality (Cascade), and editor and/or contributor to the Scripture, Texts, and Tracings volumes (Romans; 1 Corinthians; 2 Cor & Phil; Gal & 1 Thess: Fortress Academic). He participated on Bible translation teams for the NRSV (updated edition), Common English Bible (CEB), and Lexham English Septuagint (LES). He also has commentaries on 1 Corinthians (New Covenant commentary series: Cascade) and 2 Corinthians (longer work—Rhetoric of Religious Antiquity: SBL Press; shorter work—Wesley One-Volume Commentary). His current specialties include Romans, intertextuality, and Perspectives on Paul. He can be followed on X-Twitter (@bjoropeza1) and Instagram (@bjoropeza1). You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

October 5, 2024

How to Be Born Again: John Wesley’s Perspective

Next Post

October 27, 2024 The Bible’s Most Famous Monster — Leviathan

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "in Christ" 1 Corinthians 1 Enoch 1 John 2:19 1 Peter 1 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 1Peter 2 Corinthians 2 Timothy 400 years of silence A. I. A. M. Hunter Abraham Achilles Tatius Acts 13 Acts 19 Acts 22 Acts 26 Acts 9 addiction adultery Aesop's Fables Affliction afterlife allegiance allusions amanuensis Amen Ananias Ancient Biography Andrew Wilson Andronicus Angels anger Anglicanism anointing aorist tense Apep apocalypse apocalyptic Apocrypha apologetics apostasy Apostle Apostle Paul Aquinas archaeology archangel Ardel Caneday Arminianism armor of God article from journal artificial intelligence Asbury ascension atlas atonement Augustine Augustus authorship Awakening awards baptism Battle of Armageddon beasts behemoth Belial Beliar belief Benediction between Testaments Beverly Roberts Gaventa Bible Bible discrepancies Bible Gateway Bible reading Bible reading plan Bible Study Bible translations Bible version Bible versions biblical inerrancy Biblical Theology blasphemy blindness Boethius boldness Book of Acts Book Review Born Again bravery burial Caesar calling Calvinism canon canon Cassius Dio Catholics Channing Crisler charistmatic Christ Christian behavior Christian origins Christian theology Christians Christology church church fathers Church of England Chuza Cleopas Commandments Commentaries congregation conversion Corinthian letters coronavirus courage Covenant covenant theology covenantal nomism coveting COVID-19 Craig Keener Crescens crocodile Cross crucifixion curse custom Cyprian Daily Bread Dale Allison Damascus Damascus Experience Damascus road David Moffitt Day of Atonement deacon dead Dead Sea Scrolls death Deity of Christ Demas demonology demons determinism Deuteronomy Devil devotion dinosaur Dio Chrysostom divided I Divine Christology divine punishment divorce Do not fear Doxology dragon E. P. Sanders Eastern Orthodox Ebeneazer Urga echoes ekklesia election Elijah the Prophet Elymas embodiment of the gospel embodying the gospel emperor empty tomb Encouragement end times enlightement Ephesians Ephesus Epistles of Paul eschatology eternal life Ethics (Christian) euchlaion Eusebius of Caesarea evangelical evangelism evidence exile extreme unction Ezekiel faith falling away false prophet fate father Father's Day favorite Fear film Final Judgment Flood foreknowledge foreordain forgiveness fornication freewill from Saul to Paul Galatians Gary Cooper Genesis Gentile studies Gentiles geography giants gift gift giving global perspective Glossa Ordinaria God God perception good news gospel gospel 2.0 Gospel of John Gospel of Luke Gospel of Mark Gospel of Matthew Gospels grace gratitude Great Awakening Greco-Roman Greco-Roman world Greek Greek classic literature Greek lexicon Greek Orthodox Greek prepositions greetings guilt Habakkuk hair Halloween head covering head coverings healing heaven Hebrew Hebrews hermeneutics Hesed high Christology Higher Christology highlights holiness holy Holy Bible Holy Scriptures Holy Spirit Homer hospitable hospitality how to read the Bible human effort I Am sayings imperialism in Adam In Christ inspiration intercession Interpretation intertestamental period Intertextuality Interview intimidation Isaiah Israel Israel (land of) James James D. G. Dunn Jason Staples Jerome Jesus Jesus sayings Jesus traditions Jesus: Studies Jewish literature Jewish names Jewish Scripture Jewish studies Jews Joanna Job John John 3:16 John Chrysostom John Hyrcanus John Mark John of Damascus John the Baptist John Wesley Josephus joy Judaism Judgment day Julia Junia Justice justification kerygma King Kingdom kingdom of God Krister Stendahl lament Law lecture hall letter writing Letters of Paul Leucippe et Clitophon Leviathan Leviticus light Logical fallacy looting Lord Lord's Prayer lose salvation Lot Lotan love lovingkindness Lucifer Luke lust Luther LXX maenads Malachi Marcion marginalization marital affair marriage martyrdom Mary Matt Damon Medieval theologians Medieval theology memorization mercy Michael the Archangel miracles Mishnah missiology mission missionary missions monergism monogenes monster monsters Mysterious Ways mythology N. T. Wright name change names narrative Nephilim New Birth new covenant new covenant pneumaism new creation New Perspective on Paul New Testament New Testament use of Old Testament Noah Noah's ark non-Christian oath obedience Odysseus Odyssey oil Old Testament only begotten Origen Outpouring pagan pagans parable paraceratherium Parousia participation in Christ Pastoral Letters patristic theology Paul in prison Paul letter of Paul teaching Paul the Apostle: Studies Paul within Judaism Paul's calling Paul's conversion Paul's death Pauline Theology persecution perseverance perseverance of the saints Persis personal devotion pesher Peter Abelard Philo philosophy Phoebe Pink Floyd pistis Plague plutarch pneuma pneumagism popular culture sayings Porneia Post-New Perspective on Paul praise prayer preaching predestination Prisca Priscilla Prison Epistle Prophecy prophets Psalm Psalms Pseudepigrapha Q Q source quest for the historic Jesus quotations Rabbi Pinhas be Yair Rabbinic literature Rainer Riesner raised from the dead rapture reading missiologically reading plan recipients reciprocity reconciliation Red Herring red letter edition redemption Reformation Regeneration rejoicing reminder renewal repentance restoration resurrection revival righteousness riot Roman Antiquity Roman names romance Romans Romans 12-16 Romans 16 Romans 4:25 Romans 7 Rome Rufus's mother sacrificial system salvation Salvation/Soteriology sanctification Satan Satan's fall Saul the Pharisee SBL Scholars school Scripture Second coming of Christ Second Temple Judaism secretary Septuagint Sergeant York Sergius Paulus Servant in Isaiah sex and sexuality sex ethics sexual immorality sheep sick sin sinful nature single Christians and dating social justice Society of Biblical Literature sons of God soteriology spinosaurus spiritual gifts spiritual renewal spiritual warfare Stephen Wilson struggle Study Bible studying the Bible Suetonius suffering Suffering Servant suggestive commentary Survey synergism Synoptic Gospels Tacitus teacher teaching telos temptation Tertius The Chosen the flesh Theology Thomas Aquinas Thomas Robinson Thomas Schreiner Thorn Thucydides Timothy Titus tongues Top 10 top 12 Torah trust Tryphaena Tryphosa Tyrannus U2 Ugaritic Ukraine Ukrainian Uncategorized unconditional love unforgiving Union with Christ unity/solidarity unpardonable sin Valentine's Day veils vice vices victory warnings Watchers witnessing Woman ministers women women ministers women speakers women teachers word of God works works of the law worship writing YouVersion Zen Hess

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many men did Joshua initially send to Ai?

Select your answer to see how you score.

4,000 3,000 5,000 2,000