^26:12“While doing this very thing,³⁷ as I was going³⁸ to Damascus with authority and complete power³⁹ from the chief priests, ^26:13about noon along the road, Your Majesty,⁴⁰ I saw a light from heaven,⁴¹ brighter than the sun, shining everywhere around⁴² me and those traveling with me. ^26:14When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,⁴³ ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself⁴⁴ by kicking against the goads.’⁴⁵^26:15So I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord replied,⁴⁶ ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ^26:16But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this reason, to designate you in advance⁴⁷ as a servant and witness⁴⁸ to the things⁴⁹ you have seen⁵⁰ and to the things in which I will appear to you. ^26:17I will rescue⁵¹ you from your own people⁵² and from the Gentiles, to whom⁵³ I am sending you ^26:18to open their eyes so that they turn⁵⁴ from darkness to light and from the power⁵⁵ of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share⁵⁶ among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

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Footnotes

37 Grk “in which [activity].” Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 12 in the translation. The referent of the relative pronoun (“which”) was specified as “this very thing” for clarity.
38 Grk “going.” The participle πορευόμενος (poreuomenos) has been taken temporally.
39 L&N 37.40 ἐπιτροπή states, “the full authority to carry out an assignment or commission—‘authority, complete power.’ πορευόμενος εἰς τὴν Δαμασκὸν μετʼ ἐξουσίας καὶ ἐπιτροπῆς τῶν ἀρχιερέων ‘going to Damascus with authority and complete power from the high priests’ Ac 26:12. In Ac 26:12 the combination of ἐξουσία and ἐπιτροπή serves to reinforce the sense of complete authority.”
40 Grk “O King.”
41 Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).
42 The word “everywhere” has been supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning of περιλάμψαν (perilampsan). Otherwise the modern reader might think that each of the individuals were encircled by lights or halos. See also Acts 9:7; 22:6, 9.
43 Grk “in the Hebrew language.” See Acts 22:7 and 9:4.
44 Grk “It is hard for you.”
45 “Goads” are pointed sticks used to direct a draft animal (an idiom for stubborn resistance). See κέντρον 2. Sayings which contain the imagery used here (kicking against the goads) were also found in Greek writings; see Pindar, Pythians 2.94–96; Euripides, Bacchae 795.
46 Grk “said.”
47 L&N 30.89 has “ ‘to choose in advance, to select beforehand, to designate in advance.’ ”
48 As a servant and witness. The commission is similar to Acts 1:8 and Luke 1:2. Paul was now an “eyewitness” of the Lord.
49 ὁράω A.1.b states, “W. attraction of the relative ὧν = τούτων ἅ Lk 9:36; Ac 22:15. The attraction may be due to colloq. breviloquence in μάρτυρα ὧν τε εἶδες με ὧν τε ὀφθήσομαί σοι a witness to the things in which you saw me and to those in which I shall appear to you Ac 26:16b.”
50 Some read “of the things in which you have seen me.” The accusative object με (me, “me”) is found after εἶδές (eides) in B C*vid 614 945 1175 1505 1739 1891 2464 sy sa; it is lacking in 𝔓74 א A C2 E Ψ 096 𝔐 latt bo. The external evidence is relatively evenly divided, though there is a slight preference for the omission. includes the word in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.
51 Grk “rescuing.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the participle ἐξαιρούμενος (exairoumenos) has been translated as a finite verb and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 17.
52 That is, from the Jewish people. Grk “the people”; the words “your own” have been supplied to clarify the meaning.
53 The antecedent of the relative pronoun is probably both the Jews (“your own people”) and the Gentiles, indicating the comprehensive commission Paul received.
54 To open their eyes so that they turn … Here is Luke’s most comprehensive report of Paul’s divine calling. His role was to call humanity to change their position before God and experience God’s forgiveness as a part of God’s family. The image of turning is a key one in the NT: Luke 1:79; Rom 2:19; 13:12; 2 Cor 4:6; 6:14; Eph 5:8; Col 1:12; 1 Thess 5:5. See also Luke 1:77–79; 3:3; 24:47.
55 ἐξουσία 2 states, “Also of Satan’s power Ac 26:18.” It is also possible to translate this “the domain of Satan” (cf. 6)
56 Or “and an inheritance.”