Passage

Acts 26.14

Book: Acts · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

12. Whereupon as I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, 13. at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them that journeyed with me.

14. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying unto me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the goad.

And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. 16. But arise, and stand upon thy feet: for to this end have I appeared unto thee, to appoint thee a minister and a witness both of the things wherein thou hast seen me, and of the things wherein I will appear unto thee; (Acts 26:12-16, ASV)

WEB

12. “Whereupon as I traveled to Damascus with the authority and commission from the chief priests, 13. at noon, O king, I saw on the way a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who traveled with me.

14. When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

“I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16. But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen, and of the things which I will reveal to you; (Acts 26:12-16, WEB)

KJV

12. Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 13. At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.

14. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. 16. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; (Acts 26:12-16, KJV)

YLT

12. 'In which things, also, going on to Damascus, with authority and commission from the chief priests 13. at mid-day, I saw in the way, O king, out of heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me a light, and those going on with me;

14. and we all having fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew dialect, Saul, Saul, why me dost thou persecute? hard for thee against pricks to kick!

'And I said, Who art thou, Lord? and he said, I am Jesus whom thou dost persecute; 16. but rise, and stand upon thy feet, for for this I appeared to thee, to appoint thee an officer and a witness both of the things thou didst see, and of the things [in which] I will appear to thee, (Acts 26:12-16, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

G4314 - pros, pros, Strong's G4314
G3956 - pas, pas, Strong's G3956
G3004 - lego, lego, Strong's G3004

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Argument from the Resurrection, via Acts 26.9-23

Concepts:

Jesus Said, via Acts 26

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.