*9:5 At this point AV and NKJV, following the TR, add: “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “…” The addition comes from the Latin tradition; the Greek manuscripts do not have it. Some of the information may be found in the parallel accounts in Acts 22 and 26.
†9:9 Saul was in total shock; his world was being turned upside down.
‡9:14 I find it to be curious that the authority of the chief priests extended all the way to Damascus, but how did Ananias know about that? I suppose that Saul's companions gave out that information.
§9:17 That was a nice touch. At that moment it no doubt meant a lot to Saul to be called ‘brother’.
*9:17 Some 10% of the Greek manuscripts add ‘Jesus’, to be followed by most versions.
†9:18 Perhaps 70% of the Greek manuscripts do not have ‘forthwith’, and they are followed by printed editions of the Majority Text. However, the best line of transmission does have the word, as in AV and NKJV.
‡9:18 Any water in the house had to be carried there, so it is improbable that there could have been enough to immerse Saul.
§9:20 ‘Jesus’ is read by Family 35 and the earliest MSS, albeit representing only some 20% of the Greek MSS here; the rest have ‘the Christ’. To teach that the Messiah was the Son of God would be ‘old hat’, no problem—but Saul was showing that Jesus was God's Son. Notice the end of verse 22, “this One is the Christ”—what is the antecedent of “this”? To say that the Christ is the Christ would be stupid, which neither of the authors is.
*9:25 Evidently Ananias was not the only disciple of Jesus in Damascus, but we are not told how many there may have been. Of course, Saul's preaching may have added to the number. In fact some 3% of the Greek manuscripts add ‘his’ [i.e. Saul's] (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).
†9:25 From Paul's mention of this in 2 Corinthians 11:32-3, I gather that he felt this to be humiliating.
‡9:26 I get the impression that he made repeated efforts; after all, he probably had a very good idea of where different groups could be found. Either he didn't know where the apostles were, or lacked the courage to approach them. It was probably after several efforts that Barnabas got wind of what was happening; however, the news doubtless spread through the community quite quickly.
§9:27 How did Barnabas know all that? Perhaps he grilled Saul, before deciding he was on the up and up. I follow some 45% of the Greek manuscripts, including the best line of transmission, in reading ‘Lord Jesus’.
*9:28 Some 67% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘Lord Jesus’; I follow the best line of transmission (just 24% of the manuscripts here) in reading ‘Jesus’; (another 8% have only ‘Lord’).
†9:29 I imagine that it was at this juncture that Saul received the vision mentioned in Acts 22:17-21.
‡9:31 8% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘church’, singular (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). The true Text emphasizes that there were groups of believers scattered throughout that whole area.
§9:31 Does the Holy Spirit enable those who do not fear the Lord? Probably not very often.
*9:34 The Text being in Greek has “the Christ”, but Peter was probably speaking Hebrew, and he was declaring Jesus to be the Messiah. Perhaps 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit the definite article (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).
†9:34 It had been eight years since the last time he could make a bed! You can believe that it gave him great pleasure.
‡9:35 The idea is of a change of direction in belief or course of conduct.
§9:37 The upper room of her house; she was presumably reasonably well off.
*9:39 That is what the Text says; I get the impression that Dorcas used a production line method, and left a variety of unfinished garments.
†9:40 You could not hear yourself think in there; he had to do that so he could hear the Holy Spirit.
‡9:40 She had been dead for a number of hours.