Saul On The Road To Damascus

[Mateo el Feo]

Anybody have some help with the following differences in the two accounts of St. Paul's (Saul's) experience on the road to Damascus:

[url="http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/acts/acts9.htm#v7"]Acts 9:7 (link)[/url]
[quote]The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, for they heard the voice but could see no one.[/quote]

[url="http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/acts/acts22.htm#v9"]Acts 22:9 (link)[/url]
[quote]My companions saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me.[/quote]

Does anyone have any ideas on this, or is there a link in the subject? Maybe this is covered in some commentary on Acts or the Holy Bible in general.

Thanks!

[Mateo el Feo]

BTW, here's my Google search. [url="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22Acts+22%3A9%22"](search link)[/url]

It looks like there are answers out there, anyway...

[phatcatholic]

[url="http://www.studylight.org/com/bcc/view.cgi?book=ac&chapter=22&verse=9#Ac22_9"][b]Commentary on Acts 22:9[/b][/url]

Verse 9
And they that were with me beheld indeed the light, but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.

Heard not the voice ...
This is actually a mistranslation and should be rendered, "They understood not the voice." Heard, which of course is in the Greek, is, however, an idiom, frequently used for "understood" or even for "understood and obeyed."

The New Testament usage of the word "hear" and its derivatives is apparent from this: "He that speaketh in a tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God; for no man heareth" (1 Corinthians 14:2), meaning, of course, simply that "no man understands what is being said." We have exactly the same meaning here, as proved by "hearing the voice, but beholding no man" (Acts 9:7).

McGarvey said, "It is common among all classes of men to say (of a speaker) I did not hear, not meaning they could not hear the sound of the speaker's voice, but that they could not hear what he said."

[phatcatholic]

also this....

[url="http://www.studylight.org/com/geb/view.cgi?book=ac&chapter=009&verse=007"][b]Exposition of the Bible[/b][/url]

[b]Acts 9:7[/b]

[i]And the men which journeyed with him…[/i]
Out of respect to him, to keep him company; or rather to assist him in his designs:

[i]stood speechless:[/i]
astonished and amazed, they had not power to speak one word, nor to rise from the ground, and move one step forward; they were as if they were thunderstruck, and fastened to the earth; for this standing is not opposed to their being fallen to the earth, but to their going forward, and only expresses the surprise and stupidity that had seized them:

[i]hearing a voice, but seeing no man;[/i]
that is, they heard the voice of Saul, saying, who art thou? and what wilt thou have me to do? but saw nobody that he spoke to, which surprised them; for it is certain they did not hear the voice of Christ, that spake to him, (Acts 22:9) or if they heard the voice of Christ, it was only the sound of his voice, but did not understand what he said; but the former seems rather to be the sense, and the best way of reconciling the two passages.

[phatcatholic]

thus, we have two ways of reconciling the verses.

1. "heard not the voice" in Acts 22:9 means that they heard the sound of Jesus' voice (as in Acts 9:7) but did not understand it. --OR--
2. the voice they heard in Acts 9:7 was Paul's, not Jesus'. thus, saying they did not hear Jesus' voice in Acts 22:9 would not be contradictory.

[Mateo el Feo]

Thank you, Phatcatholic!

[phatcatholic]

[Apotheoun]

Good job phatcatholic.

[phatcatholic]

always good to get a dancing banana from you apotheoun!!