Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Acts: Chapter 9]
from Anti-Lebanon. Here the Jews were strong in numbers (10,000
butchered by Nero later) and here some disciples had found refuge
from Saul's persecution in Judea and still worshipped in the
synagogues. Paul's language in Ac 26:11 seems to mean that
Damascus is merely one of other "foreign cities" to which he
carried the persecution. {If he found} (\ean heur•i\). Third
class condition with aorist subjunctive retained after secondary
tense (asked). {The Way} (\t•s hodou\). A common method in the
Acts for describing Christianity as the Way of life, absolutely
as also in 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:14,22 or the way of salvation
(16:17) or the way of the Lord (18:25). It is a Jewish
definition of life as in Isa 40:3 "the way of the Lord," Ps
1:6 "the way of the righteous," "the way of the wicked." Jesus
called himself "the way" (Joh 14:6), the only way to the
Father. The so-called Epistle of Barnabas presents the Two Ways.
The North American Indians call Christianity the Jesus Road.
{That he might bring them bound} (\hop•s dedemenous agag•i\).
Final clause with \hop•s\ (less common than \hina\) and aorist
(effective) subjunctive (\agag•i\, reduplicated aorist of \ag•\,
common verb) and perfect passive participle (\dedemenous\) of
\de•\, in a state of sheer helplessness like his other victims
both men and women. Three times (8:3; 9:2; 22:4) this fact of
persecuting women is mentioned as a special blot in Paul's
cruelty (the third time by Paul himself) and one of the items in
his being chief of sinners (1Ti 1:15).
9:3 {As he journeyed} (\en t•i poreuesthai\). Luke's common idiom
for a temporal clause (in the journeying), \en\ with the locative
articular middle infinitive. {Drew nigh} (\eggizein\). Present
active infinitive, was drawing nigh. {Shone round about him}
(\auton peri•strapsen\). First aorist (ingressive) active
indicative of \periastrapt•\, late compound verb common in LXX
and Byzantine writers, here and 22:6 alone in the N.T. "A light
from heaven suddenly flashed around him." It was like a flash of
lightning. Paul uses the same verb in 22:5, but in 26:13 he
employs \perilampsan\ (shining around). There are numerous
variations in the historical narrative of Saul's conversion in
9:3-18 and Luke's report of Paul's two addresses, one on the
steps of the Tower of Antonia facing the murderous mob
(22:6-16), the other before Festus and Agrippa (26:12-20). A
great deal of capital has been made of these variations to the
discredit of Luke as a writer as if he should have made Paul's
two speeches conform at every point with his own narrative. This
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