Paul's Conversion Controversy

A topic recently came up that bore more looking into, so I thought I’d take some time to look into it. The controversy is over the accounts of Paul’s conversion because they seem to be different in the different places they are used. Here are the three accounts, and as you read through them, you can start to notice the differences that exist. I’ll go through all three here in a minute, but I want to explain a little bit about why it is so important to rectify this controversy. If Paul wasn’t even faithful in his words, how can we trust anything he wrote? 

Well, as we’ll see, there are at least two explanations of what is going on here. I’d also like to draw your attention to the fact that Luke is the one who recorded all three instances, and being a doctor, it would be pretty odd for him to knowingly introduce errors like this into the record. 

The Controversy

Acts 9:7 CSB The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the sound but seeing no one.

Acts 22:9 CSB "Now those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

That's the controversy, an apparent discrepancy in whether or not the men heard the voice. It can't be both!

The Solution

Acts 9:3-7 NASB95 As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; 

4 and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" 

5 And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He [said,] "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, 

6 but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do." 

7 The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.

Acts 9 is the first account, the historical account you might call it, and the one we could say is the correct version of events. Luke has had time to talk to Paul and nail down exactly what happened, and I’m sure this was one of Paul’s favorite stories. Here, the men stand speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Okay, on to the next account. 

Acts 22:6-11 NASB95 "But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, 

7 and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' 

8 "And I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.' 

9 "And those who were with me saw the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. 

10 "And I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.' 

11 "But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.

Here, the men see the light, but they do not understand the voice of the one who spoke. It should be noted that they don’t see anyone; they just see the light as Paul does. 

Acts 26:12-18 NASB95 "While so engaged as I was journeying 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, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me. 

14 "And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' 

15 "And I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 

16 'But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; 

17 rescuing you from the [Jewish] people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, 

18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'

Here, Paul says they all fell to the ground, which, even though the other accounts don’t mention this little tidbit, is certainly not unlikely. Acts 9 says they stood speechless, but the Greek can certainly encompass it in a metaphorical sense as in “they stood by,” which just means that whether they fell or stood, they were waiting to the side. No big issue there. 

Acts 9: hearing the voice but seeing no one.

Acts 22: "And those who were with me saw the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me.

The biggest controversy exists over these two sections right here, and the reason for that is the use of a bad translation. The Greek literally says what it says right here, as recorded by the NASB. Something to take note of is that though all these men, including Paul, saw the light, so to speak, none of them, INCLUDING PAUL, saw the person speaking the words. The easiest explanation from the Greek is simply that all the men heard the voice, but only Paul understood what it was saying, indicating that whatever the language was, his traveling companions did not understand it. The NASB renders the language as Hebrew, but it’s actually better rendered as Aramaic Hebrew, and they make a note of that in their margins. This explains why the men could hear the voice but not understand it. 

Grammatical Insight on ἤκουσαν (aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural):

• The use of the accusative (τὴν φωνὴν) suggests not just hearing a sound, but comprehending it.

• In Acts 9:7, ἀκούω is used with the genitive case (φωνῆς), which can mean "to hear a sound" without understanding.

• Here in Acts 22:9, ἀκούω is with the accusative case (τὴν φωνὴν), which usually means "to hear with understanding."

• Thus, they may have heard the sound but did not understand the words.

This is the best explanation and the one I personally hold to, however, there is an alternate explanation that also holds up. Simply put, Paul was recounting a story to an audience, and he may not have related every detail exactly as it happened. In Acts 26, he combines several stories for the sake of time, literally making a long story short. It’s not unreasonable to think that he might have done the same in Acts 22, altering things as necessary to get his main point across, which was that he was specifically chosen and the appearance on the road to Damascus was specifically for him. 

Really! The appearance was only for him. 

Regardless of which of the two explanations you find the most correct, that was the point Paul was trying to get across. He was singled out for ministry to the Gentiles, and his companions weren’t. He was set apart, and the men who were with him weren’t. 

Acts 26: The Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 

16 'But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; 

17 rescuing you from the [Jewish] people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, 

18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'

That was Paul’s point with everything he related in the story—his credentials, in other words. So, there are at least two explanations of what is going on here, but I think the first one is the easiest and most likely explanation for what happened. The men who were with Paul saw the light and heard the sound of a voice, but they did not understand the words being spoken.