Acts 22:13

22:12-21 The apostle goes on to relate how he was confirmed in the change he had made. The Lord having chosen the sinner, that he should know his will, he is humbled, enlightened, and brought to the knowledge of Christ and his blessed gospel. Christ is here called that Just One; for he is Jesus Christ the righteous. Those whom God has chosen to know his will, must look to Jesus, for by him God has made known his good-will to us. The great gospel privilege, sealed to us by baptism, is the pardon of sins. Be baptized, and wash away thy sins; that is, receive the comfort of the pardon of thy sins in and through Jesus Christ, and lay hold on his righteousness for that purpose; and receive power against sin, for the mortifying of thy corruptions. Be baptized, and rest not in the sign, but make sure of the thing signified, the putting away of the filth of sin. The great gospel duty, to which by our baptism we are bound, is, to seek for the pardon of our sins in Christ's name, and in dependence on him and his righteousness. God appoints his labourers their day and their place, and it is fit they should follow his appointment, though it may cross their own will. Providence contrives better for us than we do for ourselves; we must refer ourselves to God's guidance. If Christ send any one, his Spirit shall go along with him, and give him to see the fruit of his labours. But nothing can reconcile man's heart to the gospel, except the special grace of God.

Came unto me,.... Being at the house of Judas, in that street of Damascus called Straight, Acts 9:11 and stood; at the side of him, or by him, putting his hands on him: and said unto me, brother Saul; See Gill on Acts 9:17. receive thy sight, "or look up", and the same hour I looked up upon him; that is, immediately, directly: for so the phrase, "that same hour", is frequently used by the Jews: the words in Numbers 16:21 "that I may consume them in a moment", are rendered by Onkelos, "that I may consume them in an hour"; for an hour is used for a moment with them.

Stood (ἐπιστὰς) More correctly, as Rev., "standing by (ἐπί)." Receive thy sight (ἀνάβλεψον) Better, look up. See the following words: I looked up upon him. The word admits of both translations, to look up and to recover sight. I looked up upon him Some unite both meanings here: I looked up with recovered sight. So Rev., in margin.

Stood; that in this posture he might more conveniently put his hands upon Paul; which we read that he now did, Acts 9:17 , and was ordinarily done upon the miraculous curing of any. The same hour; or, as Acts 9:18 , immediately. The suddenness of the cures spake the power from whence they came: none but God saves and delivers after this manner.

13 . and stood ] The fuller force of the compound verb is given by the Rev. Ver. “and standing by me.” receive thy sight … I looked up , &c.] The verb is the same in both places, and this the Rev. Ver. has noted in the margin. But the word is used in both senses elsewhere in N. T., as of Jesus ( Luke 19:5 ) looking up and seeing Zacchæus in the sycomore tree, and ( John 9:11 ) of the blind man who received his sight. And the same hour ] Rev. Ver. with strict grammatical warrant, “ and in that very hour .”

Acts 22:13 . ἐπιστὰς : “standing over one,” used frequently in Acts of the appearance of an angel, or of the intervention of a friend (or of an enemy), see Luke 2:9 ; Luke 4:39 ; Luke 10:40 ; Luke 12:7 ; Luke 24:4 , only found in Luke and Paul, Friedrich, p. 42, see above Acts 12:7 . μαρτ ., Acts 6:3 . ἀδελφέ , Acts 9:17 .— ἀνάβλεψον … ἀνέβλ . εἰς αὐτόν : “receive thy sight, and in that very hour I recovered my sight and looked upon him,” R.V. margin, ἀναβλέπειν may mean (1) to recover sight, Acts 9:17-18 , or (2) to look up, Luke 19:5 , but used frequently as if combining both meanings, Humphry on R.V., and Page, in loco. Meyer and Zöckler render “to look up” in both clauses.— αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ , see note on Acts 16:18 .

Paul in Galatians 2:1-10 , placing himself, e.g. , before Barnabas in Acts 15:9 and evidently regarding himself as the foremost representative of one sphere of missionary work, as St. Peter was of the other, Acts 15:8 , more easily explained if his first missionary journey was already an accomplished fact and not still in the future? In the two short references to Paul’s second visit to Jerusalem, Acts 11:30 ; Acts 12:25 , it is still “Barnabas and Saul,” so too in Acts 13:1-2 ; Acts 13:7 ; not till Acts 13:9 does the change come: henceforth Paul takes the lead, Acts 13:13 ; Acts 13:16 ; Acts 13:43 ; Acts 13:45 ; Acts 13:50 , etc., with two exceptions as Professor Ramsay pointedly describes them (see above on Acts 13:9 ), and in the account of the Conference and all connected with it St. Luke and the Church at Antioch evidently regard Paul as the leader, Acts 15:2 (2), 22 (although the Church at Jerusalem places Barnabas first, Acts 15:12 ; Acts 15:25 ). But in Acts 11:30 , Acts 12:25 the historian speaks of “Barnabas and Saul”. The whole position of St. Paul assigned to him by St. Luke in Acts 15 is in harmony with the Apostle’s own claims and prominence in Galatians 2:1-10 ; it is not in harmony with the subordinate place which the same St. Luke assigns to him in the second visit to Jerusalem. In other words, if Galatians 2:1-10 = Acts 15, then St.