Acts 9 · a question people ask
The men with Saul "stood speechless, hearing the sound, but seeing no one" (9:7). In Paul's own telling, they "saw the light" but "didn’t understand the voice" (22:9). How do the two fit?
Acts tells of the road three times: once in its own words (9:3-9), and twice in Paul's (22:6-9, 26:13-15). Here the book says, "The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the sound, but seeing no one." (9:7). Speaking to the people in Jerusalem (21:40), Paul says, "Those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they didn’t understand the voice of him who spoke to me." (22:9). Before King Agrippa (26:1-2), he says the light was "shining around me and those who traveled with me" (26:13), and, "When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language" (26:14). Acts gives each telling in its own place and doesn't say how they fit together. These notes quote each and smooth nothing out.
The verses
“When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, beckoned with his hand to the people. When there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying,”
““As I made my journey and came close to Damascus, about noon suddenly a great light shone around me from the sky. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute.’ “Those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they didn’t understand the voice of him who spoke to me.”
“Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand, and made his defense. “I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make my defense before you today concerning all the things the Jews accuse me of,”
“at noon, O king, I saw on the way a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who traveled with me. When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ “I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”