In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me:
Parallel translations
- WEB In Damascus the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of the Damascenes desiring to arrest me.
- BSB In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas secured the city of the Damascenes in order to arrest me.
- NKJV In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me;
- NASB In Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me,
- NLT When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the city gates to catch me.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul recalls how the governor under King Aretas set out to arrest him in Damascus. It matters because his very first recorded escape was an episode of weakness and flight, not triumph.
Overview
This historical detail (cf. Acts 9:23-25) anchors Paul's testimony in real events and rulers; Aretas IV was the Nabatean king. Paul chooses to end his boasting not with a heroic exploit but with a humiliating getaway. It fittingly caps a 'boast' designed to highlight weakness rather than human glory.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Acts 9:24–25But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him.
- 2 Cor 11:26In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
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In Christ all God's promises are 'Yes and Amen'; though rich, he became poor to make us rich, and in him God reconciles the world, making us new creations.
How 2 Corinthians 11:32 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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