I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute.’
Parallel translations
- KJV And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
- BSB ‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ He replied.
- NKJV So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’
- NASB And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’
- NLT “‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked. “And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, the one you are persecuting.’
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 asks, 'Who are you, Lord?' and is told, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute.' He learns that the crucified Jesus is alive and reigning.
Overview
The answer shatters Paul's worldview: the Jesus he believed a defeated impostor is the living Lord of glory. Naming himself 'of Nazareth' ties the exalted Christ to the historical man who was crucified. The resurrection is the hinge of Paul's transformation and of the whole gospel he would proclaim.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Acts 26:9“I myself most certainly thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
- 1 Sam 8:7Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as the king over them.
- Acts 3:6But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”
- Acts 4:10be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, in him does this man stand here before you whole.
- Acts 26:14–15When 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.’
- Matt 2:23and came and lived in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
- Matt 10:40–42He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.
- Exod 16:7–8and in the morning, then you shall see Yahweh’s glory; because he hears your murmurings against Yahweh. Who are we, that you murmur against us?”
- Zech 2:8For Yahweh of Armies says: ‘For honor he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye.
- Matt 25:45“Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’
- Acts 6:14For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us.”
- 1 Cor 12:26–27When one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. Or when one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
- Matt 25:40“The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
- 1 Cor 12:12For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 22:8 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.