Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,
Parallel translations
- WEB “Whereupon as I traveled to Damascus with the authority and commission from the chief priests,
- BSB In this pursuit I was on my way to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.
- NKJV “While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,
- NASB “While so engaged, as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,
- NLT “One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests.
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 recounts that while traveling to Damascus with authority from the chief priests, he was on this mission of persecution. He sets the scene for his life-changing encounter with Christ.
Overview
Armed with official commission to arrest believers, Paul was at the height of his campaign against the church when God intervened. The detail emphasizes that his conversion was no human decision but a divine interruption. It prepares for the appearance of the risen Christ, who would transform the persecutor's journey into a turning point of redemptive history.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Acts 9:1–8And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
- Acts 26:10Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.
- Acts 22:5–11As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.
- 1 Kgs 21:8–10So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth.
- John 11:57Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take him.
- John 7:45–48Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him?
- Ps 94:20–21Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
- Jer 26:8Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
- Isa 10:1Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
- Jer 29:26–27The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks.
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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 26:12 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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