So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
Parallel translations
- WEB “I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
- KJV And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
- BSB ‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.
- NASB And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
- NLT “‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked. “And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, 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
Jesus reveals His identity to Saul: 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' joining Himself so closely to His people that to attack them is to attack Him.
Overview
Saul's question 'Who are you, Lord?' is answered with a stunning self-disclosure of the risen Christ. The statement teaches the doctrine of union with Christ: the church is His body, so harm done to believers is reckoned as done to Jesus Himself. For Paul this confirmed both Jesus' resurrection and his own grievous error, becoming the foundation of his gospel and apostleship.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- John 15:20–21Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
- 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.’
- Exod 16:8Moses said, “Now Yahweh shall give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfy you; because Yahweh hears your murmurings which you murmur against him. And who are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against Yahweh.”
- 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.’
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 26:15 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.