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He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
Acts 9:4 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
  • BSB He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”
  • NKJV Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul,why are you persecuting Me?”
  • NASB and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
  • NLT He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting 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

Saul fell to the ground and heard Jesus ask why he persecuted him. Christ identifies himself with his suffering people.

Overview

The piercing question reveals a profound truth: to persecute the church is to persecute Christ himself, so closely is he united to his people. Saul, brought low, must reckon with the living Lord he opposed. This union of Christ and his body becomes central to Paul's later teaching on the church.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 20

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Isa 63:9In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them. He bore them, and carried them all the days of old.
  • Rom 11:22See then the goodness and severity of God. Toward those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
  • Gen 22:11Yahweh’s angel called to him out of the sky, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He said, “Here I am.”
  • John 21:15So when they had eaten their breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I have affection for you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
  • 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.’
  • Gen 3:9Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
  • Acts 22:7–8I fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
  • 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.’
  • Gen 16:8He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where did you come from? Where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai.”
  • Luke 10:41Jesus answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,
  • Eph 5:30because we are members of his body, of his flesh and bones.
  • Matt 25:45–46“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 3:4When Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the middle of the bush, and said, “Moses! Moses!” He said, “Here I am.”
  • 1 Cor 4:7For who makes you different? And what do you have that you didn’t receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
  • Num 16:45“Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!” They fell on their faces.
  • John 20:16Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!”
  • John 18:6When therefore he said to them, “I am he,” they went backward, and fell to the ground.
  • Acts 5:10She fell down immediately at his feet, and died. The young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her by her husband.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (9)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Acts videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Acts 9:4YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ActsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 9:4 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.