Did Paul in Acts 9 ride on an animal on the road to Damascus?

Answer 1

Opinion:

Yes, Paul did know that it was Jesus who "met" him on the road to Damascus. Acts 9:5 " I am Jesus whom thou persecutest...". In a strange anomaly, in Galatians 1:15-16, Paul mentions that "God had revealed his Son in me". And after he went to Arabia, he "returned again unto Damascus" (Galatians 1:17). On this evidence we could reasonably say that it was Jesus who met Paul on the road to Damascus. All the accounts in Acts agree that Paul saw "a light from Heaven" and that his companions saw this also as " we were all fallen to the earth" (Acts 26:13).

Opinion:

The simple answer is no, Jesus and Paul are fictional characters; there is no solid evidence that either ever existed. The same can be applied to many stories in the Bible.

Answer

The Question is "Did Paul know....?" and the Answer is that he most certainly did. He was going to Damascus to continue his persecution of Christians. The original Greek (as shown by "Strong's Concordance") makes it abundantly plain that Saul [called 'Paul' post- conversion] knew perfectly well that it was Jesus who met him on the road to Damascus. Right from the very start Jesus identified Himself , so Saul knew this was somebody really powerful and with authority and therefore with due deferance asked His identity. It can be argued that when Jesus identified Himself specifically as "Jesus" it was really the Greek version of "Joshua" , so Saul may not have really known, but he would have been in no doubt whatsoever when this "Jehoshua" said He was the one whose followers Saul had been going to Damascus to arrest. The now-terrified Saul would have been in absolutely no doubt whatsoever when he was blinded, told again it was Jesus by Ananias, and then miraculously healed of that blindness.

The meaning of the words in the original Greek is made plain in 'Strong's' Concordance:-

2424-"Jesus (that is, Jehoshua), the name of our Lord ... "

2962-"supremein authority,..: - God, Lord, master, Sir."

3165-"me:- I, me, my."

Act 9:1-10, 17-21 KJV And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, (v.2) And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. (v.3) And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: (v.4) And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me3165[ "Jesus (that is, Jehoshua)"(Strongs)] ?" (v.5) And he[ie Saul] said, "Who art thou, Lord2962 [ "supremein authority,..: - God, Lord, master, Sir."(Strongs)]?" And the Lord2962[ "supremein authority,..: - God, Lord, master, Sir."

(Strongs)]said, "I am Jesus2424[-"Jesus (that is, Jehoshua), (Strongs)] whom thou [Saul] persecutest: it ishard for thee to kick against the pricks." (v.6) And he trembling and astonished said," Lord,2962["God, Lord, master, Sir."(Strongs)] ,what wilt thou have me to do?" And the Lord 2962["God, Lord, master, Sir."(Strongs)]saidunto him, "Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do." (v.7) And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. (v.8) And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought himinto Damascus. (v.9) And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. (v.10) And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, "Ananias". And he said," Behold, I am here, Lord." . .. (v.17) And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord2962["God, Lord, master, Sir."(Strongs)], evenJesus2424[-"Jesus (that is, Jehoshua),SStrongs)], that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost." (v.18) And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. (v.19) And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. (v.20) And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. (v.21) But all that heard himwere amazed, and said; "Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?"

The original Greek shows that Paul definitely did know that it was Jesus who met him on the road to Damascus.

Answer 2

The Bible does not mention Paul riding an animal on the road to Damascus in Acts 9. Instead, it describes Paul encountering a bright light and hearing the voice of Jesus before being blinded temporarily. There is no mention of him riding an animal in this account.

Answer 3

(Acts 22:6-11)"But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?'"(NASB) (Acts 9:1-9)

Answer 4

In a strange anomaly, Paul never mentions any divine vision that led to his conversion; in fact his epistles seem to have ruled this out. In his Epistle to the Galatians, Paul said that after his conversion, he travelled to Arabia, and only then went to Damascus (bypassing Jerusalem), then Jerusalem, Syria and Cilicia, and, after a period of fourteen years, back to Jerusalem (Galatians 1:17-2:1). On this evidence, we could reasonably say that Jesus did not meet Paul on the road to Damascus, at least not at the time of his conversion.

However, Acts of the Apostles, written some decades later, does say that Paul had a divine vision that led to his conversion. A further anomaly is that this gives three quite different versions, making it difficult to judge which was more correct and therefore what Paul's reaction might have been. In each account there was a blinding light, which appeared only to Paul in the version at Acts 9:3-8 and probably at Acts 26.13-19, but appeared to both Paul and his men at Acts 22:6-11. Paul alone heard a voice from heaven at Acts 22:6-11 and probably at Acts 26.13-19, but both Paul and his men heard the voice at Acts 9:3-8. Each of these stories says that the voice from heaven said it was Jesus, and from this one could believe that Paul did accept that it was really Jesus. Nevertheless, the differences in the three accounts could lead one to assume that Paul's own contemporary account is the only really reliable one and that the event probably did not happen.

Answer 5

The conversion of Paul on the road to Damascus is found in three different places in Acts of the Apostles, but not in Paul's own epistles and in fact his epistles seem to have ruled this out, so the answer must be found in Acts.

In each account in Acts there was a blinding light, which appeared only to Paul in the version at Acts 9:3-8 and probably at Acts 26.13-19, but appeared to both Paul and his men at Acts 22:6-11 (although only Paul was blinded). Paul alone heard a voice from heaven at Acts 22:6-11 and probably at Acts 26.13-19, but both Paul and his men heard the voice at Acts 9:3-8. There is no mention of him on horseback.

At least one of the three accounts in Acts actually appears to have been based on the ancient play of Euripedes called the Bacchae, in which case Paul's conversion did not really happen as described in Acts of the Apostles, and any explanation of the conversion on the road to Damascus can only be an exercise in literary analysis.

Answer 6

It is possible, even likely, that he did given the distance involved. However this question is ultimately unanswerable since there is no record either way.