Bible Strands
Acts 26:12
In this pursuit I was on my way to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Saul addresses King Agrippa during his defense trial, immediately following his account of persecuting believers in foreign cities. He frames his movement to Damascus as the next phase of that campaign.
The words — πορευόμενος (poreuomenos) literally means "journeying," and μετὰ (meta) specifies he traveled "with" the chief priests' authorization. The text records an official mandate, which interpreters identify as evidence of his sanctioned religious campaign.
The thread — The same authorization and destination appear in Acts 9:1 and Acts 22:5, where Saul obtains letters from the high priest to arrest believers in Damascus. These passages consistently record his official mandate to pursue the early church.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that Saul operated under institutional religious authority before his conversion. It establishes the historical reality of his persecution as a sanctioned duty, not a personal vendetta.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,
Cross-references
- Acts 9:1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord. He approached the high priest
- Acts 22:5 as the high priest and the whole Council can testify about me. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to apprehend these people and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.
- Acts 26:10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem. With authority from the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were condemned to death, I cast my vote against them.
- 1 Kings 21:8 Then Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city.
- Psalms 94:20 Can a corrupt throne be Your ally—one devising mischief by decree?
- Isaiah 10:1 Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,
- Jeremiah 26:8 and as soon as he had finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You must surely die!
- Jeremiah 29:26 ‘The LORD has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada, to be the chief officer in the house of the LORD, responsible for any madman who acts like a prophet—you must put him in stocks and neck irons.
- John 7:45 Then the officers returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring Him in?”
- John 11:57 But the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where He was must report it, so that they could arrest Him.