Bible Strands
Acts 9:21
All who heard him were astounded and asked, “Isn’t this the man who wreaked havoc in Jerusalem on those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Damascus synagogue crowd hears Saul proclaim Jesus as the Son of God and questions his identity. They ask each other whether he is the former persecutor who ravaged Jerusalem's believers and now intends to arrest them.
The words — ἐξίσταντο (existanto) means being struck with astonishment, and ἀκούοντες (akouontes) identifies the listeners as those actively hearing. οὐχ (ouch) introduces their incredulous rhetorical questions about his past and present intentions.
The thread — The crowd’s recognition of Saul’s past persecution aligns with his campaign to destroy the church in Acts 8:3 and Ananias’s warning in Acts 9:13. His transformation into a proclaimed witness mirrors the future wonder believers will have at Christ’s return in 2 Thessalonians 1:10.
Why it lands — The verse demands acknowledgment that the same zeal that once hunted believers now proclaims their Lord. It requires readers to recognize that divine reversal can repurpose past hostility into present testimony.
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
But all that heard him were 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?
Cross-references
- Acts 8:3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
- Acts 9:13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:10 on the day He comes to be glorified in His saints and regarded with wonder by all who have believed, including you who have believed our testimony.
- Matthew 13:54 Coming to His hometown, He taught the people in their synagogue, and they were astonished. “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers?” they asked.
- Galatians 1:13 For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
- Psalms 71:7 I have become a portent to many, but You are my strong refuge.
- Isaiah 8:18 Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
- Zechariah 3:8 Hear now, O high priest Joshua, you and your companions seated before you, who are indeed a sign. For behold, I am going to bring My servant, the Branch.
- Mark 5:15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
- John 9:8 At this, his neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging began to ask, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”