Acts 9:25

One night, however, his disciples took him and lowered him in a basket through a window in the wall.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The narrator addresses the reader at the moment Saul discovers his pursuers are guarding the city gates day and night to kill him.

The words — λαβόντες (labontes) translates literally as “having taken,” and νυκτὸς (nuktos) specifies the action occurred “by night.”

The thread — This rescue method parallels Rahab lowering agents through a window in Joshua 2:15, David’s nighttime escape from Saul’s messengers in 1 Samuel 19:11, and Paul’s own later delivery from Damascus in 2 Corinthians 11:33.

Why it lands — The text records a precise physical escape using a basket and a wall window, requiring the reader to note the mechanics of the covert rescue before considering its theological implications.

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

λαβόντεςlabonteshaving taken δὲdehowever οἱhoithe μαθηταὶmathētaidisciples αὐτοῦautouof him νυκτὸςnuktosby night διὰdiathrough τοῦtouthe τείχουςteichouswall καθῆκανkathēkanthey let down αὐτὸνautonhim χαλάσαντεςchalasanteshaving lowered [him]ἐνenin σπυρίδι.¶spuridia basket.

King James Version

Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket.

Cross-references

Joshua 2:15 Then Rahab let them down by a rope through the window, since the house where she lived was built into the wall of the city.
2 Corinthians 11:33 But I was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his grasp.
1 Samuel 19:11 Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and kill him in the morning. But David’s wife Michal warned him, “If you do not run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!”