Acts 22 8

Acts 22:8 kjv

And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

Acts 22:8 nkjv

So I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.'

Acts 22:8 niv

"?'Who are you, Lord?' I asked. " 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied.

Acts 22:8 esv

And I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' And he said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.'

Acts 22:8 nlt

"'Who are you, lord?' I asked. "And the voice replied, 'I am Jesus the Nazarene, the one you are persecuting.'

Acts 22 verses

Acts 22 8 Meaning

Acts 22:8 records the exact, profound moment of divine revelation that utterly transformed Saul of Tarsus into the Apostle Paul. In response to Saul's bewildered question, the heavenly voice identifies itself as "Jesus of Nazareth." This revelation establishes Jesus' divine "I AM" identity while grounding Him in His humble earthly origin. Crucially, the verse delivers the searing indictment that Saul, in persecuting Christians, was directly persecuting Jesus Himself. This declaration shatters Saul's understanding, revealing the intimate solidarity between Christ and His church, and exposing the true object of his zealous, yet tragically misdirected, hostility.

Acts 22 8 Context

Paul (then Saul) stands before a tumultuous Jewish crowd in Jerusalem, under Roman custody, offering a direct defense of his life and gospel message. He is explicitly responding to accusations of defiling the Temple and teaching against Jewish Law. In this dramatic apologetic (Acts 22:1-21), Paul recounts his impeccably Jewish upbringing, his zealous persecution of Christians, and then the utterly transformative experience on the road to Damascus. Acts 22:8 captures the profound personal encounter, where the risen Jesus directly revealed His identity to Saul. This verse serves as the lynchpin of Paul's defense, arguing that his changed allegiance was not human rebellion but divine command, originating from an undeniable, direct revelation from the Messiah himself. This was a critical point against Jewish contemporaries who largely dismissed Jesus as a false messiah, particularly one from the obscure town of Nazareth.

Acts 22 8 Word analysis

• And I answered: Connects to Saul's prior question (v. 7), highlighting his immediate, albeit disoriented, responsiveness to the powerful, unseen presence. It marks the first human verbal interaction in this divine confrontation.
• 'Who are you,': (Greek: Tis ei; Τίς εἶ) A question of fundamental identity. Despite the blinding light and overwhelming voice, Saul did not immediately recognize the speaker, underscoring his spiritual blindness and initial ignorance of the divine actor orchestrating these events. It signals profound bewilderment mixed with awe.
• Lord?': (Greek: Kyrie; Κύριε) This term of address, common in the Greek Old Testament (LXX) for Yahweh, can also mean 'Sir' or 'Master' for a respected individual. In this context, amidst a divine manifestation, Paul's usage, even in his ignorance of specific identity, acknowledges supreme authority and immense power beyond human capability. For a devout Jew like Saul, addressing an unseen powerful entity as Kyrie carried deep resonance of the divine.
• And he said to me: Establishes a direct, personal divine response to Saul. This is an initiated, active communication from the heavens to Saul, not an inferred one.
• 'I am Jesus': (Greek: Egō eimi Iēsous; Ἐγώ εἰμι Ἰησοῦς)
  • Egō eimi (I am): A crucial divine self-declaration echoing Yahweh's revelation to Moses in Exodus 3:14 and Jesus' potent claims of divinity throughout John's Gospel (e.g., John 8:58). This asserts absolute existence, eternality, and sovereign authority. It signifies that the speaker is not merely a man or an angel, but God incarnate.
  • Iēsous (Jesus): The human name, common yet profoundly significant as the name of the long-awaited Messiah. The convergence of the divine "I AM" with this specific human name constitutes the central christological revelation to Paul: Jesus, the historical man, is indeed God.
• of Nazareth,': (Greek: ho Nazōraios; ὁ Ναζωραῖος) This epithet highlights Jesus' humble earthly origins in Nazareth, a Galilean town often associated with insignificance and contempt (John 1:46). Its inclusion here provides a stark contrast: the all-powerful "I AM" identifies with a location widely despised. It challenges preconceived notions of a glorious, politically powerful Messiah, forcing Saul to re-evaluate his entire theological framework.
• 'whom you are persecuting.': (Greek: hon sy diōkeis; ὃν σὺ διώκεις)
  • hon sy (whom you): The pronoun sy is singular and emphatic in Greek, making the accusation intensely personal and direct to Saul.
  • diōkeis (are persecuting): Present tense, indicating ongoing, continuous action. The verb diōkō means "to pursue, chase, oppress, harass, or persecute." This reveals the fundamental theological truth that attacking Jesus' followers is an attack directly upon Him, establishing a profound, mystical unity between Christ and His church. This charge completely reorients Saul's perception of his mission.

Acts 22 8 Bonus section

This revelation of Jesus identifying so profoundly with His church — that "persecuting them" means "persecuting me" — forms a core tenet of the early church's Christology and ecclesiology, foreshadowing the concept of the church as the body of Christ (Col 1:18, Eph 1:22-23). Saul, in this moment, experienced the inverse of his self-perceived devotion: his fervent religiosity, aimed at what he thought was God's honor, was actually a direct affront to God's own Son. The dramatic nature of this encounter — the blinding light and heavenly voice — underscores that Paul's apostleship and unique understanding of the Gospel came directly through divine, unsolicited intervention, providing the bedrock authority for his later ministry to the Gentiles. It is a paradigm for radical grace overriding human merit.

Acts 22 8 Commentary

Acts 22:8 is the watershed moment in Saul’s life, crystallizing the radical nature of his conversion. Jesus' direct, personal revelation as "I am Jesus of Nazareth" profoundly shatters Saul's rigid, Pharisaic worldview. The declaration "I am" carries immense divine weight, immediately confirming the speaker's absolute authority and pre-existence, while "of Nazareth" anchors this divine being to the specific, humble, crucified man whom Saul despised. This confrontation dismantles Saul’s conviction that he was serving God by stamping out a blasphemous sect. Instead, the resurrected Christ unveils that Saul’s fervent efforts to persecute believers were in fact direct hostilities against God Himself, epitomizing Christ’s intimate identification with His church. This message of solidarity with the suffering body of believers would become a cornerstone of Paul's future theology, explaining why his previous life was now seen as "loss" (Phil 3:7).