Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
He fell upon the earth (peswn epi thn ghn). Second aorist active participle. So in Acts 22:7 Paul says: "I fell unto the ground" (epesa eiv to edafov) using an old word rather than the common ghn. In Acts 26:14 Paul states that "we were all fallen to the earth" (pantwn katapesontwn hmwn eiv thn ghn, genitive absolute construction). But here in verse Acts 9:7 "the men that journeyed with him stood speechless" (isthkeisan eneoi). But surely the points of time are different. In Acts 26:14 Paul refers to the first appearance of the vision when all fell to the earth. Here in verse Acts 9:7 Luke refers to what occurred after the vision when both Saul and the men had risen from the ground.
Saul, Saul (Saoul, Saoul). The Hebrew form occurs also in Acts 22:7; Acts 26:14 where it is expressly stated that the voice was in the Hebrew (Aramaic) tongue as also in Acts 9:17 (Ananias). Deissmann (Bible Studies, p. 316) terms this use of Saoul "the historian's sense of liturgical rhythm." For the repetition of names by Jesus note Luke 10:41 (Martha, Martha), Luke 22:31 (Simon, Simon).
Me (me). In persecuting the disciples, Saul was persecuting Jesus, as the words of Jesus in verse Acts 9:5 made plain. Christ had already spoken of the mystic union between himself and his followers (Matthew 10:40; Matthew 25:40, Matthew 25:45; John 15:1-5). The proverb (Pindar) that Jesus quotes to Saul about kicking against the goad is genuine in Acts 26:14, but not here.
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing Acts 9:4:
Acts 9:7
Acts 11:7
Acts 18:10
Acts 22:7
2 Corinthians 5:16
Galatians 1:1
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