Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
How much evil (osa kaka). How many evil things. Saul's reputation (Acts 26:10) as a persecutor had preceded him.
To thy saints (toiv agioiv). Dative of disadvantage. "Used here for the first time as a name for the Christians" (Knowling), but it came to be the common and normal (Hackett) term for followers of Christ (Acts 9:32, Acts 9:41; Acts 26:10; I Corinthians 1:2, etc.). This common word is from to agov, religious awe or reverence and is applied to God's name (Luke 1:49), God's temple (Matthew 24:15), God's people as set apart for God (Luke 1:70; Luke 2:23; Romans 1:7, etc.). Ananias in his ignorance saw in Saul only the man with an evil reputation while Jesus saw in Saul the man transformed by grace to be a messenger of mercy.
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing Acts 9:13:
John 17:11
Acts 9:10
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