Acts 9:26 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Acts 9:26
And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.
to become near · verb — second aorist middle deponent participle, nominative singular masculine
to
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
Jerusalem
ἸερουσαλὴμIerousalēm
G2419
Hierusalem (i.e. Jerushalem) · noun — accusative singular feminine, a place
assayed
πειράωpeiráō
G3987
to test (subjectively)
himself
κολλᾶσθαιkollasthai
G2853
to glue · verb — present passive infinitive
disciples
μαθηταῖς·mathētais
G3101
a learner · noun — dative plural masculine
but
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
were
ἐφοβοῦντοephobounto
G5399
to frighten · verb — imperfect middle or passive deponent indicative, 3rd person plural
all
πάντεςpantes
G3956
all · adjective — nominative plural masculine
afraid
φοβέωphobéō
G5399
to frighten
him
αὐτὸνauton
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
believed
πιστεύοντεςpisteuontes
G4100
to have faith (in · verb — present active participle, nominative plural masculine
not
μὴmē
G3361
(adverb) not · particle — negative
that
ὅτιhoti
G3754
demonstrative · conjunction
was
ἐστίestí
G2076
he (she or it) is
disciple
μαθητής.mathētēs
G3101
a learner · noun — nominative singular masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 26:20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judæa, and then to the Gentiles, that they should…
Galatians 1:17-19 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.
Acts 4:23 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.
Acts 9:19 And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus.
Acts 22:17-20 And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;
Matthew 10:17-19 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
Galatians 2:4 And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they…
Matthew 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 9:23-31
Luke here makes no mention of Paul's journey into Arabia, which he tells us himself was immediately after his conversion, Gal 1:16, Gal 1:17. As soon as God had revealed his Son in him, that he might preach him, he went not up to Jerusalem, to receive instructions from the apostles (as any other convert would have done, that was designed for the ministry), but he went to Arabia, where there was new ground to break up, and where he would have opportunity of teaching, but not learning; thence he returned to Damascus, and there, three years after his conversion, this happened, which is here recorded.
I. He met with difficulties at Damascus, and had a narrow escape of being killed there. Observe…
SAUL'S FIRST VISIT TO JERUSALEM AFTER HIS CONVERSION. (Act 9:26-31)
And when Saul was come to Jerusalem--"three years after" his conversion, and particularly "to see Peter" (Gal 1:18); no doubt because he was the leading apostle, and to communicate to him the prescribed sphere of his labors, specially to "the Gentiles."
he assayed to join himself to the disciples--simply as one of them, leaving his apostolic commission to manifest itself.
they were all afraid of him, &c.--knowing him only as a persecutor of the faith; the rumor of his conversion, if it ever was cordially believed, passing away during his long absence in Arabia, and the news of his subsequent labors in Damascus perhaps n…
He assayed to join himself to the disciples - Επειρατο κολλασθαι, He endeavored to get closely united to them, to be in religious fellowship with them.
Believed not that he was a disciple - They did not suppose it possible that such a person could be converted to the faith of Christ. The full power of Divine grace, in the conversion of the soul, was not yet completely known.
John Gill on Acts 9:26
And when Saul was come to Jerusalem,.... After he had escaped out of Damascus, in the manner before related, and which was three years after his conversion:
he assayed to join himself to the disciples; not to the private members of the church, or ordinary disciples, as distinct from the apostles, but to the whole society, as consisting of apostles and private Christians; for his chief view in going to Jerusalem was to see Peter; and the Ethiopic version reads, "to the apostles": the sense is, that he tried either to get into a free and familiar conversation with them, or to become one of their body, and a member of the church. He did not return to the high priest from whom he had received l…
The Church Fathers
"Assayed," it says, "to join himself to the disciples." He did not come up to them unabashed, but with a subdued manner. "Disciples" they were all called at that time by reason of their great virtue, for there was the likeness of the disciples plainly to be seen.
"He assayed," it says, "to join himself to the disciples. And they were afraid of him." By this again is shown the ardor of Paul's character: not only from the mouth of Ananias, and of those who wondered at him there, but also of those in Jerusalem: "they believed not that he was a disciple:" for truly that was beyond all human expectation. He was no longer a wild beast, but a man mild and gentle! And observe how he does not go to the Apostles, such is his forbearance, but to the disciples, as being a disciple. He was not thought worthy of credit.
When he had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples. Let us not believe that he came to the apostles in Jerusalem immediately after being baptized, but as he himself wrote to the Galatians, first he went to Arabia and then returned again to Damascus. Then after three years, coming to Jerusalem, he saw Peter and stayed with him for fifteen days. But he did not see any other of the apostles, except James the brother of the Lord. And then, as Luke also follows, he came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. Whether he endured the plots in Damascus the first or second time is not easily evident. For it can also be understood the second time since it is said that after many days were fulfilled, the Jews made a plot to kill him. Therefore, it seems that Luke omits Arabia because he did not preach there, according to what he himself later said to King Agrippa: because I preached first in Damascus, and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Christian — The name given by the Greeks or Romans, probably in reproach, to the followers of Jesus. It was first used at Antioch. The names by which the disciples were known among themselves were “brethren,”…
Peter — Originally called Simon (=Simeon, i.e., “hearing”), a very common Jewish name in the New Testament. He was the son of Jona (Matt. 16:17). His mother is nowhere named in Scripture. He had a younger…
Barnabas · Brings him to the apostles — Brings him to the apostles
Disciple · Of Jesus — Of Jesus
Paul · General references — General references
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Acts 9:26-31
26. And when Saul was at Jerusalem, he essayed to join himself to the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. 27. But when Barnabas had taken him, he brought him to the apostles, and he told them how that he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had behaved himself boldly at Damascus, in the name of Jesus, 28. And he was conversant with them at Jerusalem; and when he was emboldened in the name of the Lord Jesus, 29. He spake, and disputed with the Grecians. And they went about to kill him. 30. Which when the brethren knew, they brought him to Cesarea, and sent him to Tarsus. 31. Then the churches throug…
When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, the Christian community understandably did not immediately trust him, given his recent history of violently persecuting Christians (8:3; 9:1, 13; 22:3, 4; 26:9-11). Fortunately, Barnabas, the “Son of Encouragement” (4:36), introduced the changed man to the apostles and explained his encounter with the Lord at Damascus, his sense of calling, and his subsequent boldness in preaching in the name of Jesus in Damascus. Barnabas was able to convince the apostles that Saul’s conversion was genuine, so Saul remained with the apostles in Jerusalem, where he preached boldly for his Lord. Paul recalls this visit in Gal 1:18-19.
