Acts 9:41

THE MESSAGE

The Blinding of Saul All this time Saul was breathing down the necks of the Master's disciples, out for the kill. He went to the Chief Priest and got arrest warrants to take to the meeting places in Damascus so that if he found anyone there belonging to the Way, whether men or women, he could arrest them and bring them to Jerusalem. He set off. When he got to the outskirts of Damascus, he was suddenly dazed by a blinding flash of light. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice: "Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?" He said, "Who are you, Master?" "I am Jesus, the One you're hunting down. I want you to get up and enter the city. In the city you'll be told what to do next." His companions stood there dumbstruck—they could hear the sound, but couldn't see anyone—while Saul, picking himself up off the ground, found himself stone-blind. They had to take him by the hand and lead him into Damascus. He continued blind for three days. He ate nothing, drank nothing. There was a disciple in Damascus by the name of Ananias. The Master spoke to him in a vision: "Ananias." "Yes, Master?" he answered. "Get up and go over to Straight Avenue. Ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus. His name is Saul. He's there praying. He has just had a dream in which he saw a man named Ananias enter the house and lay hands on him so he could see again." Ananias protested, "Master, you can't be serious. Everybody's talking about this man and the terrible things he's been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he's shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us." But the Master said, "Don't argue. Go! I have picked him as my personal representative to non-Jews and kings and Jews. And now I'm about to show him what he's in for—the hard suffering that goes with this job." So Ananias went and found the house, placed his hands on blind Saul, and said, "Brother Saul, the Master sent me, the same Jesus you saw on your way here. He sent me so you could see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than something like scales fell from Saul's eyes—he could see again! He got to his feet, was baptized, and sat down with them to a hearty meal. Saul spent a few days getting acquainted with the Damascus disciples, but then went right to work, wasting no time, preaching in the meeting places that this Jesus was the Son of God. They were caught off guard by this and, not at all sure they could trust him, they kept saying, "Isn't this the man who wreaked havoc in Jerusalem among the believers? And didn't he come here to do the same thing—arrest us and drag us off to jail in Jerusalem for sentencing by the high priests?" But their suspicions didn't slow Saul down for even a minute. His momentum was up now and he plowed straight into the opposition, disarming the Damascus Jews and trying to show them that this Jesus was the Messiah. After this had gone on quite a long time, some Jews conspired to kill him, but Saul got wind of it. They were watching the city gates around the clock so they could kill him. Then one night the disciples engineered his escape by lowering him over the wall in a basket. Back in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. They didn't trust him one bit. Then Barnabas took him under his wing. He introduced him to the apostles and stood up for him, told them how Saul had seen and spoken to the Master on the Damascus Road and how in Damascus itself he had laid his life on the line with his bold preaching in Jesus' name. After that he was accepted as one of them, going in and out of Jerusalem with no questions asked, uninhibited as he preached in the Master's name. But then he ran afoul of a group called Hellenists—he had been engaged in a running argument with them—who plotted his murder. When his friends learned of the plot, they got him out of town, took him to Caesarea, and then shipped him off to Tarsus. Things calmed down after that and the church had smooth sailing for a while. All over the country—Judea, Samaria, Galilee—the church grew. They were permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God. The Holy Spirit was with them, strengthening them. They prospered wonderfully. Peter went off on a mission to visit all the churches. In the course of his travels he arrived in Lydda and met with the believers there. He came across a man—his name was Aeneas—who had been in bed eight years paralyzed. Peter said, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed!" And he did it—jumped right out of bed. Everybody who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him walking around and woke up to the fact that God was alive and active among them. Down the road a way in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, "Gazelle" in our language. She was well-known for doing good and helping out. During the time Peter was in the area she became sick and died. Her friends prepared her body for burial and put her in a cool room. Some of the disciples had heard that Peter was visiting in nearby Lydda and sent two men to ask if he would be so kind as to come over. Peter got right up and went with them. They took him into the room where Tabitha's body was laid out. Her old friends, most of them widows, were in the room mourning. They showed Peter pieces of clothing the Gazelle had made while she was with them. Peter put the widows all out of the room. He knelt and prayed. Then he spoke directly to the body: "Tabitha, get up." She opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat up. He took her hand and helped her up. Then he called in the believers and widows, and presented her to them alive.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He gave her his hand and helped her stand up. He called the saints and widows and presented her alive.

King James Version (1611)
And he gaue her his hand, and lift her vp: and when hee had called the Saints & widowes, presented her aliue.

King James Version
And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive.

English Standard Version
And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

New American Standard Bible
And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

New Century Version
He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called the saints and the widows into the room and showed them that Tabitha was alive.

Amplified Bible
And he gave her his hand and helped her up; and then he called in the saints (God's people) and the widows, and he presented her [to them] alive.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

Legacy Standard Bible
And he gave her his hand and raised her up. And calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

Berean Standard Bible
Peter took her by the hand and helped her up. Then he called the saints and widows and presented her to them alive.

Contemporary English Version
He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Peter called in the widows and the other followers and showed them that Dorcas had been raised from death.

Complete Jewish Bible
He offered her his hand and helped her to her feet; then, calling the believers and the widows, he presented her to them alive.

Darby Translation
And having given her [his] hand, he raised her up, and having called the saints and the widows, presented her living.

Easy-to-Read Version
He gave her his hand and helped her stand up. Then he called the believers and the widows into the room. He showed them Tabitha; she was alive!

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then he gaue her the hand and lift her vp, and called the Saints and widowes, and restored her aliue.

George Lamsa Translation
And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up; then he called the saints and widows and presented her to them alive.

Good News Translation
Peter reached over and helped her get up. Then he called all the believers, including the widows, and presented her alive to them.

Lexham English Bible
And he gave her his hand and raised her up. And he called the saints and the widows and presented her alive.

Literal Translation
And giving her a hand he raised her up. And calling the saints and the widows he presented her living.

American Standard Version
And he gave her his hand, and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

Bible in Basic English
And he took her hand, lifting her up; and, sending for the saints and widows, he gave her to them, living.

Hebrew Names Version
He gave her his hand, and raised her up. Calling the holy ones and widows, he presented her alive.

International Standard Version
He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called the saints and widows and gave her back to them alive.

Etheridge Translation
and when she beheld Shemun, she sat. And he reached his hand and raised her, and called the saints and widows, and gave her to them living.

Murdock Translation
And he reached to her his hand, and raised her up: and he called the saints and the widows, and presented her to them alive.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he gaue her the hande, and lyfte her vp: and when he hadde called the saintes and wydowes, he deliuered her alyue.

English Revised Version
And he gave her his hand, and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

World English Bible
He gave her his hand, and raised her up. Calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And giving her his hand, and having called the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

Weymouth's New Testament
Then, giving her his hand, he raised her to her feet and, calling to him God's people and the widows, he gave her back to them alive.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he took hir bi the hond, and reiside hir. And whanne he hadde clepid the hooli men and widewis, he assignede hir alyue.

Update Bible Version
And he gave her his hand, and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he gave her [his] hand, and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive.

New English Translation
He gave her his hand and helped her get up. Then he called the saints and widows and presented her alive.

New King James Version
Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

New Living Translation
He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive.

New Life Bible
He took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then he called in the faithful followers and the women whose husbands had died. He gave her to them, a living person.

New Revised Standard
He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, giving her his hand, he raised her up; and, calling the saints and the widows, presented her, living.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And giving her his hand, he lifted her up. And when he had called the saints and the widows, he presented her alive.

Revised Standard Version
And he gave her his hand and lifted her up. Then calling the saints and widows he presented her alive.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And he gave her ye honde and lyft her up and called the sainctes and wydowes and shewed her alyve.

Young's Literal Translation
and having given her [his] hand, he lifted her up, and having called the saints and the widows, he presented her alive,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But he gaue her the hande, and lifte her vp, and called the sayntes and the wedowes, and shewed her there alyue.

Mace New Testament (1729)
Peter lent her his hand, and lift her up; and having called the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

Simplified Cowboy Version
He gave her a hand and she swung her legs over the edge of the table. Pete then went to the door and invited all the mourners inside. He nodded toward her and nobody could believe what they saw.

Contextual Overview

³⁶Down the road a way in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, "Gazelle" in our language. She was well-known for doing good and helping out. During the time Peter was in the area she became sick and died. Her friends prepared her body for burial and put her in a cool room. ³⁸Some of the disciples had heard that Peter was visiting in nearby Lydda and sent two men to ask if he would be so kind as to come over. Peter got right up and went with them. They took him into the room where Tabitha's body was laid out. Her old friends, most of them widows, were in the room mourning. They showed Peter pieces of clothing the Gazelle had made while she was with them. Peter put the widows all out of the room. He knelt and prayed. Then he spoke directly to the body: "Tabitha, get up." She opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat up. He took her hand and helped her up. Then he called in the believers and widows, and presented her to them alive. When this became known all over Joppa, many put their trust in the Master. Peter stayed on a long time in Joppa as a guest of Simon the Tanner. ⁴¹The Blinding of Saul All this time Saul was breathing down the necks of the Master's disciples, out for the kill. He went to the Chief Priest and got arrest warrants to take to the meeting places in Damascus so that if he found anyone there belonging to the Way, whether men or women, he could arrest them and bring them to Jerusalem. He set off. When he got to the outskirts of Damascus, he was suddenly dazed by a blinding flash of light. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice: "Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?" He said, "Who are you, Master?" "I am Jesus, the One you're hunting down. I want you to get up and enter the city. In the city you'll be told what to do next." His companions stood there dumbstruck—they could hear the sound, but couldn't see anyone—while Saul, picking himself up off the ground, found himself stone-blind. They had to take him by the hand and lead him into Damascus. He continued blind for three days. He ate nothing, drank nothing. There was a disciple in Damascus by the name of Ananias. The Master spoke to him in a vision: "Ananias." "Yes, Master?" he answered. "Get up and go over to Straight Avenue. Ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus. His name is Saul. He's there praying. He has just had a dream in which he saw a man named Ananias enter the house and lay hands on him so he could see again." Ananias protested, "Master, you can't be serious. Everybody's talking about this man and the terrible things he's been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he's shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us." But the Master said, "Don't argue. Go! I have picked him as my personal representative to non-Jews and kings and Jews. And now I'm about to show him what he's in for—the hard suffering that goes with this job." So Ananias went and found the house, placed his hands on blind Saul, and said, "Brother Saul, the Master sent me, the same Jesus you saw on your way here. He sent me so you could see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than something like scales fell from Saul's eyes—he could see again! He got to his feet, was baptized, and sat down with them to a hearty meal. Saul spent a few days getting acquainted with the Damascus disciples, but then went right to work, wasting no time, preaching in the meeting places that this Jesus was the Son of God. They were caught off guard by this and, not at all sure they could trust him, they kept saying, "Isn't this the man who wreaked havoc in Jerusalem among the believers? And didn't he come here to do the same thing—arrest us and drag us off to jail in Jerusalem for sentencing by the high priests?" But their suspicions didn't slow Saul down for even a minute. His momentum was up now and he plowed straight into the opposition, disarming the Damascus Jews and trying to show them that this Jesus was the Messiah. After this had gone on quite a long time, some Jews conspired to kill him, but Saul got wind of it. They were watching the city gates around the clock so they could kill him. Then one night the disciples engineered his escape by lowering him over the wall in a basket. Back in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. They didn't trust him one bit. Then Barnabas took him under his wing. He introduced him to the apostles and stood up for him, told them how Saul had seen and spoken to the Master on the Damascus Road and how in Damascus itself he had laid his life on the line with his bold preaching in Jesus' name. After that he was accepted as one of them, going in and out of Jerusalem with no questions asked, uninhibited as he preached in the Master's name. But then he ran afoul of a group called Hellenists—he had been engaged in a running argument with them—who plotted his murder. When his friends learned of the plot, they got him out of town, took him to Caesarea, and then shipped him off to Tarsus. Things calmed down after that and the church had smooth sailing for a while. All over the country—Judea, Samaria, Galilee—the church grew. They were permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God. The Holy Spirit was with them, strengthening them. They prospered wonderfully. Peter went off on a mission to visit all the churches. In the course of his travels he arrived in Lydda and met with the believers there. He came across a man—his name was Aeneas—who had been in bed eight years paralyzed. Peter said, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed!" And he did it—jumped right out of bed. Everybody who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him walking around and woke up to the fact that God was alive and active among them. Down the road a way in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, "Gazelle" in our language. She was well-known for doing good and helping out. During the time Peter was in the area she became sick and died. Her friends prepared her body for burial and put her in a cool room. Some of the disciples had heard that Peter was visiting in nearby Lydda and sent two men to ask if he would be so kind as to come over. Peter got right up and went with them. They took him into the room where Tabitha's body was laid out. Her old friends, most of them widows, were in the room mourning. They showed Peter pieces of clothing the Gazelle had made while she was with them. Peter put the widows all out of the room. He knelt and prayed. Then he spoke directly to the body: "Tabitha, get up." She opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat up. He took her hand and helped her up. Then he called in the believers and widows, and presented her to them alive. ⁴²When this became known all over Joppa, many put their trust in the Master. Peter stayed on a long time in Joppa as a guest of Simon the Tanner.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

he gave: Acts 3:7, Mark 1:31

widows: Acts 6:1, Job 29:13, Psalms 146:9, Luke 7:12, he presented, Acts 20:12, Genesis 45:26, 1 Kings 17:23, Luke 7:15

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 6:7 - Take it up Matthew 9:25 - the people Mark 5:41 - took Mark 9:27 - General Mark 9:29 - by prayer Luke 7:14 - Young Luke 9:42 - and delivered Acts 9:32 - the saints Acts 9:39 - and all Acts 26:10 - the saints Romans 16:2 - for 1 Corinthians 16:1 - the saints Hebrews 11:35 - Women

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he gave her his hand, and lift her up,.... Off of the bed or bier where she was:

and when he had called the saints and widows; the disciples, brethren and sisters, who were come together on this occasion, as well as the poor widows she had been kind to; the Ethiopic version reads without a copulative, "the holy widows"; and so might these widows be, even such as are described in 1 Timothy 5:10

presented her alive; as Christ did the widow's son of Naam to her, Luke 7:15 and which no doubt was matter of great joy as well as astonishment to all the saints, and especially to the poor widows.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He presented her alive - He exhibited, or showed her to them alive. Compare 1 Kings 17:23.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Acts 9:41. Saints and widows — In primitive times the widows formed a distinct part of the Christian Church.