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Was Paul told his task on the road, or later in Damascus?

Hard question · Acts and the letters · raised by 1 of the lists sceptics circulate

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The passages

Acts 9:6

On the road the Lord tells Saul, “Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do”.

And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Acts 9:15–16

The Lord tells Ananias that Saul is “a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel”.

But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.

Acts 22:10

Paul recalls the Lord’s words: “go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do”.

And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.

Acts 22:14–15

In Damascus Ananias tells Paul that God has chosen him: “thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard”.

And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

Acts 26:16–18

Before Agrippa Paul gives the Lord’s words: “I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness”, sent to the Gentiles.

But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

The objection

In Acts 9 and 22 Jesus tells Paul on the road only to go into Damascus, where he will be told what he must do. In Acts 26 Paul says that Jesus gave him his whole commission there on the road: to be a minister and a witness, sent to the Gentiles to open their eyes. Was Paul told his task on the road, or later in Damascus?

The answer

Paul’s commission came from the Lord, and it reached him in stages: on the road, through Ananias in Damascus, and in later visions. Acts 9 and 22 tell those stages one by one. On the road Jesus told him to go into the city, where he would be told what to do (9:6). In Damascus, Ananias, whom the Lord had told that Saul was “a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles” (9:15), passed the message on: “thou shalt be his witness unto all men” (22:15). Later, in a trance in the temple, the Lord said, “I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles” (22:21).

In Acts 26 Paul is speaking to King Agrippa and the governor Festus, who already knew his case, and he gives a short account. He leaves out his blindness, Ananias and his baptism altogether. He sums up the whole commission as the words of the Lord who appeared to him, because it was the Lord’s commission, whoever carried the message. The Pulpit Commentary says that Paul here ‘blends into one message’ the words on the road, the instruction given through Ananias and the words in the trance. That is how anyone tells a long story briefly. Since Ananias spoke for the Lord, it is true to say that the Lord gave Paul his task, however it reached him. Even in Acts 26 Jesus speaks of “those things in the which I will appear unto thee” (26:16), so further revelations were still to come.

Luke, who wrote all three accounts, plainly saw them as one story, told in fuller or shorter form for different hearers.

Other answers Christians give

More was said on the road

Barnes thought it not improbable that Jesus said more on the road than Acts 9 and 22 record, so that the words of Acts 26:16–18 may in part have been spoken there. On this view Ananias then confirmed and filled out what Paul had already heard.

From the classic commentators

in this condensed account given before King Agrippa, St. Paul blends into one message the words spoken to him when the Lord first appeared to him, and the instruction subsequently given to him through Ananias, and the words spoken to him in the trance (Acts 22:17-21).The Pulpit Commentary, on Acts 26:16
The particulars mentioned in this verse and the two following are not recorded in the account of Paul's conversion in Acts 9; but it is not improbable that many circumstances may have occurred which are not recorded.Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible, on Acts 26:16 (1834)

Sources

Further reading

Raised by: Shabir Ally, 101 Clear Contradictions in the Bible. Only the verse references come from these lists.

Checked 2026-10-22. All hard questions