Acts 9:7

That journeyed with him (oi sunodeuonte autwi). Not in the older Greek, but in the Koin, with the associative instrumental. Speechless (eneoi). Mute. Only here in N.T., though old word. Hearing the voice, but beholding no man (akouonte men th pwnh, mhdena de qewrounte). Two present active participles in contrast (men, de). In Acts 22:9 Paul says that the men "beheld the light" (to men pw eqeasanto), but evidently did not discern the person. Paul also says there, "but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me" (thn de pwnhn ouk hkousan tou lalounto moi). Instead of this being a flat contradiction of what Luke says in Acts 9:7 it is natural to take it as being likewise (as with the "light" and "no one") a distinction between the "sound" (original sense of pwnh as in John 3:8 ) and the separate words spoken. It so happens that akouw is used either with the accusative (the extent of the hearing) or the genitive (the specifying). It is possible that such a distinction here coincides with the two senses of pwnh. They heard the sound (Acts 9:7 ), but did not understand the words ( John 22:9 ). However, this distinction in case with akouw, though possible and even probable here, is by no means a necessary one for in John 3:8 where pwnhn undoubtedly means "sound" the accusative occurs as Luke uses hkousen pwnhn about Saul in Acts 9:4 . Besides in Acts 22:7 Paul uses hkousa pwnh about himself, but hkousa pwnhn about himself in Acts 26:14, interchangeably.