Acts 26:12

12 "While thus engaged, I was travelling one day to Damascus armed with authority and a commission from the High Priests,

Acts 26:12 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 26:12

Whereupon as I went to Damascus
Being intent, upon the above said things, to punish the saints, compel them to blaspheme, imprison them, and even put them to death on account of these things; upon this errand and business he went to Damascus, the chief city of Syria, where he knew there were many that believed in Christ, who had removed from Jerusalem thither, on account of the persecution, or were settled there before:

with authority and commission from the chief priests;
the Jewish sanhedrim, to bring those of them at Damascus bound to Jerusalem, in order to be punished, as in ( Acts 9:2 ) ( 22:5 ) and which the Ethiopic version adds here.

Acts 26:12 In-Context

10 And that was how I acted in Jerusalem. Armed with authority received from the High Priests I shut up many of God's people in various prisons, and when they were about to be put to death I gave my vote against them.

11 In all the synagogues also I punished them many a time, and tried to make them blaspheme; and in my wild fury I chased them even to foreign towns.

12 "While thus engaged, I was travelling one day to Damascus armed with authority and a commission from the High Priests,

13 and on the journey, at noon, Sir, I saw a light from Heaven--brighter than the brightness of the sun--shining around me and around those who were travelling with me.

14 We all fell to the ground; and I heard a voice which said to me in Hebrew, "`Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? You are finding it painful to kick against the ox-goad.'