Acts 9:25

25 Then one night the disciples engineered his escape by lowering him over the wall in a basket.

Acts 9:25 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 9:25

Then the disciples took him by night
The Alexandrian copy reads, "his disciples"; the disciples of Saul, such as he had been instrumental in making at Damascus: but it is not usual for the saints to be called in Scripture the disciples of any man; therefore the common reading is best, and designs the disciples and followers of Christ; who being concerned for the preservation of so valuable a life, took Saul in the night season,

and let him down by the wall in a basket.
Damascus was a walled city; hence we read of the wall of Damascus, ( Jeremiah 49:27 ) . And the house where Saul was, and which very likely was one of the disciples, was built upon the wall, as the house of Rahab was upon the town wall of Jericho; and as she let down the spies from thence by a cord through the window, ( Joshua 2:15 ) so the disciples let down Saul in a basket with cords through the window of the house, as appears from 2Co 11:33. (See Gill on 2 Corinthians 11:33): no doubt, the disciples were directed by the overruling providence of God, in order to preserve the life of the apostle, who had much work to do for Christ in several parts of the world, and therefore must not fall into the hands of his enemies and die, his time not being yet come; and this shows, that it is lawful to make use of all prudent means and proper methods to prevent the designs of wicked men, and escape out of their hands, and preserve life when in danger; by which means Saul escaped their hands.

Acts 9:25 In-Context

23 After this had gone on quite a long time, some Jews conspired to kill him,
24 but Saul got wind of it. They were watching the city gates around the clock so they could kill him.
25 Then one night the disciples engineered his escape by lowering him over the wall in a basket.
26 Back in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. They didn't trust him one bit.
27 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.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.