Later text
Acts 9:3-4BSB
As Saul drew near to Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”
Intertextuality Pair
Acts 9:3-4 → 1 Kings 19:9
Echo
Earlier text
1 Kings 19:9BSB
There Elijah entered a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
+ 3 more earlier texts
Earlier text
Genesis 46:2BSB
And that night God spoke to Israel in a vision: “Jacob, Jacob!” He said. “Here I am,” replied Jacob.
Earlier text
Exodus 19:16BSB
On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the ram's horn went out, so that all the people in the camp trembled.
Earlier text
Exodus 3:1-6BSB
Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw the bush ablaze with fire, but it was not consumed. So Moses thought, "I must go over and see this marvelous sight. Why is the bush not burning up?" When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from within the bush, "Moses, Moses!" "Here I am," he answered. "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Then He said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Significance
The appearance to Saul is narrated in the shape of the great OT theophanies and calls: a light from heaven flashing around him, a voice, and the doubled personal name — "Saul, Saul" — exactly as God called "Moses, Moses" at the bush (Exod 3:4), "Jacob, Jacob" on the way to Egypt (Gen 46:2), and questioned Elijah at Horeb, "What are you doing here?" (1 Kgs 19:9), amid Sinai-like glory (Exod 19:16). The persecutor is met by God as the patriarchs and prophets were met. Christ-terminus: the God who called Moses, Jacob, and Elijah now speaks in the voice of the risen Jesus — "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." The glory of the God of Sinai is unveiled in the face of Christ, so that Saul's call is at once a theophany and a conversion: to see this glory is to be undone, forgiven, and sent.
- Found via
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
- Reference Type
- Echo
- Connection Method(s)
- Analogy