Did the men with Paul hear the voice of God?

Short Answer: Did the men with Paul hear the voice of God?

So the question is did the men with Paul hear the voice of God? There’s two accounts of this story in Acts. First, Acts 9:3-7, describes Saul’s journey to Damascus when suddenly a bright light shines on him. As he fell to the ground, his companions stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no man. Next, in Acts 22:9, Saul recounts the same incident, stating that those with him saw the light and were afraid but did not hear the voice that spoke to him. Seems contradictory, right? Going into the original Greek text helps clarify this.

In Acts 22:9 the Greek verb for “heard” is in the indicative case, indicating a straightforward and certain understanding of what was heard. In contrast, Acts 9:7 uses the Greek verb for “hearing” in the nominative case, which denotes a relationship to the subject or a naming case. This implies that they could acknowledge hearing something, but lacked the specific details of what Jesus said to Paul.

This difference in verb cases highlights the distinction between listening and hearing. Just like how one can hear someone speaking across the room without grasping the words, the companions may have heard a voice, but in the witness stand, they would struggle to provide the exact content of the message. The subtle nuances in the original Greek language help to clarify and both accounts. So did the men with Paul hear the voice of God? Yes, they did but they weren’t able to hear exactly what He said to Paul.

Scripture outline: Did the men with Paul hear the voice of God?

• Acts 9:3-7 – “And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
  • v. 3 Saul on his way to Damascus, light shone round about him
  • v. 4 Saul fell to the earth
    • Doesn’t say he was riding a mule, ass, or donkey
  • v. 7 they heard a voice, they heard Jesus speak

• Acts 22:9 – “And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.”

• Both verses are true – going into the original Greek language is beneficial
  • Acts 9:7 when it says “hearing a voice” hearing is a Greek verb in the nominative case, the naming case
    • Nominative Case definition: The Nominative Case is the “naming” case, normally used to show that the substantive is the subject of the verb/sentence or is related in some way to the subject.
  • Acts 22:9 when it says “they heard not the voice” heard is a Greek verb in the indicative case, certain about what they’re hearing, it’s straightforward, factual
    • Indicative Case definition: Action/State Represented as Certain or Realized
      • Declarative: Straightforward Assertion
      •  Interrogative: Simple Question (of Fact)

• In Acts 9:7 (nominative) they could say just in name they heard it but in Acts 22:9 (indicative) they didn’t have any facts, details, straightforward assertion — they could tell you they heard something but couldn’t tell you what Jesus said.
  • Listening vs. Hearing
  • Ex. You can hear across the room that somebody said something but on the witness stand you might not be able to tell what they said