# Acts 9:3

> As Saul drew near to Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

— Acts 9:3, Berean Standard Bible

## On the map

- **Damascus** (Syria · today Damascus) — https://scriptoria.digital/en/atlas/damascus

## When

- c. AD 34-36 (counted from the text)
- Date source: Counted back from Galatians 1:18 and 2:1, which give three years and then fourteen between the conversion and the Council of Jerusalem.

## Who ruled

- **Tiberius**, emperor of Rome, AD 14-37 · Source: Tacitus, Annals I-VI; Suetonius, Tiberius
- **Pontius Pilate**, prefect of Judea, AD 26-36 · Source: Josephus, Antiquities XVIII.3-4; Tacitus, Annals XV.44; the Caesarea inscription, which carries his name and office in stone
- **Herod Antipas**, tetrarch of Galilee, 4 BC – AD 39 · Source: Josephus, Antiquities XVII.8-XVIII.7
- **Philip**, tetrarch of Ituraea, 4 BC – AD 34 · Source: Josephus, Antiquities XVII.8, XVIII.4
- **Caiaphas**, high priest, AD 18-36 · Source: Josephus, Antiquities XVIII.2.2 and XVIII.4.3; the ossuary of "Joseph, son of Caiaphas," found in Jerusalem in 1990

## What happened

- **The conversion of Saul** (AD 34)
  The persecutor goes blind on the road and spends three days without sight. The man who baptizes him is one of those he was coming to arrest.

## See also

- Acts 26:12-13 — https://scriptoria.digital/en/bible/acts/26/12
- 1 Corinthians 15:8 — https://scriptoria.digital/en/bible/1-corinthians/15/8
- Acts 22:6 — https://scriptoria.digital/en/bible/acts/22/6
- Revelation 21:23 — https://scriptoria.digital/en/bible/revelation/21/23
- 1 Timothy 6:16 — https://scriptoria.digital/en/bible/1-timothy/6/16
- Psalms 104:2 — https://scriptoria.digital/en/bible/psalms/104/2
- Revelation 22:5 — https://scriptoria.digital/en/bible/revelation/22/5

Cross-references: OpenBible.info, CC BY 4.0.

## Questions linked to this verse

- Saul saw a light from heaven flash around him as he drew near which city? — https://scriptoria.digital/en/questions/01a151d8-1aad-7e60-8b6b-daac721dba0c

## This document

- Canonical: https://scriptoria.digital/en/bible/acts/9/3
- Whole chapter: https://scriptoria.digital/en/bible/acts/9
- License: Scripture: Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. Source: Scriptoria (scriptoria.digital).