Acts 9:7

‘And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing the sound (voice), but beholding no man.'

The men who travelled with him apparently heard ‘of the sound' (the same word means sound or voice) but did not understand what it was saying (compare for a similar situation John 12:28). And they saw no one but Saul. But the fact that they were ‘speechless' suggests that they experienced more than the sound. It is clear that something happened that filled them with awe, which suggests even here that they were also aware of the light. But here Luke wants us to concentrate on the light and Saul meeting together face to face. He wants us to appreciate the intensity of the confrontation. Here this is to be seen as between Saul and the Lord. This incident is described three times in Acts and different emphases are place in each case. When they are put together we can understand the whole of what happened.

In Acts 22:9 we are told, ‘those who were with me beheld the light, but they did not hear the voice of Him Who spoke with me'. This confirms why they were filled with awe, because of the blinding light, and it confirms that while they heard ‘of' some strange ‘sound', they were not aware that it was an intelligible voice and did not comprehend what the voice said to Saul. In Acts 26:14 we learn that all eventually fell to the earth under the compelling light. The initial shock which initially made them stand there rigid, eventually drove them to their knees. Alternately it may be that all initially fell to the ground (especially if their horses buckled under them) but that they, unlike Saul, then stood up. But here in chapter 9 Luke wants us to see Saul and the Lord in solemn face to face confrontation. He alone was blinded by the light.