Acts 9:19

and when he had received[taken] meat, &c. Needed after his three days fast, but (says Calvin) "he refreshed not his body with meat until his soul had received strength."

Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus The word Saul is not found in the oldest MSS. Read "And he was, &c." The expression rendered "certain days" is the same which in Acts 10:48; Acts 15:36; Acts 16:12; Acts 24:24, and Acts 25:13 is used by St Luke, and in all cases the time indicated by them must have been brief. It was for this amount of time that Peter tarried with Cornelius, the words are applied to a short period spent by Paul and Barnabas at Antioch, to the time of St Paul's stay at Philippi, to the short time which Paul was detained at Cæsarea before his hearing by Felix, and to a like period between the arrival of Festus and the visit which Agrippa made to salute him as the new Governor. In most of these instances the time intended must have been very brief, and it is important to notice this here, because in Acts 9:23 we shall find another expression which is translated "many days" and seems designed by the writer to indicate a somewhat longer period. It is clear, from the way in which "disciples" are here mentioned, that there was a numerous body of Christians in Damascus at this early period. Saul dwelt with them now not as an enemy but as a brother, by which name Ananias had been directed to greet him.