Acts 22:9

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. Much has been said as to the seeming discrepancy between the statement here that Paul's companions ‘heard not the voice of Him that spoke to me,' and the words in the narrative, chap. Acts 9:7, ‘hearing a voice.' Dr. J. A. Alexander well explains this apparent difference: ‘There is a distinction between hearing a voice speak and hearing what it says, as nothing is more common in our public bodies than the complaint that the speaker is not heard, i.e. that his words are not distinguished, though his voice may be audible and even loud. It might be said with equal truth, that Paul's companions heard the voice, i.e. knew that it was speaking, and that they did not hear it, i.e. did not know what it said. See St. John's Gospel, John 12:29, where a similar confusion seems to have occurred in the listeners' minds. Here as there, the Divine Voice to the ordinary bystander was a voice, but not one uttering articulate words.

(On the identity of the ‘light from heaven,' which shone round about the company of Saul, with the Shekinah or visible glory, which on so many occasions had been seen by Israel, see note on chap. Acts 9:3, where the question is discussed at length.)