Acts 9:1

The Damascus Journey of Saul, 1, 2.

Acts 9:1. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord. The narrative is here taken up again from chap. Acts 8:3, where we left the young Pharisee Saul ‘making havock of the Church.' Some months at least had probably elapsed, during which period the events related in the ‘Acts of Philip the Deacon,' chap, 8, took place. The work of persecution had been actively carried on in the city and adjacent districts, and now the chief inquisitor Saul, to use his own words (chap. Acts 26:11), ‘being exceedingly mad against the followers of Jesus, determined to search them out and exterminate them in districts and cities far remote from Jerusalem.' His tone of mind at the time is graphically described by the writer of the ‘Acts' in the words, ‘Saul, breathing out;' or more accurately ‘breathing,' not merely ‘threatening,' but in his blind rage even ‘death' against them. Menace and slaughter constituted at this period of his life the vital air which he exhaled and inhaled.

Went unto the high priest. The great Sanhedrim claimed and exercised over the Jews in foreign countries supreme power in religious questions. The high priest in this case, as frequently, though not invariably, was president of the Sanhedrim. His name is not certainly known, as the exact date of this mission of Saul is doubtful, and the high-priestly office was much interfered with by the Roman government at this time. We read of Jonathan, the son of Annas, and his brother Theophilus in turn, during the years 37, 38, enjoying this high dignity, from which the famous Caiaphas had been deposed A. D. 36. But the real power now, as at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus, was in the hands of Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was regarded by the nation as the legitimate high priest.