SUBJECT: Acts 9:7 vs. Acts 22:9
QUESTION: Is there a possible contradiction here?
One says they heard the voice and the other says they did
not.
ANSWER:
There is no contradiction here.
Did Paul's men hear a voice?
Acts 9:7 "And
the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a
voice, but seeing no man."
vs.
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."
Answer: Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament
Words says "In Acts 9:7, 'hearing the voice,' the noun
'voice' is in the partitive genitive case [i.e.,
hearing (something)
of], whereas in Acts
22:9, 'they heard not the voice,' the construction is with
the accusative. This removes the idea of any contradiction.
The former indicates a hearing of the sound, the latter
indicates the meaning or message of the voice (this
they did not hear)."
It is for this reason that modern translations clarify this
fact more: "The men who traveled with him stood speechless,
hearing the voice, but seeing no one." "Those who were with
me beheld the light, to be sure, but did not understand the
voice of the One who was speaking to me." NASB |