Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 22:16

"And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name." — Acts 22:16 (ASV)

Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins.—Here, again, we have words which are not in the narrative of Acts 9. They show that for the Apostle, that baptism was no formal or ceremonial act, but was joined with repentance, and, faith being presupposed, brought with it the assurance of a real forgiveness. In St. Paul's language concerning the “washing” (or, bath) of regeneration (Titus 3:5), we may trace his continued adherence to the idea which he had thus been taught to embrace on his first admission to the Church of Christ.

Calling on the name of the Lord.—The better manuscripts give simply, “calling upon His name,” i.e., the name of the Just One whom St. Paul had seen. The reading in the Received Text probably arose from a wish to adapt the phrase to the language of Acts 2:21.