Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 9:25

"but his disciples took him by night, and let him down through the wall, lowering him in a basket." — Acts 9:25 (ASV)

Let him down by the wall in a basket.—The basket is the spuris of Matthew 15:37, where see Note. In 2 Corinthians 11:33 Saint Paul describes it by another word (sarganè), which gives the idea of a wicker or rope-work hamper. It seems to follow, from the tone in which the Apostle there speaks of this adventure, that it had been made a matter of ridicule. It is connected in his thoughts with the “infirmities” (probably with his smallness of stature) of which he was content to boast. The escape was effected, like that of the spies from the house of Rahab (Joshua 2:15) and of David from his own house (1 Samuel 19:11), through an opening or “window” in the town wall. Such a window is still shown in the wall of Damascus as the traditional scene of the escape.