Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 26:14

"And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying unto me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the goad." — Acts 26:14 (ASV)

While Paul was trying to stamp out nascent Christianity, the encounter that changed his life took place. That Paul’s account of his Damascus Road conversion appears three times in Acts (chs. 9; 22; 26) undoubtedly shows how important this event was not only for Paul but also for Luke (cf. introductory comments on 9:1–30). It is in this third account that Luke’s purpose to proclaim the Gospel of Christ in Luke-Acts reaches its climax. Each account fits its own special context in Paul’s life and in Luke’s purpose. Here there is an intensification and explication of the details that is not found in the earlier accounts: (1) the heavenly light was “brighter than the sun” (cf. 9:3; 22:6); (2) it blazed around both “me and my companions” (cf. 9:3; 22:6); (3) “we all fell to the ground” (cf. 9:4; 22:7); and (4) the voice from heaven spoke “in Aramaic” (or “in Hebrew”; see NIV note).

Likewise in v.14b we have the only place in the three accounts where “It is hard for you to kick against the goads” is included (cf. 9:5; KJV). This was a well-known Greek expression for opposition to deity; Paul used it here to show his Greek-oriented audience the implications of the question “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Lest he be misunderstood as proclaiming only a Galilean prophet he had formerly opposed, he was pointing out what was obvious to any Jew: correction by a voice from heaven meant opposition to God himself.