This account of Paul’s vision in the Temple is new information that was not found in the earlier part of Acts. In Acts 9, Ananias tells Paul that God is sending him to the Gentiles. But in Acts 22, Paul does not say Ananias told him about his commission, but God himself tells Paul this while Paul was worshiping in the temple. This is a significant change Paul may have made to appeal to the audience: Jews who worship in the Temple. Paul emphasizes this vision because he was in the Temple praying when he received it. How could he now be accused of desecrating the Temple?
Paul says that he “fell into a trance.” This word “trance” is usually translated as “amazed” or “astonished”, but in this passage and in Acts 10-11, it is clearly used to describe a state of viewing something supernatural, such as Peter’s divine calling. There may be a reason for using this phrase here, to parallel what happened to Paul with what eventually happened to Peter in Acts 10.
The content of this vision is a warning that he will not have success among the people of Jerusalem. Because of this, scholars often draw parallels between Paul’s experience here and Isaiah’s vision in Isaiah 6. Both occur while they are praying in the temple, and both are told they will not have success. But this is where the parallels end. Isaiah remains in Jerusalem and continues his ministry, knowing that a righteous remnant remains in the city. Paul is explicitly told to leave the city.
When did Paul receive this vision (in the chronology of Acts)? Acts 9:29-30 indicates Paul came to Jerusalem briefly and tried to reason with the “Grecian Jews.” This threatened Paul’s life, and the brothers helped him leave for Tarsus. However, Luke does not tell us that Paul was warned in a vision. Galatians 1:18-21 mentions a trip to Jerusalem three years after his conversion. This is either the same trip as Acts 9:29-30 or another later trip. Acts 9 is not very clear in chronology, but three years may have passed before he finally went to Jerusalem to meet the apostles.
The Lord tells Paul that he has been sent to the Gentiles. While Paul objects to this commission based on his approval of Stephen’s execution, the Lord sends him “far away” to the Gentiles.
Hearing that Paul was sent to the Gentiles gets the Jews to demand that he be killed (22:22-29). Why? Because they shout and throw dust cloaks into the air, it appears that they take Paul’s speech as blasphemy. Rather than accomplishing his goal (reconciliation with the Jewish crowd), he has angered them even more. The seeds of the nationalistic rebellion against Rome are already present in Jerusalem in the late 50s. The revolt begins only about eight years after Paul causes a riot in the Temple. The nationalistic fervor that fuels the rebellion is already at work in the Temple.
Study Assistant is the main upgrade in Logos 46 for Logos subscribers. According to Logos, Study Assistant is an environment for “Bible study by letting you ask questions in everyday language and get clear, concise answers drawn directly from resources.”
Ask a question, and the Study Assistant responds, “Working on it.” I assume larger libraries take longer than smaller ones, but the wait was not a problem at my very large library. The answer is a short paragraph or two with notes to resources. The AI does not always quote sources; instead, it rewords them and includes a link to the reference. The three or four books used for that answer are listed below the paragraphs, with full bibliographic references and links to open the books to the appropriate sections. Users can hover over the page number in the chat to see the Study Assistant’s notes or click it to open the book and read the section in context.
How is Study Assistant different than the regular Logos Smart Search? They are quite similar. Unlike AI search, you can ask the Study Assistant follow-up questions to keep the conversation going. In this sense, it is more like ChatGPT or Perplexity. For example, I asked how Paul became a Roman citizen. The Study Assistant gave me a good answer from the books I own. If I were researching this question myself, I would have used these resources, though it would have taken longer to find the relevant answer. I then asked if someone could buy their citizenship, and the response used three different sources. I probably would not have used one of the commentaries, but it did point out two helpful dictionary articles.
I asked the regular Smart Search the same question. The AI Synopsis was similar but not identical, and used two of the three same sources. Smart Search also includes dozens of hits from your library that might be helpful but were not used in the AI synopsis. Smart Search does not allow follow-up questions in a conversational style, but there is a button to continue the search using Study Assistant. At least when I reviewed Study Assistant, this button did not create a new session; it overwrote the session I had open. The button should open a new tab and create a new conversation. I did this a few more times to confirm the behavior of the “continue in Study Assistant button.” At the time of this review, you cannot have two Study Assistant tabs open, unlike Smart Search. Starting a new conversation deletes the old one, and conversations cannot be saved. This is a known problem in the beta version I tested; hopefully, this will be fixed in the future.
I then asked, “Explain more about being born a citizen.” Another good answer, with four more different resources. In this case, the Study Assistant wrote: “What more natural,” as one scholar notes, “than that Paul should sometimes use this civic privilege to illustrate spiritual truths?” But there was no footnote for this quotation. I used a regular search of my library (using a precise search) and found the quotation. It was from the last-cited source. Since the Study Assistant used a direct quotation, it needed a note, even though it was the most recent source. Another quibble: I do not like the phrase, “as one scholar notes.” Please give me the author, not a generic reference to “some scholar.”
I then asked this as a follow-up question: “You said Paul refers to his citizenship. Where does he do this?” The Study Assistant reported the three places in Acts where Paul does this and summarizes them. No sources outside the Bible for that answer. I then asked, “So Paul does not refer to his citizenship in his letters?” A great answer (no, he does not), but the AI mentions that citizenship is important in Philippians. As with the previous answers, there are three good sources that the conversation had not yet used. Follow-up question: “Why do you think Paul does not mention his citizenship?” This is the first time the Study Assistant repeated a source, citing four in response.
Finally, I asked, “What application could a pastor draw from Paul’s silence on his citizenship?” I thought the answer was good and was close to what I might have done without the Study Assistant.
I tried to limit the Study Assistant’s resources: “Using only the Journals in my library, what was Paul’s missionary strategy?” It tried to search the journals of George Whitefield and John Wesley, which have nothing on Paul’s missionary journeys. I tried to clarify: “By Journals, I mean academic journals.” That worked. A good answer, but only one source was an academic journal article. I tried, “What does Ben Witherington say about Paul’s missionary strategy?” Study Assistant used two Witherington books, and asked me, “The search was constrained to sources authored by Ben Witherington. Would you like me to search your entire library instead?” In this case, the Study Assistant found three authors who interacted with Witherington on the topic of Paul’s missionary strategy. I tried a few more scholars and usually got two or three books.
I asked the Study Assistant to find references in my Logos library to me as the author. It found my book and one book review I wrote for JETS, even though there are many more in Logos. The precise Smart Search says 49 results in 46 articles in 21 resources. I realize this is narcissistic, but we have all Google ourselves, right? Right?
I asked the Study Assistant to do something I can do with ChatGPT. I have used ChatGPT to scan a table of contents and format bibliographic references in SBL Style (book sections). ChatGPT even formatted that date into an EndNote file I imported into my EndNote database. I could create each entry by hand (usually by copying and editing data), but that is time-consuming. So I tried this with Study Assistant. “Using the table of contents for the book ‘Who Is This Son of Man?,’ create a bibliography.” It found the book in my library, “Who Is This Son of Man?”: The Latest Scholarship on a Puzzling Expression of the Historical Jesus, edited by Larry W. Hurtado and Paul L. Owen. It listed the table of contents but did not know how to format an SBL bibliography for the book. So I asked: “Can you format the book sections into a bibliography in SBL format?” Certainly! The Study Assistant cheerfully presented me with a well-formatted bibliography, which I copied and pasted into Word. So that was successful. But I really want it in EndNote format, so I asked, “Can you convert that bibliography into an EndNote file?” The Study Assistant politely apologized, saying it cannot create a file because “My capabilities are limited to generating text responses.” It did tell me I can get EndNote format citations using the citation tool. I took the date from Word, pasted it into ChatGPT, told it to generate a .enw file, and imported that date into EndNote.
One thing some users might find frustrating is that the default search is “all books,” including books you do not own. You will still see the bibliographic reference (with page numbers), but when you click the book, Logos prompts you to buy it. This is useful for finding new resources that could be relevant to your research. If you prefer, you can set the AI only to use resources from your library.
Something I would really like to see added is the ability to expand the number of sources Study Assistant uses. Three or four sources is limited to me. I want to ask the Study Assistant to find a topic across all my academic journals so I can get a list of sources to read to research it. Not two or three articles, all the sources. Anyone who has been using Logos for many years has dozens (hundreds?) of out-of-copyright books they have accumulated from upgrades. I do not want a 200-year-old commentary, and I want the best, and I want to be the one who identifies what the best is.
There are three buttons at the bottom (thumbs up/down, and copy). The copy button only copies a single section of the chat, not the entire conversation. You can copy the conversation manually, but I found that the formatting is off (links do not copy). At the time of this review, users cannot save conversations.
Some concluding reflections: As a university professor who is living through the AI fear and loathing in academia, adding AI to Logos was disturbing. The percentage of students using AI to write essays is very high (although I get far fewer plagiarized papers these days). Initially, I was dead set against AI, and I am still “almost dead set” against AI for the classes I teach. When you are writing an essay that asks you to read the Bible and reflect on it, I think AI is disruptive. As someone who regularly teaches and preaches in local churches, I really question whether AI is a good way to prepare sermons. Can the Holy Spirit illuminate the AI to write appropriate applications for my congregation?
However, I have also weathered the academic fear and loathing of Wikipedia in the early 2000s. Academics lost their minds over Wikipedia as a resource in college essays. At first, I outlawed Wikipedia as a source. But now, I use Wikipedia almost every day to define obscure terms or find incredibly detailed (and documented) explanations. I never rely on Wikipedia as a source in academic writing, but I will use the endnotes and track down a “legit” source. For several years, I would be thrilled to see Wikipedia in a student paper (because college students thought Yahoo Answers and WikiHow were pretty cool). These days, college students rely on AI trained on Wikipedia (so no access to academic sources) or (worse) on random, unedited, or unvetted data from blogs.
So is AI in Logos bad? Evil? Some people think AI is a sign that the Antichrist is about to appear and replace us with AI. Meh. It is not all that bad. AI is mostly hype at this point, and it is impossible to do tech without adding AI to the title. At this point, any AI is just a really fancy search engine with access to more data than any search engine before. Logos did not add Hal 9000 to your software, and this AI assistant is (probably) not going to try to kill you or take away your job. It does the same things you always did, but much faster.
Study Assistant is the next logical addition to the Logos Bible Software ecosystem. After adding fuzzy searches and smart searches, it makes sense to have the same kind of AI-driven conversational search one encounters on Google or ChatGPT. If AI bothers you, think of Logos’s Smart Search and Study Assistant as fancy skin for the old, indexed search (which still exists in Logos if you prefer to use it). There is room for improvement, but since moving to a subscription model, Logos has been rolling out updates more frequently.
There are several differences between Luke’s narration of Saul’s encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus in Acts 9 and Paul’s version in Acts 22. For example, he omits Paul’s bold preaching in Damascus and his flight from Damascus after preaching Jesus as the Messiah in the synagogues there. In Acts 22:17-21, Paul says he received his call to go to the Gentiles in a vision while worshiping in the Temple, something Luke did not mention previously in Acts. In fact, in Acts 9, God tells Ananias to inform Paul of his commission. Most of the differences can be explained as Paul’s accommodation to the zealous and hostile Jewish crowd he was addressing. Only a short time before this speech, the crowd was about to take Paul outside the city and execute him for profaning the Temple.
In Acts 22:12, Ananias is described as a devout Jew, someone who keeps the Law, and is respected by all the Jews living in Damascus. Devout (εὐλαβής) is the same word Luke used to describe Simeon in the Temple (Luke 2:25) as well as the devout men in the temple who were in the Temple at Pentecost (Acts 2:5) and the devout men who buried Stephen.
Ananias’s speech is slightly different in Acts 22 when compared to Acts 9. The way he describes God and Jesus is very Jewish. The “God of Our Fathers” and “Righteous One” are typical phrases used for the God of the Hebrew Bible. That Jesus is the Righteous One is found in Luke-Acts only in Jewish contexts (Luke 23:47, Acts 3:14, 7:32,13:23; Witherington, Acts, 672). So Ananias is a “devout man according to the Law” with a good reputation in the Jewish community in Damascus (22:12-15). Luke described the Jewish men at Pentecost as “devout men” (εὐλαβής), and devout men buried Stephen (8:2). In both cases, the word refers to diaspora Jews who are loyal to the Law.
Unlike Acts 9, Ananias does not tell Paul that God has called him to go to the Gentiles. Why? This is probably because Paul wants to emphasize his divine calling and waits to share this calling until the Lord calls him from the Temple. No details about his vision, conversation with the Lord (Acts 9:10-16).
Ananias tells Paul what “the God of our fathers” has appointed him to be. The phrase used for God appeals to a Jewish audience (3:13; 5:30; 7:32; 24:14). Paul’s calling is expressed in three clauses: To know his will (the purpose and plan of God), to see the Righteous One (God? Jesus?), and to hear a voice from his mouth. Ananias functions as Jesus’s prophet, delivering a message from God to Paul. Essentially, Paul will be a witness to all he has seen and heard (22:15).
Ananias then tells Paul to be baptized, to wash away his sins (22:16). Try not to read this like a modern American baptism. What would a Jewish person mean by saying “wash away your sins”? This is an unusual way to express the command in Greek. Luke uses an aorist middle (quite distinct from the aorist passive). The nuance of meaning ought to be “go baptize yourself”). This may imply that Paul was to baptize himself in a mikveh, as we have observed several times in Acts.
Paul’s version of his encounter with Ananias in Acts 22:12-16 is different than Luke’s version in Acts 9:10-19, but this is because Paul is summarizing what happened and presenting it to a hostile Jewish crowd in a way that should make them more favorable to him. Would a well-trained Jewish man like Paul (who was accepted by a righteous Jewish man like Ananias) really profane the Temple?
For the first half of November 2025, Logos partners with Zondervan to offer some good deals on the Word Biblical Themes series and the Story of God Commentary. For the first two weeks of November, you can add J. Ramsey Michael’s 1 Peter volume (1989) to your Logos Library for free. Each volume of the Word Biblical Themes series pairs with the Word Biblical Commentary and contains a biblical theology drawn from the book. These are short books written after the scholar completed their WBC, and they tend to be a little more reflective than the exegetical commentaries.
Several years ago, Zondervan acquired the Word Biblical Commentary and the Themes series and began replacing older volumes with newer authors (Nijay Gupta on Galatians, for example). All the sale books are the older (not yet replaced) volumes in the series.
John Durham, Exodus, $6.99
Trent Butler, Joshua, $6.99
John D. W. Watts, Isaiah, $6.99
John Gooldinegay, Daniel, $6.99
Gerald Hawthorne, Philippians, $6.99
Leon Morris, 1-2 Thessalonians, $6.99
Dennis R. Edwards, Story of God Commentary on 1 Peter, $7.99
Mark Roberts, Story of God Commentary on Ephesians, $7.99
Nijay Gupta, Story of God Commentary on Galatians, $7.99
Judith A. Diehl, Story of God Commentary on 2 Corinthians, $8.99 (reviewed here)
George Athas, Story of God Commentary on Ecclesiastes, $8.99
Paul S. Evans, Story of God Commentary on 1-2 Samuel, $8.99
The Story of God commentary series combines exegetical comments with theological and pastoral observations. I have reviewed Dean Pinter on Acts and Judith Diehl on 2 Corinthians. There is also a great sale on Zondervan Video Studies (up to 85% off). Some of the videos pair with the Story of God Commentary, so you can hear the commentary writer’s voice (literally). As always, Logos subscribers save an additional 5%.
Since it is November, Logos is going on a Black Friday promotion all month long. Is it really a Black Friday sale if it is on Monday, November 3? The deals change every week, so you have to click that link next week to see the new deals. Logos usually offers better deals as the month progresses, but there are some cool things for the first week of November. For example, the Apollos Old Testament (AOT) and Pillar New Testament (PNTC) Commentary Collection (33 vols.) is 65% off (still pricey, but if you already have only a few, the price is lower). Plus, if you scroll down a bit, you can buy individual volumes.
Logos Legacy Libraries are on sale this month. These are the older, themed collections before the subscription system (either a metal, silver, Gold, etc.) or by theological stream (Baptist, Anglican, etc.). There are several book mixes, all with serious discounts. This is a great way to expand your library and own your books (rather than a subscription system). Logos does not charge you for books you already own, so some of the collections may be very inexpensive based on your previous purchases.
This Logos Free Book of the Month promotion runs through November 15.A new free book will be available on November 15 at 9:00 a.m. PST. As always, you can use the (free) basic edition or the inexpensive Fundamentals collection to use these free and discounted books.
All the links are Logos Affiliate links. If you plan to buy Logos books, use this link to support Reading Acts.
At the end of chapter 21, the Roman soldiers rescue Paul from an angry mob in the temple courts. It was rumored that Paul brought a Gentile into the temple, an act so offensive that it was likely that Paul would be killed if the Roman commander had not stepped in and rescued Paul. This was no humanitarian act; the Romans suspected Paul was either a Sicarii or perhaps the Egyptian, a messianic pretender who had recently attempted to gather followers by claiming he would collapse the walls of Jerusalem. Remarkably, the Roman tribune allows Paul to make a defense before the hostile crowd.
Speaking to the Roman soldier, Paul proved that he was not an Egyptian, but an educated, Greek-speaking citizen of Tarsus and of Rome. As a result, he is allowed to speak to the crowd. Although he addressed them in Aramaic and described himself as a man zealous for the Law and one who has met God himself, he does not convince them, so the Roman commander arrests him.
Paul does not address the charges against him. He states he is a Jew, educated in Jerusalem, and called by God to a messianic role of Light to the Gentiles. Barrett suggests Paul’s conversion was not from Judaism (to Christianity), but within Judaism. “Luke wishes to make it necessary to show that the conversion was within and not from Judaism” (Barrett, Acts, 2:1031).
Paul addresses the crowd in Aramaic, demonstrating that he speaks the “local language.” The Jewish crowd was already hostile to him and thought he defiled the temple (and is therefore worthy of death). By speaking in Aramaic, he demonstrates that he is not a Hellenistic Jew unfamiliar with the language spoken in Jerusalem. Luke says he spoke in Hebrew (Ἑβραΐς). Most scholars think this refers to Aramaic, since Hebrew was used for the study of Torah rather than for conversation. When Paul speaks in Aramaic, the crowd becomes even quieter. Luke uses a noun (ἡσυχία), a respectful silence, indicating they are willing to hear what Paul has to say. He is at the top of the stairs, speaking loudly as an orator could, so the crowd can hear him.
Paul opens his speech by claiming to be a faithful Jew by sharing his personal credentials (22:3-5). The whole speech is designed to impress a Jewish audience zealous for the Law” (Witherington, Acts, 668). He states that he is a Jew born in Tarsus but raised in Jerusalem (22:3). Unlike the Romans, who would be impressed by his Tarsus citizenship, the Jewish audience would be more impressed by Paul’s association with Jerusalem. “It is probable that Luke meant that Paul received not only his higher but also his elementary education not in Tarsus but in Jerusalem” (Barrett, Acts, 2:1035).
His education is impeccable: he was a student of Gamaliel (22:3). In Acts 5:34, Gamalieldefended the apostles before the Sanhedrin. He was the pupil of Hillel, one of the greatest of the Rabbis. His decisions and opinions are cited in the Mishnah. Paul does not claim to be a Pharisee in this speech, although he will in Acts 23:6. By claiming to be a student of Gamaliel, he is associating himself with one of the most respected teachers in Jerusalem.
At that time, Paul was as zealous for the Law as the crowd is now (22:3-5). This zeal took the form of violent action against those who claimed that Jesus was the Messiah. Paul calls upon additional witnesses here since his authority to arrest followers of Jesus came from the High Priest and “council of elders.” They can attest to his zeal for the Law. Like Phineas or Judas Maccabees, Paul was willing to use force to compel fellow Jews to keep the Law completely if it was necessary.
Paul calls on the high priest and the Sanhedrin as witnesses. They authorized his mission to Damascus, and there would be some on the council who still remembered (perhaps bitterly) Paul’s betrayal (or conversion) to the Way.
