23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him,(A) 24 but Saul learned of their plan.(B) Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.(C)

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Saul’s Escape from Damascus

23 Now after some days had passed, the Jews plotted[a] together to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plot against him.[b] They were also watching[c] the city gates[d] day and night so that they could kill him. 25 But his disciples took him at night and let him down through an opening[e] in the wall by lowering him in a basket.[f]

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 9:23 sn Fitting the pattern emphasized earlier with Stephen and his speech in Acts 7, some Jews plotted to kill God’s messenger (cf. Luke 11:53-54).
  2. Acts 9:24 tn The words “against him” are implied, as suggested by L&N 30.71.
  3. Acts 9:24 tn Or “guarding.” This is a negative term in Luke-Acts (Luke 6:7; 14:1; 20:20).
  4. Acts 9:24 tn The word πύλη (pulē) may refer to a house door or gate, or to the large gates used in a palace, temple, or city wall. Here the context clearly indicates a reference to the latter, so the translation “city gates” is used.
  5. Acts 9:25 tn The opening in the wall is not specifically mentioned here, but the parallel account in 2 Cor 11:33 mentions a “window” or “opening” (θυρίς, thuris) in the city wall through which Paul was lowered. One alternative to introducing mention of the opening is to translate Acts 9:25 “they let him down over the wall,” as suggested in L&N 7.61. This option is not employed by many translations, however, because for the English reader it creates an (apparent) contradiction between Acts 9:25 and 2 Cor 11:33. In reality the account here is simply more general, omitting the detail about the window.
  6. Acts 9:25 tn On the term for “basket” used here, see BDAG 940 s.v. σπυρίς.