1. Read The Verses.
2. 1 word/line/sentence/etc. that affects you
3. Reflection
Acts 22:3-5New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
3
I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. At the feet of
Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law and was zealous for God, just as
all of you are today. 4 I persecuted this Way to death, binding both men and women
and delivering them to prison.5 Even the high priest and the whole council of elders
can testify on my behalf. For from them I even received letters to the brothers and set
out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem in chains for punishment those there as
well.
2 Corinthians 12:2-7New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
2
I know someone in Christ who, fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the
body I do not know, God knows), was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know that
this person (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows) 4 was
caught up into Paradise and heard ineffable things, which no one may utter. 5 About
this person I will boast, but about myself I will not boast, except about my
weaknesses. 6 Although if I should wish to boast, I would not be foolish, for I would
be telling the truth. But I refrain, so that no one may think more of me than what he
sees in me or hears from me 7 because of the abundance of the revelations. Therefore,
that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of
Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.
Footnotes:
a. 12:57 This person: the indirect way of referring to himself has the effect of emphasizing the
distance between that experience and his everyday life, just as the indirect someone in
Christ (2 Cor 12:2) and all the passive verbs emphasize his passivity and receptivity in the
experience. The revelations were not a personal achievement, nor were they meant to draw
attention to any quality of his own.
b. 12:7 That I might not become too elated: God assures that there is a negative component to
his experience, so that he cannot lose proper perspective; cf. 2 Cor 1:9; 4:711. A thorn in
the flesh: variously interpreted as a sickness or physical disability, a temptation, or a
handicap connected with his apostolic activity. But since Hebrew thorn in the flesh, like
English thorn in my side, refers to persons (cf. Nm 33:55; Ez 28:24), Paul may be referring
to some especially persistent and obnoxious opponent. The language of 2 Cor 12:78 permits
this interpretation. If this is correct, the frequent appearance of singular pronouns in depicting
the opposition may not be merely a stylistic variation; the singular may be provoked and
accompanied by the image of one individual in whom criticism of Pauls preaching, way of
life, and apostolic consciousness is concentrated, and who embodies all the qualities Paul
attributes to the group. An angel of Satan: a personal messenger from Satan; cf. the satanic
language already applied to the opponents in 2 Cor 11:3, 1315, 20.
1 Corinthians 15:8-10New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
8
Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. 9 For I am the least of the
apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But
by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective.
Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God [that
is] with me.
Footnotes:
a. 15:911 A persecutor may have appeared disqualified (oukhikanos) from apostleship, but
in fact Gods grace has qualified him. Cf. the remarks in 2 Corinthians about his
qualifications (2 Cor 2:16; 3:5) and his greater labors (2 Cor 11:23). These verses are
parenthetical, but a nerve has been touched (the references to his abnormal birth and his
activity as a persecutor may echo taunts from Pauls opponents), and he is instinctively
moved to self-defense.
