A Contradiction Cleared Up by the Greek

15. A Contradiction Cleared Up by the Greek Luke Who wrote the Book of Acts, records for us under the superintendence of the Holy Spirit, Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus, as he heard it from the lips of Paul himself (Acts 9). Luke also records Paul’s speech of defense to the Jews (Acts 22) as he heard it from Paul. In 9:7 the statement is made that the men with Paul heard the voice of the One speaking to him, and in Acts 22:9, that they did not hear the voice. Here we have a real contradiction in the English translation. We believe in an infallible inspired text. We claim verbal inspiration for the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, and for our present day manuscripts where textual criticism assures us of a correct text, which is in the case of the New Testament, 999 words out of every one thousand. We do not claim verbal inspiration for any translation. Therefore, the Greek text is the final court of appeal. In the Greek of Acts 9:7, the word “voice” is in the genitive case, and in Acts 22:9, it is in the accusative case. The grammar rule here states that in the first instance, the voice is heard only as a sound. The meaning of the words are not understood. The men with Paul heard the sound but did not understand the words which our Lord spoke to Paul. It states in the second instance, that not only is the voice heard, but the words are understood. Thus the men with Paul did not hear the voice so as to understand the words. The contradiction is not a contradiction in the Greek text. Child of God, trust your Bible. It is the very Word of God, given by revelation and written down by inspiration.

Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 17 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 40–41. 

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