Problem

A voice on the road to Damascus

Acts 9:7 - And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
Acts 22:9 - And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.

Did the men travelling with Saul on the road to Damascus hear the voice speaking to Saul or not?

"And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man." vs. "And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me."


Solution

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88%
11%

88%

They heard the voice as a sound, but they did not hear what the voice said to Saul. Same thing happened in John 12:28 - 29, "...The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him."

This shows that God can manipulate his voice in a way that one person can hear something totally different than another person.

Paul was correct in saying that the men heard the voice...they probably thought it thundered or an Angel was speaking to Paul, but they did not hear the words that Jesus spoke to him, so he is also correct in saying that "they heard not the voice of him that spake to me."

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20%
80%

20%

I believe the answer lies not in whether the men with Saul heard a voice as much as when the voice was heard.
In Acts 9:7, it's stated the men with Saul heard a voice when direction was given by Jesus to "Arise and go into the city..."
In Acts 22:9, it's stated that when Jesus revealed himself (by name) to Saul, those that were with him did not hear a voice but saw a great light.
It is consistent with the revelation of Jesus Christ, that he reveals himself (personally) on an individual bases in salvation but all have accessibility to His direction through His Word. Therefore the men did not hear a voice at Jesus' revelation (Acts 22:9)but they did at His direction (Acts 9:7).

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85%
14%

85%

In Acts 22:9, Paul is speaking and says explicitly that those who were with him did not hear the voice, "of him that spake to me." The men did not hear God speaking to Paul and did not hear what God said to Paul. Only Paul is able to hear what God says to him.

In Acts 9:7, the language is much different. Luke tells us of the men hearing a voice but, "seeing no man." The man that cannot be seen but whose voice can be heard is Paul. What seems to have happened is that Paul is engulfed by a light that is so bright that Paul cannot be seen by those traveling with him. Nonetheless, the men are still able to hear Paul as he speaks. They hear Paul speaking but cannot see him as they see only the light of God that engulfs Paul. They are completely unaware that anyone is speaking to Paul, much less God, even as they hear Paul speaking to someone.

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