Paragraph 26:15–23

26:15a

‘Who are You, Lord?’: In the Greek and the Berean Standard Bible, the term of address is last. In some languages, it is more natural to have the term of address first. For example:

Lord, who are you?

Lord: Here Paul knows that the being speaking to him is more than a human person. He does not know exactly who yet, but since the bright light shone Paul knew it was an angel or other supernatural being. So he addressed him as Lord, because the being was higher in status than a mere human like Paul. For example:

O great one

See how you translated this word in 9:5 or 22:8.

26:15b

‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied: The Berean Standard Bible places the clause the Lord replied after what he said. You should place this clause where it is most natural in your language.

whom you are persecuting: This clause tells the reader more about Jesus. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that Paul was thinking of men named Jesus and he was only persecuting this one. If that is true in your language, translate this clause so that it tells more about Jesus Christ. One way to do that is to start a new sentence here. For example:

You are persecuting me.

Paul was not directly persecuting Jesus. He was persecuting people who followed Jesus, which affected Jesus too. In some languages, it is more natural to explain the connection. For example:

whom you are persecuting ⌊because you are persecuting my followers⌋

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