Did they hear the voice or not?

[TonyC7]

And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.
Acts 9:7

“And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me.
Acts 22:9

 

[Lanman87]

Answer

 

[Josiah]

Acts 9:7 – “The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.

Acts 22:9 – “My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.”


"This is a clear contradiction!!!" It's an old, worn argument from those who insist the Bible is just human myth (and not good one at that) is that there is a contradiction here, proving God doesn't exist, Jesus never existed, the Bible is just one big book of lies, myths and contradictions for silly, childish people who can't think. It's one of the most used examples of such proponents. It's based on a chosen translation that SEEMS to make their point (not what Luke actually states) and their own unique spin on what a contradiction is.



The above post shares a good reply. Here Dr. James White gives a more detailed response:

Does Acts 9:7 contradict Acts 22:9 ?




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[Awaiting Transport]

Acts 9:7 – “The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.

Acts 22:9 – “My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.”

"This is a clear contradiction!!!"

There is no contradiction when each verse is looked at in context:

Acts 9:3-7 (KJV)
3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.

Acts 22:6-9 (KJV)
6 And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.
7 And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
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.

Compare 9:7 with 22:9. Verse 7 indicates they heard A voice. It does NOT claim to be Jesus' voice they heard. Verse 9 indicates they didn't hear the voice of Jesus, either. So, they heard some other voice, just like 9:7 indicates.

 

[Pedrito]

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Another possibility relates to language, and the poor situational translation of Greek words into English.

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As an example within the English language, what does the verb “run” mean?

We can run, we can run a race, we can run a company, we can run up a bill, and we can run other people down by reputation and we can run people down in a car.

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The Greek word akouo has a range of meanings. They include: to hear (as in a sound); and to understand something that has been said.

In Acts 9:7, the people heard a sound that was like a human voice, but were puzzled because they could not determine its source.

In Acts 22:9, Paul is saying that only he understood what the voice that everyone heard, was saying.

(The link in Post #3 is helpful.)

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Solving apparent problems becomes relatively easy if one downloads something like the superb, free TheWord Bible program, and say, the Mickelson’s (updated Strong’s) and BDB/Thayer dictionaries (lexicons).

Why not give it a go?

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