The Road to Damascus: Acts 9:1-19

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples.

Still. The word connects to Stephen's death. Saul hadn't stopped. Breathing out threats—the Greek suggests snorting like an angry animal. Murderous—not metaphor but intention. The disciples were prey and Saul was hunting.

He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

He expanded his hunt. Not just Jerusalem but Damascus—150 miles away. Letters of authorization. Extradition papers. Men or women—no exceptions. The Way—the early name for the Jesus movement. Saul would drag them back in chains.