Acts 22:8 — ExegesisTAB

The verse begins with the explicit subject pronoun ego {ἐγὼ | egō} ‘I’, followed by the connective de {δὲ | de} ‘but/and’ and the aorist verb apekrithen {ἀπεκρίθην | apekríthēn} ‘answered’, forming a typical narrative reporting clause. The interrogative sentence tis ei kyrie {Τίς εἶ κύριε | Tís eî kýrie} ‘Who are You, Lord?’ places the interrogative pronoun tis {Τίς | Tís} in initial position for emphasis, with the present tense copula ei {εἶ | eî} linking to the vocative kyrie {κύριε | kýrie}, which marks direct address to a figure recognized as sovereign. The next clause eipen te pros eme {εἶπέν τε πρὸς ἐμέ | eîpen te pròs emé} uses eipen {εἶπέν | eîpen} ‘he said’ with the enclitic conjunction te {τε | te} to connect this speech to the preceding question, and the prepositional phrase pros eme {πρὸς ἐμέ | pròs emé} ‘to me’ specifies Saul as the recipient. The self-revelation follows with the emphatic formula ego eimi {Ἐγώ εἰμι | Egō eimí} ‘I am’, in which the fronted pronoun underscores the speaker’s identity, immediately named as Iesous {Ἰησοῦς | Iēsoûs} ‘Jesus’ and further defined by the article and adjective ho Nazoraios {ὁ Ναζωραῖος | ho Nazōraîos} ‘the Nazarene’, a title linking Him to Nazareth. The relative clause hon sy diokeis {ὃν σὺ διώκεις | hon sý diṓkeis} ‘whom you are persecuting’ uses the relative pronoun hon {ὃν | hon} to refer back to Jesus, with the present tense verb diokeis {διώκεις | diṓkeis} highlighting the ongoing nature of Saul’s persecution. The English renderings preserve this structure of question followed by revelatory answer, maintaining the prominence of the “I am” declaration and the climactic identification of Jesus as the One whom Saul’s hostile actions truly oppose.