Not seeing (μη βλεπων). The usual negative μη of the participle. It was a crisis for Saul, this sudden blindness for three days (ημερας τρεις, accusative of extent of time). Later (Galatians 4:15) Paul has an affection of the eyes which may have been caused by this experience on the road to Damascus or at least his eyes may have been predisposed by it to weakness in the glare of the Syrian sun in the land where today so much eye trouble exists. He neither ate nor drank anything, for his appetite had gone as often happens in a crisis of the soul. These must have been days of terrible stress and strain.

Acst 9:10

Ananias (Hανανιας). Name common enough (cf. Acts 5:1 for another Ananias) and means "Jehovah is gracious." Nomen et omen (Knowling). This Ananias had the respect of both Jews and Christians in Damascus (Acts 22:12).

In a vision (εν οραματ). Zeller and others scout the idea of the historicity of this vision as supernatural. Even Furneaux holds that "it is a characteristic of the Jewish Christian sources to point out the Providential ordering of events by the literary device of a vision," as "in the early chapters of Matthew's and Luke's Gospels." He is content with this "beautiful expression of the belief" with no interest in the actual facts. But that is plain illusion, not to say delusion, and makes both Paul and Luke deceived by the story of Ananias (Acts 9:10-18; Acts 22:12-16; Acts 22:26). One MS. of the old Latin Version does omit the vision to Ananias and that is basis enough for those who deny the supernatural aspects of Christianity.