And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus. So Acts 22:6. Tradition points to a bridge near the city as the spot referred to. Events which are the turning points in one's history so imprint themselves upon the memory, that circumstances the most trifling in themselves acquire, by connection with them, something of their importance, and are recalled with inexpressible interest.
And suddenly - at what time of day, is not said; because artless simplicity reigns here; but he himself emphatically states, in one of his narratives of it, that it was" about noon" (Acts 22:6), and in the other, "at mid-day" (Acts 26:13), when there could be no deception.
There shined round about him a light from heaven, х ek (G1537), which Lachmann and Tischendorf adopt, is better supported than apo (G575) of the Received Text]. In his defense before the people he calls this "a great light" (Acts 22:6), and to Agrippa he describes it as "above the brightness of the sun" (Acts 26:13) - which then was shining at its full strength. This light enwrapt not only Saul himself, but "them which journeyed with him" (Acts 26:13); and in his address to the people he says, "they which were with me saw the light" (Acts 22:9) - minute particulars, evincing the objective reality of this heavenly manifestation.