Acts 26:14

A voice speaking. All heard the sound; only Paul understood the words (see on Acts 9:4, 5; cf. Dan. 10:7; John 12:28, 29).

Kick against the pricks. This appears to have been a well-known Greek proverb, which might well have been current among any agricultural people, even the Jews. The figure is drawn from the Eastern plowman’s custom of using an iron goad to hasten the slow gait of his oxen. It is possible that the scene was actually being enacted beside the Damascus road, and that the Lord took it as an apt illustration for His message to the persecutor. (For Jesus’ use of current proverbs see on Luke 4:23.) The form of the verb translated “to kick,” may be understood as meaning “to keep on kicking,” and the word translated “pricks” (kentra) means “goads” (cf. 1 Cor. 15:55, where it appears in the singular and is translated “sting”). The divine message suggests that Paul’s conscience had been vigorously resisting the appeals of the Holy Spirit (cf. on Acts 8:1). The spirit of Gamaliel, Paul’s teacher (Acts 22:3), was more tolerant than that which Paul was now exhibiting. This educational background, and also the fact that before his conversion Paul already had relatives who were Christians (Rom. 16:7), doubtless were factors in his spiritual crisis.