Ananias of Damascus
A disciple at Damascus who, according to Acts, was sent in a vision to the blinded Saul and laid hands on him, after which Saul was baptised. Acts mentions him only in the accounts of Paul’s conversion.
Acts calls Ananias a disciple living at Damascus, and in Paul’s later speech “a devout man according to the law”, well spoken of by all the Jews of the city (Acts 9:10) (Acts 22:12). It says that the Lord told him in a vision to go to Saul in the street called Straight. Ananias objected that this man had done great harm to the believers in Jerusalem, and was told that Saul was a chosen instrument to carry the Lord’s name before Gentiles, kings and the people of Israel. He went, laid his hands on Saul, and Saul regained his sight and was baptised (Acts 9:10–19) (Acts 22:12–16). See the Conversion of Paul.
Paul does not mention him in his letters. He is not the Ananias who died after lying to the apostles, nor the high priest of that name before whom Paul was tried (Acts 5:1) (Acts 23:2).
In the timeline
- c. AD 31–36, estimated dateThe Conversion of Paul
Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who is persecuting the followers of Jesus, becomes one of them near Damascus. Acts tells the story three times, and Paul’s own letters speak of it as a revelation of God’s Son and a call to preach to the Gentiles.