Chapter Nine

The conversion of Paul by the Lord and his stay in Damascus (1–25). The first stay of the Christian Paul in Jerusalem (26–30). Peter in Lydda, the healing of Aeneas (31–35). Peter in Joppa (Jaffa), the raising of Tabitha (36–43)

Acts 9:1. But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, came to the high priest “But Saul, still breathing threats...” — meanwhile, as the disciples of the Lord who had been scattered after the killing of Stephen were spreading the gospel in other cities (Acts 8:1 and following), Saul continued (Acts 8:3) his persecutions of Christians with the same intensity as before. The expression — “breathing threats and murder” — evokes something like a wild, bloodthirsty beast choking on its own hunger. Threats and murders had become, as it were, the air that Saul breathed — as essential a necessity for him as ordinary air is for all people. “Came to the high priest...” If Saul’s conversion is placed no later than AD 36, then the high priest at that time was still Caiaphas, who was removed only in 36 by the Roman proconsul of Syria, Vitellius. Caiaphas’s place was taken by Jonathan, son of the former high priest — Caiaphas’s father-in-law — the well-known Annas. But already in the following year, 37, this high priest was also removed and replaced by his brother, another son of Annas — Theophilus (Josephus, Antiquities, XVIII, 4 and following). In all likelihood, this latter individual was the high priest at the time described.

Acts 9:2. and requested from him letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any who followed this teaching, both men and women, he could bring them bound to Jerusalem. “Damascus” — the ancient capital city of Syria, about 200 versts to the northeast of Jerusalem. From the time of the Seleucids, a very large number of Jews had lived there, such that Nero was able to kill up to 10,000 of them there (Josephus, Jewish War Jude 1:2). With such a large number, the Jews had there not one but many synagogues, which is confirmed in this very passage: “requested letters to the synagogues...” This same multitude of Jews living in Damascus suggested the possibility of Christianity spreading there as well, which promised rich material for the zeal of the persecutor of Christ that Saul then was. How and when the faith of Christ could have been brought and spread in Damascus, the narrator of Acts does not mention: it was probably brought there initially by Damascus Jews traveling to the Jerusalem festivals, and then confirmed and spread by the disciples of the Lord who had been scattered after Stephen’s death (Acts 8:4), who passed through as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch (Acts 11:19), and could therefore also have been in Damascus, which was even closer to Jerusalem than Cyprus or Antioch. For greater success in his planned enterprise, Saul obtained authorization from the Jerusalem Sanhedrin and its chief representative — the high priest. The letters are addressed to the “synagogues,” each one separately, probably to reinforce Saul’s authority and to facilitate his work. At the same time, it is assumed that Christians converted from Judaism had not yet separated from the synagogues and participated in their assemblies, just as the apostles themselves and the remaining believers for a time participated in the worship assemblies at the Temple (Acts 3 and others). “Those who belonged to this Way...” — Greek τῆς οδοῦ όντας... — more precisely in the Slavonic: “those of that way.” “Way” — in the sense of a certain manner of life and activity consistent with a certain teaching, in this case the way of the Christian life (cf. Matt 22:16). “To bind and bring to Jerusalem...” The Jerusalem Sanhedrin maintained for itself the right of judicial authority in matters of faith over all Jews in every land in the world. All foreign Jews voluntarily acknowledged this authority over themselves, which had not been taken from the Sanhedrin by the Romans. All this sufficiently explains the possibility for Saul of the actions for which he was going to Damascus.

Acts 9:3. As he was traveling and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. “Suddenly a light from heaven shone around him...” (cf. Acts 22 and following). The narrator of Acts does not say so directly here, but the subsequent features of the account and the Apostle Paul himself make it clearly understood that in the brilliance of the heavenly light the Lord Jesus Himself appeared in bodily form to Saul’s eyes — in His glorified God-man’s flesh (cf. Acts 9:17; 1 Cor 9:1). This vision of the Lord, which Paul places in the same category as the Lord’s appearances to the apostles after the resurrection, was probably very brief, for Saul fell down and his eyes were blinded (Acts 9:8).

Acts 9:4. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him: Saul, Saul! why are you persecuting me? The vision, cut short by Saul’s blinding, continues with his hearing the voice of the One who appeared: “why are you persecuting Me?” This, in the interpretation of Chrysostom, was as if saying: “For what offense by Me, great or small, are you doing this?...” At the same time it is made clear that in persecuting the Lord’s followers He Himself endures persecution (cf. Luke 10 and parallels).

Acts 9:5. He said: who are you, Lord? And the Lord said: I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads. Saul’s question to the One who appeared — “who are you?” — clearly shows that the appearance of the Lord to him and the whole event of his conversion to Christ was something completely unexpected for him, and that it was not prepared by any internal struggle in Saul between his former Jewish convictions and new impressions of Christianity favorable to it — a struggle that might have plunged him into a special spiritual state in which a subjective image of his imagination could be taken by him for an objective appearance. From the account of the event it is clear, on the contrary, that Saul was not even thinking about Jesus at that moment — otherwise he would hardly have failed to understand immediately and would have had no need to ask who this one was who appeared to him. And in general, such an internal struggle cannot be assumed in Saul at a time when, pursuing Christians, he was far too confident that he was fighting for the cause of God Jehovah (cf. Acts 22:3; Gal 1:14). Finally, Paul himself recounts this event as something completely unexpected for him and in no way prepared on his part (Acts 22 and Acts 26, cf. Gal 1:14-15). “It is hard for you to kick against the goads...” — a popular proverb expressing the futility of efforts against an irresistible force — a futility that is moreover dangerous, threatening defeat for the one who goes against this force, in this case the Divine, all-powerful force.

Acts 9:6. Trembling and in astonishment he said: Lord! what do you want me to do? And the Lord said to him: rise and go into the city; and you will be told what you must do. The fear that had seized Saul and cast him to the ground, upon the Lord’s revealing His name of Jesus, was transformed into terror and trembling; and he humbly acknowledges the One who appeared as Lord, and himself as His servant, ready to carry out all His commands. “Go into the city...” — that is, Damascus.

Acts 9:7. The men traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. That Saul’s vision of the Lord was not some hallucination produced by an inner struggle and the direction of his thoughts is also clear from the fact that it was sensed by Saul’s companions as well. “The light shines upon all who were with him, so that they might bear witness to this appearance, but it blinds not all of them, but only Paul alone, so that they would not think it was a common and as it were accidental misfortune, but so it might be revealed that this was entirely an act of Divine Providence” (Theophylact). For the same reasons, besides the light, the companions also perceive the voice of the One speaking, although they are not granted to see Him. In Acts 22:9 it says that Paul’s companions “did not hear the voice of the One speaking.” How to reconcile the apparent contradiction of these two passages in the narrator of Acts — one of which speaks of hearing and the other of not hearing the voice? Clearly, one must here distinguish hearing from understanding. While Saul not only heard but comprehended what he heard, knowing both the One speaking and what was being said, his companions only heard the sound of the voice without understanding anything of what was said. Another interesting example of this same unequal perception of sounds, see John 12:28.

Acts 9:8. Saul rose from the ground, and though his eyes were open he could see nothing. And they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. When the vision ended, the voice fell silent, and Saul rose to go to Damascus at the Lord’s command, only to find that he was blind. Paul says this happened because of the glory of the light that had shone upon him (Acts 22:11); but one cannot fail to see in this also a special act of God, for his companions, who had also seen the light, were not deprived of their sight (Acts 22:9). This was in part a punishment for the persecutor, and in part a symbolic indication that he had until now been spiritually blind to the truth of Christ while his bodily eyes were open (cf. Chrysostom); finally, it was permitted also with the wise purpose of strengthening the soul of the one who had been enlightened by the new sign of his miraculous healing through Ananias laying hands on him.

Acts 9:9. And for three days he could not see, and neither ate nor drank. Three days of complete abstinence from food and drink — that is, the strictest fast (together with prayer, Acts 9:11) — was an expression of Saul’s deep repentance and at the same time a preparation for what awaited him according to the word of the Lord who had appeared to him (Acts 9:6).

Acts 9:10. Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision: Ananias! He said: I am here, Lord. From the present verse and those that follow it appears that Ananias and Saul were not personally acquainted with one another. The Hebrew name of Ananias indicates that he was a Christian from among the Jews. The narrator of Acts calls him here simply “a certain disciple,” while Paul himself characterizes him in greater detail: “a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews living in Damascus...” (Acts 22:12) — that is, one who even after his conversion to Christ lived strictly according to the law and was therefore held in particular esteem by the Damascus Jews. Church tradition says that he was the bishop of Damascus and died as a martyr at Eleutheropolis in Judea (Menaion, October 1). “The Lord said to him in a vision...” In precisely what kind of vision — whether in sleep or while awake, or in ecstasy — is not evident from this passage. The expression “rise and go!” (αναστάς πορεύθητι) does not mean that Ananias was at that moment lying on his bed, but simply means that he was at home in a state of repose.

Acts 9:11. And the Lord said to him: rise and go to the street called Straight, and in the house of Judas ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul; for he is now praying, Acts 9:12. and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight. “Straight Street” — still existing in Damascus to this day, and so named in contrast to all the other streets, which are usually winding, as is characteristic of Eastern cities. “A man from Tarsus” — a native of Tarsus, a city in the Asia Minor region of Cilicia. “He is now praying...” — ιδού γάρ προσεύχεται... — more precisely in the Slavonic: “for behold he prays,” just as above in Ananias’s response: “Here I am, Lord!...” — ιδού εγώ Κύριε! Beyond giving the speech greater vividness, the expression ιδού γάρ προσεύχεται also serves as an explanation of the reason why Ananias’s arrival to Saul is now required. This arrival is to be the answer to Saul’s prayer — undoubtedly a prayer for forgiveness and for physical and spiritual enlightenment. The Lord here also reveals to Ananias the vision that Saul has had (probably in sleep), and notably the Lord does not say: he saw you, but — “a man named Ananias,” from which it follows that the one who appeared was unknown to Saul, although his name had been revealed to him. The words of the Lord also made Ananias understand that Saul was blind, and that the fulfillment of God’s command by Ananias was first of all to be marked by the healing of the blind man.

Acts 9:13. Ananias answered: Lord! I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; Acts 9:14. and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name. With childlike simplicity Ananias expresses his surprise, and perhaps his fear, at being sent to a man known as the most bitter enemy of Christians, who had also come to Damascus for the ruin of the believers. About this, Ananias had “heard from many” — that is, either from Jews who had traveled to the Jerusalem festivals, or from the Jerusalem Christians who had been scattered by his persecutions. “Your saints...” — that is, Christians, as they were called because of their special consecration in Christ and by the Holy Spirit. “And here he has... authority...” How had Ananias so quickly obtained information about Saul’s authorization from the Sanhedrin? Probably from Jerusalem Christians, who had hastened to furnish all this information to the Damascus Christians as a warning. The newness and freshness of these reports fully explains both the surprise and the fears of Ananias.

Acts 9:15. But the Lord said to him: go, for he is my chosen vessel to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel. “A chosen vessel...” — figurative speech, in which Paul is presented as a living vessel in which the Lord will enclose His name, and Paul will then carry it — that is, convey, confess, and proclaim it — “before the nations, before kings, and before the sons of Israel.” It is noteworthy that “the nations” — that is, the pagan peoples, the Gentiles — are placed here in first position, in contrast to “the sons of Israel,” that is, the Jews. This indicates Paul’s special vocation as the apostle to the Gentiles.

Acts 9:16. And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. “And I will show him,” Εγώ γάρ υποδείξω αυτῷ — Slavonic: “For I will tell him” — the meaning and connection here are as follows: “Go and do not fear that My followers will suffer harm from him, for I will show him — or in him — how much he himself must suffer for My name.” Here, then, is a new reassurance and encouragement for the perplexed Ananias.

Acts 9:17. Ananias went and entered the house and, laying his hands on him, said: brother Saul! the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. “Laying his hands on him...” — as a sign of imparting to him the grace of the Holy Spirit, which was immediately accompanied by the healing of his blindness. Notably, this was before Saul’s baptism (Acts 9:18). A similar exceptional case of being filled with the Holy Spirit before baptism occurred with the centurion Cornelius and his household (Acts 10 and following). “It seems to me,” says Chrysostom on this occasion, “that (Paul), like Cornelius, was granted the Spirit immediately upon the utterance of these words, even though the one who administered it was not one of the Twelve. So everything concerning Paul was superhuman and was accomplished not through a man, but God Himself was the performer of it all...” “Brother Saul...” — not by tribe or kinship, but in Christ and through faith in Him. “Who appeared to you on the road...” In the account of the Lord’s conversation with Ananias given above by the narrator of Acts, nothing was mentioned of this appearance, from which it is evident that the conversation is reported in abbreviated form. Nor is there the other detail, that the Lord sent Ananias not only for Saul’s recovery of sight, but also so that he might be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 9:18. And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and at once he regained his sight; and rising, he was baptized, Acts 9:19. and having taken food he was strengthened. And Saul was with the disciples in Damascus for some days. “After taking food he was strengthened” — “for he was weakened from the journey, from fear, from fasting, and from grief. And wishing to increase this grief of his, the Lord permitted him to remain blind until Ananias came...” (Chrysostom). “Spent some days in Damascus...” This does not contradict Paul’s own account, that after his conversion he immediately (ευθέως) went to Arabia and then returned again to Damascus (Gal 1 and following), for the emphatic word “immediately” in an account about a long period of time does not exclude a delay of several days. If moreover the narrator of Acts makes no mention at all of Paul’s journey to Arabia and his return to Damascus, and goes on directly to his arrival in Jerusalem, it is probably because nothing reliable or noteworthy was preserved about his journey to Arabia.

Acts 9:20. And immediately he began to proclaim in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. Acts 9:21. And all who heard him were amazed and kept saying: is this not the man who in Jerusalem was persecuting those who call on this name? And he came here for this very purpose, to bring them bound to the chief priests. Acts 9:22. But Saul kept growing in strength and was confounding the Jews living in Damascus, proving that this one is the Christ. “Proving that this” (Jesus) “is the Christ...” — that is, the Messiah, promised to the Jews and expected by them. These proofs the apostle adduced, without doubt, from the Holy Scriptures, drawing from them all the prophecies, indications, and promises concerning the Messiah and comparing them with the events and their fulfillment in the life of Jesus Christ. The power of his arguments and his words in general, issuing from a soul with an unshakably convinced and strengthened faith in Christ, was so great that it disarmed — (συνέχυνε) — the Jews to the point of despair, leaving them knowing neither what to answer nor what to do in the face of Paul’s irrefutable proofs.

Acts 9:23. When some time had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him. Acts 9:24. But Saul learned of their plot. They were also watching the gates day and night in order to kill him. Acts 9:25. But the disciples took him by night and let him down over the wall, lowering him in a basket. “But his disciples...” — that is, the Damascus Christians... “let him down through the wall” — that is, of the city, which Paul himself also recounts 2 Cor 11:32.

Acts 9:26. Saul arrived in Jerusalem and was trying to join the disciples; but everyone was afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. “Saul had come to Jerusalem...” Παραγενόμενος δέ ο Σαῦλος... — more precisely in the Slavonic: “Saul having come...” According to Paul’s own words (Gal 1:18), this was already three years after his conversion (in the narrator of Acts — “many days” — Acts 9:23), including the time spent in Arabia. Paul provides brief information about the stay in Jerusalem itself (Gal 1:18-24). He went there to visit Peter, with whom he stayed for about fifteen days. He did not see the other apostles — only James, the brother of the Lord. From Jerusalem he departed for the regions of Syria and Cilicia. The narrator of Acts supplements Paul’s account with valuable details. From him we learn that Paul, upon arriving in Jerusalem, “tried to join the disciples” — that is, Christ’s disciples, Christians — but these, out of fear and distrust of him, kept their distance. It seemed improbable to them that such a fierce persecutor of the Church could have suddenly become a servant of Christ, and they were inclined to suspect simple cunning or espionage on Saul’s part. An end to these suspicions was put by Barnabas, who enjoyed great respect in the early Christian community (Acts 4:36-37) and who introduced Saul into the circle of the apostles and disciples of the Lord. Church tradition says that they had been acquainted before, that they were educated together at the school of Gamaliel, and that even after Barnabas became a disciple of the Lord (one of the Seventy) they saw each other and disputed about Christ, but Saul remained stubborn until the event on the road to Damascus (Menaion, June 11).

Acts 9:27. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the Apostles and told them how on the road he had seen the Lord, and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. “Took him and brought him to the Apostles...” — taking him, he brought him to “the Apostles” — an indefinite expression that allows here the understanding of only two apostles, Peter and James, whom Paul mentions (Gal 1:19). Why did Saul not see the other apostles? Perhaps because at that time they were not in Jerusalem — they were out preaching in various cities and localities. From the subsequent accounts of the narrator of Acts concerning Peter (Acts 9:32 and following, Acts 10, Acts 12:17) it is evident that even the chief apostles did not permanently reside in Jerusalem.

Acts 9:28. And he was with them in Jerusalem, going in and out, and he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus. Acts 9:29. He also spoke and argued with the Hellenists; but they were trying to kill him. Saul does not hide in Jerusalem, but openly and boldly proclaims the Lord, entering into disputes with his opponents, who here, as in Damascus, resolved to kill him. The narrator of Acts says these were “Greeks” — that is, Hellenists, Jews from Gentile lands who spoke the Greek language. As a Hellenist himself, by origin from Cilician Tarsus, Paul directs his preaching especially to the Hellenists, as more akin to his spirit and less hardened in purely Jewish prejudices.

Acts 9:30. When the brothers learned of this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him on to Tarsus. “The brethren” — that is, the Jerusalem Christians, who had at last received Saul as a brother — “brought him down to Caesarea...” From Acts 22:17-21 we learn that the Lord Himself commanded Saul to leave Jerusalem. This command evidently coincided with the Hellenists’ intention to kill Saul, and the brethren who sent him off to Caesarea both saved him from his would-be murderers and helped him carry out the Lord’s command. From Caesarea (Stratonis, see note on Acts 8:40) Saul sets out for Tarsus. Paul himself in Gal 1 says briefly that from Jerusalem on this occasion he traveled “into the regions of Syria and Cilicia,” which is fully consistent with the account of the narrator of Acts. The route of the apostle according to both of these indications, which mutually supplement each other, may be outlined as follows: from Jerusalem Saul was first taken to Caesarea, and from there, by the overland route through Syria, continued his journey to Cilicia, probably along the coastal road by the sea, avoiding Damascus. It is possible that in one of the Syrian coastal cities he boarded a ship and reached Tarsus by sea, which was more convenient. Thanks to this journey and Paul’s stay in Cilicia, the first Christian communities were established in the places he visited (cf. Acts 15:23).

Acts 9:31. So the churches throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, being built up and walking in the fear of the Lord; and with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit they multiplied. “The churches... had peace...” — to which the conversion of their chief persecutor undoubtedly contributed greatly. How widely the faith of Christ had spread by this time is evident from the fact that “churches” are mentioned “throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria.” “Being built up...” — οικοδομούμεναι... — Slavonic: “being edified” — that is, organizing themselves, taking shape, growing and maturing both outwardly and inwardly. “And multiplied with the comfort of the Holy Spirit...” — καί τῆ παρακλήσει τοῦ Αγίου Πνεύματος επηθύνοντο. The comfort of the Holy Spirit is the same as the mercy of God, manifesting itself in this case in abundant signs and miracles of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Two such miraculous signs are immediately recounted further on, as it were in confirmation of what has been said.

Acts 9:32. It happened that Peter, as he traveled through all regions, came also to the saints living in Lydda. “It came to pass that Peter, traveling through all parts, came down...” — εγένετο δε Πέτρον διερχόμενον διά πάντων, κατελθεῖν..., — more precisely in the Slavonic: “it came to pass that Peter visiting all, came down...” The Russian text, unfortunately, here as elsewhere admits its customary paraphrase rather than a translation of this passage, which is more simply and precisely rendered: there came about for Peter, passing through all (the churches), to come down... The expression — κατελθεῖν — to come down, descend — indicates the lower-lying position of Lydda compared to Jerusalem, just as in the expression about Jericho (Luke 10:30). It is highly significant that the Apostle Peter’s visits to the Christian communities of Palestine at that time are mentioned. Without doubt, the other apostles also had this custom, with the aim of better confirming the converts in the faith, resolving questions of life that arose, and the like. “To the saints who dwelt in Lydda...” — that is, to the Christians of the city of Lydda, not far from the sea, near Joppa, to the northwest of Jerusalem.

Acts 9:33. There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been lying in bed for eight years already, paralyzed. Acts 9:34. Peter said to him: Aeneas! Jesus Christ heals you; rise from your bed. And he immediately arose. “Aeneas” — it is not clear whether he was a Christian before his healing or not. This is not a trivial question, just as it is not trivial that the Tabitha who was raised by Peter is called a “disciple.” Aeneas’s Greek name allows us to conclude that he was in any case a Hellenist. It is noteworthy that in healing the paralyzed man, Peter does not ask him about faith in Jesus Christ, but directly grants him healing — evidently either foreseeing his readiness for this faith, or hoping that by this very healing he might arouse faith in him.

Acts 9:35. And all who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. “All saw him” — that is, healed, him whom they had previously known as paralyzed. “In Sharon...” The name Sharon is associated with both a town and a valley bordering the sea (from Caesarea Stratonis to Joppa), fertile and therefore densely populated. Both may be understood here.

Acts 9:36. Now in Joppa there was a female disciple named Tabitha, which means: “gazelle”; she was full of good works and performed many acts of charity. Acts 9:37. It happened in those days that she fell sick and died. They washed her and laid her in an upper room. “In Joppa...” — present-day Jaffa, an ancient commercial coastal city to the northwest of Jerusalem. “A disciple” — that is, a Christian woman. Whether she was a virgin, widow, or married woman is not clear from the account. She may have been a widow, judging by her charitable works directed especially to widows (Acts 9:39). “Tabitha, which means gazelle...” — this was not a nickname but a proper women’s name, found among the Greeks, in Josephus, and among the rabbis. Because of its beauty, grace, and expressive eyes, the gazelle among Eastern peoples is in general a symbol of feminine beauty, and therefore came to be used as a proper women’s name, analogous to the men’s name Leon. “In those days...” — while Peter was in Lydda.

Acts 9:38. And since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him urging him not to delay in coming to them. “The disciples...” — that is, the Christians, grieved by the death of so virtuous a woman. Why send for Peter after Tabitha had already died? Evidently those who sent had some hope — perhaps vague — that He who had called even the four-day-dead Lazarus from the tomb might perform a similar miracle once again through His most worthy disciple.

Acts 9:39. Peter arose and went with them; and when he arrived, they brought him into the upper room, and all the widows stood before him weeping, showing him the tunics and garments that the Gazelle had made while she was living with them. Acts 9:40. Peter sent them all out and, kneeling down, prayed; and turning toward the body he said: Tabitha! rise. And she opened her eyes and, seeing Peter, sat up. Acts 9:41. And giving her his hand, he raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her to them alive. Acts 9:42. This became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. “Peter put them all outside...” — (cf. Matt 9:24-25; Mark 5:40; Luke 8:54), so as not to be distracted by any external impressions and to give himself entirely to prayer for the raising of the dead woman.

Acts 9:43. And he stayed a considerable number of days in Joppa with a certain Simon, a tanner. “With Simon the tanner...” — in all probability, a Christian.