Acts 22:16

Context

At the end of Acts 21, Paul is seized in the temple at Jerusalem. Standing on the stairs as he is being led into the barracks, he makes his defense to the Jewish crowd "in the Hebrew tongue" (which many take to mean Aramaic) (Acts 22:1-21). At the center of his defense is the account of his conversion (his turning to faith) on the road to Damascus.

This verse is a quotation within that defense. It is the exhortation Ananias added after coming to the blinded Saul (Paul) and telling him that, having seen "that Just One" (22:14), that is, Jesus, he was now to be His witness. Paul introduces Ananias as "a devout man according to the law" (22:12), a description generally understood as framed with his Jewish audience in mind. The same event is also narrated in Acts 9 and 26, but only chapter 22 connects baptism and the washing away of sins this directly.

Interpretation

In the Greek text, "arise" is a participle, while "be baptized" and "wash away thy sins" are imperatives. "Calling on the name of the Lord" is likewise a participle. Readings diverge depending on how these grammatical relationships are understood.

• Catholic, Orthodox, and Lutheran reading: The Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and Lutheranism regard baptism as a means through which God actually grants the forgiveness of sins. They cite this verse, together with passages such as 1 Peter 3:21, in support of that view.
• Reformed (Presbyterian) reading: The Reformed tradition understands baptism as a "sign and seal" of the washing away of sins. The Westminster Confession of Faith holds that the grace of baptism is not necessarily tied to the moment of its administration. From this perspective, "wash away" refers to justification being confirmed and confessed through the outward sign of baptism.
• Baptist and some evangelical readings: These traditions connect the washing away of sins with "calling on the name of the Lord," that is, with faith. They view baptism as an act of obedience that publicly confesses a salvation already received.
• Restoration Movement reading: The Churches of Christ tradition, which arose from the nineteenth-century American Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, cites this verse together with Acts 2:38. On this basis, it is known to teach that baptism (immersion) is an act of obedience necessary for receiving the forgiveness of sins.

Debates and Issues

• Baptism and salvation: All sides engage this verse in discussions of the infant baptism debate and of baptismal regeneration (the view that one is born again through baptism). No denomination rejects baptism; the question is whether baptism is a means of the forgiveness of sins, a sign of it, or a confession of it.
• "Baptism" or "immersion": The Korean Revised Version (개역한글) and the New Korean Revised Version (개역개정) render the term as serye ("baptism"). Baptists, arguing that the original word denotes immersion in water, use chimnye ("immersion"). This issue is treated in the article Baptism and Immersion.
• Manuscript variants: The majority of later manuscripts (the Textus Receptus) read "the name of the Lord," whereas modern critical texts are understood to read "his name." There is little disagreement that, in context, either reading refers to Jesus.

Related Passages

• Acts 9:17-18 — another account of the same event
• Acts 2:39-41 — baptism following the Pentecost sermon
• Joel 2:32 — the salvation of those who "call on the name of the LORD"
• Romans 10:13-14 — Paul's explanation quoting Joel
• 1 Corinthians 6:11 — washing and justification