There begins in this section the first of three speeches by Paul in his own defense (22:1–21; 24:10–21; 26:2–23). To a certain extent, these speeches are complementary with respect to both the details they give of Paul’s life and their theological thrust. The latter is most evident in the two accounts of Paul’s conversion (22:6–16; 26:12–23). Acts 22:6–16 makes the point that Paul, alone of all the disciples, had seen the Christ exalted in glory (vv. 11, 14) and that the glorified Christ had spoken in a way that only he had understood (v. 9). The setting of Acts 26:12–23 is, on the other hand, “that of an inaugural vision, such as the prophets and seers received.… There may be intentional links with Acts 1 and 2 in terms of the prophetic witness now realized (2:17 = Joel 2:28–32), which p…