{Ananias} (Hananias). Name common enough (cf.  5:1  for
another Ananias) and means "Jehovah is gracious." _Nomen et omen_
(Knowling). This Ananias had the respect of both Jews and
Christians in Damascus ( 22:12 ). {In a vision} (en horamati).
Zeller and others scout the idea of the historicity of this
vision as supernatural. Even Furneaux holds that "it is a
characteristic of the Jewish Christian sources to point out the
Providential ordering of events by the literary device of a
vision," as "in the early chapters of Matthew's and Luke's
Gospels." He is content with this "beautiful expression of the
belief" with no interest in the actual facts. But that is plain
illusion, not to say delusion, and makes both Paul and Luke
deceived by the story of Ananias ( 9:10-18  22:12-16,26 ). One
MS. of the old Latin Version does omit the vision to Ananias and
that is basis enough for those who deny the supernatural aspects
of Christianity.