Bible Dictionary
KICK
To kick against the goad is to resist painfully and uselessly the guidance intended to direct one. Jesus used this proverb when confronting Saul’s persecution of His people on the road to Damascus.
Definition
To kick against the goad means to resist painfully and uselessly the guidance intended to direct one. The image is drawn from an ox that injures itself by kicking against the goad used to urge or guide it.
Biblical Usage
The saying was addressed to Saul in the vision on the road to Damascus, where his persecution was portrayed as painful and profitless resistance to God’s leading him into the light.
Historical Background
The proverb was familiar in both Greek and Latin literature. The words are omitted from the best manuscripts in Acts 9:4.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>(laktizo): In the famous vision on the road to Damascus the unseen voice said to Saul: "Why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goad" (Ac 9:4 f; 26:14). The words are omitted from the best manuscripts in Ac 9:4. This was a familiar proverb in both Greek and Latin literature, and refers to the severer goading received by an ox which kicks back at the goad used to guide or urge him on. The words seem to mean that Paul's paroxysm of persecution was a painful as well as profitless resistance to the pricks of conscience by which God was leading him into the light.</p>