Ananias was the disciple in Damascus sent to restore Saul’s sight and baptize him.
According to Acts, Saul of Tarsus was blinded during his encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. He was told to enter the city and wait. Jesus then appeared in a vision to Ananias, instructing him to find Saul in a house on the street called Straight.
Ananias initially hesitated because he knew Saul had persecuted believers in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, he went to Saul, laid hands on him, and addressed him as “Brother Saul.” Saul’s sight was restored, and Ananias told him that he had been chosen for a major mission. Saul then received baptism and later became known as Paul the Apostle.
The name Ananias can cause confusion because Acts also tells of Ananias and Sapphira, a different couple in Jerusalem. Ananias of Damascus is presented as a disciple and a devout man respected by the local Jewish community. Later Christian traditions also associate him with the Seventy Disciples and martyrdom, though those details come from later sources rather than the core conversion narrative.