Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 13:11
And now, behold, the hand of the Lord [is] upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.
11. the hand of the Lord ] Of the Jehovah whose ways he had perverted, for it could only have been after the Jewish faith that Sergius Paulus had made his enquiries of Elymas, who instead of teaching him to know the Lord, seduced him by his own pretensions. For the expression cp. Exo 9:3 and Jdg 2:15, “The hand of the Lord was against them for evil.”
for a season ] The punishment inflicted on Elymas is lighter than that of Ananias and Sapphira, because in their case the hypocrisy of their conduct would have brought ruin on the Church, if it had not been severely punished, and their sin was against greater light and gifts of grace than had been bestowed on the magician of Cyprus.
a mist and a darkness ] There is a gradation in the words which implies that the withdrawal of his sight was somewhat gradual. At first the eyes began to cloud over, and as the film increased upon them he became quite blind.
and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand ] As he perceives the darkness closing in upon him he turns in the direction where he had last noticed some friend, and endeavours to get a guide. For such a man would wish to shew as little as possible how exactly the Apostle’s words had come to pass.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The hand of the Lord is upon thee – God shall punish thee. By this sudden and miraculous punishment he would be awed and humbled, and the proconsul and others would be convinced that he was an impostor, and that the gospel was true. His wickedness deserved such punishment; and at the same time that due punishment was inflicted, it was designed that the gospel should be extended by this means. In all this there was the highest evidence that Paul was under the inspiration of God. He was full of the Holy Spirit; he detected the secret feelings and desires of the heart of Elymas; and he inflicted on him a punishment that could have proceeded from none but God. That the apostles had the power of inflicting punishment is apparent from various places in the New Testament, 1Co 5:5; 1Ti 1:20. The punishment inflicted on Elymas, also, would be highly emblematic of the darkness and perverseness of his conduct.
Not seeing the sun for a season – For how long a time this blindness was to continue is nowhere specified. It was, however, in mercy ordained that the blindness should not be permanent and final; and though it was a punishment, it was at the same time benevolent, for nothing would be more likely to lead him to reflection and repentance than such a state of blindness. It was such a manifest proof that God was opposed to him it was such a sudden divine judgment; it so completely cut him off from all possibility of practicing his arts of deception, that it was adapted to bring him to repentance. Accordingly there is a tradition in the early church that he became a Christian. Origen says that Paul, by a word striking him blind, by anguish converted him to godliness (Clark).
A mist – The word used here properly denotes a darkness or obscurity of the air; a cloud, etc. But it also denotes an extinction of sight by the drying up or disturbance of the tumors of the eye (Hippocrates, as quoted by Schleusner).
And a darkness – Blindness, night. What was the precise cause or character of this miracle is not specified.
And he went about … – This is a striking account of the effect of the miracle. The change was so sudden that he knew not where to go. He sought someone to guide him in the paths with which he had before been familiar. How soon can God bring down the pride of man, and make him as helpless as an infant! How easily can He touch our senses, the organs of our most exquisite pleasures, and wither away all our enjoyments! How dependent are we upon Him for the inestimable blessing of sight! And how easily can He annihilate all the sinners pleasures, break up all his plans, and humble him in the dust! Sight is his gift; and it is a mercy unspeakably great that He does not overwhelm us in thick darkness, and destroy forever all the pleasure that through this organ is conveyed to the soul.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 11. The hand of the Lord is upon thee] The power of God is now about to deal with thee in the way of justice.
Thou shalt be blind] Every word here proves the immediate inspiration of Paul. He was full of the Holy Ghost when he began this address: by the light of that Spirit he discerned the state of Elymas, and exposed his real character; and, by the prophetic influence of that same Spirit, he predicted the calamity that was about to fall upon him, while as yet there was no sign of his blindness! Mark this!
Not seeing the sun for a season.] In the midst of judgment God remembers mercy. This blindness was not to be perpetual: it was intended to be the means of awakening and softening the hard heart of this poor sinner. There is an ancient tradition, and it is mentioned both by Origen and Chrysostom, that Elymas, in consequence of this became a sincere convert to the religion of Christ. Origen says: “And Paul by a word striking him blind, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paul, , by anguish converted him to godliness.” And, commenting on-Thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun, , for a season, asks, “And why for a season? That, being smitten on account of his transgressions, and brought to repentance, he might at last be deemed worthy to see the sun, not only with his body, but with his mind; that the Divine virtue might be proclaimed in restoring him to sight, and his soul, believing, might receive godliness.” Com. in Exod., vol. i. p. 117, edit. de la Rue, Par. 1733.
There fell on him a mist and darkness] , achlus, is a disordered state of the eye, in which the patient sees through a thick mist. This thick mist, or perturbed state of the eye, took place first: it increased, and , thick, positive darkness, was the issue.
He went about] . Not knowing how to take a right step, he groped about in great uncertainty; and, not being able to find his way, he sought for some persons to lead him by the hand. This state of Elymas is inimitably expressed in one of the cartoons of Raphael, now at Hampton-court, (and lately engraved, in the true spirit of the original, by Mr. Thomas Holloway,) in which his whole figure expresses the depth of distress, concern, uncertainty, and confusion; and, to use a word common in exhibiting this matchless piece of painting, he is blind from head to foot. In this manner the text authorizes the painter to express the state of this miserable culprit.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The hand of the Lord is put for any powerful action of God, whether in mercy or judgment: here it is put for the Divine power wherewith God strikes his enemies. God did in judgment remember mercy, inflicting this blindness only for a season, that it might be rather a medicine than a punishment.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. the hand of the Lord is uponthee, and thou shalt be blind for a seasonthe judgment beingmercifully designed to lead him to repentance. The tradition that itdid is hardly to be depended on.
there fell on him a mist,&c.This is in Luke’s medical style.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And now behold the hand of the Lord is upon thee,…. That is, the power of God was just ready to be exerted on him in a way of punishment, by striking him with blindness:
and thou shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a season: so blind as not to see the sun, when it shined ever so brightly: this punishment seems to be but for a time; and some say that Elymas repented, and had his sight restored to him; and after that he returned to his sorcery, and again greatly opposed Barnabas in the island of Cyprus:
and immediately there fell on him a mist and darkness; as soon as ever the apostle had said the above words, a dark mist fell upon his eyes, which began the blindness, and issued in a total one:
and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand; he groped about the room, if he could find, and lay hold on some person to lead him: for he was quickly stone blind, so that he could not guide himself, as the men of Sodom were, when smitten with blindness by the angel; wherefore, though they groped about for the door of the house till they were weary, they could not find it, Ge 19:11 of which the Jews say, as here, that it was , “a stroke from God” u. Blind men need one to hold them by the hand, and lead them, as Samson, Jud 16:26 and Saul, Ac 9:8. The striking this man with blindness is an instance of the power the apostles were endued with, for the punishing of offenders: so Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead for telling a lie: and the incestuous person was delivered to Satan to undergo a corporeal punishment for his incest; as Hymenaeus and Alexander were for their blasphemy, Ac 5:5.
u Tzeror Hammor, fol. 20. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Upon thee ( ). The use of with the accusative is rich and varied, the precise shade of meaning depending on the content. The “hand of the Lord” might be kindly (Ac 11:21) or hostile (Heb 10:31), but when God’s hand touches one’s life (Job 19:21) it may be in judgment as here with Elymas. He has not humbled himself under the mighty hand of God (1Pe 5:6).
Not seeing ( ). Repeating with negative participle the negative idea in “blind” (). “It was a judicial infliction; blindness for blindness, darkness without for wilful darkness within” (Furneaux). He was an example of the blind leading the blind that was to cease and Sergius Paulus was to be led into the light. The blindness was to be “for a season” ( , Lu 4:13), if it should please God to restore his sight. Paul apparently recalls his own blindness as he entered Damascus.
A mist (). Especially a dimness of the eyes, old poetic word and late prose, in LXX, only here in N.T. Galen uses it of the opacity of the eye caused by a wound.
He went about seeking some one to lead him by the hand ( ). A rather free rendering. Literally, “going about (, present active participle of ) he was seeking (, imperfect active of ) guides (, from , hand, and , guide, from , one who leads by the hand).” The very verb , to lead by the hand, Luke uses of Paul in 9:8, as he entered Damascus.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Mist [] . Only here in New Testament. The word is used by medical writers as a name for a disease of the eyes. The mention of the successive stages, first dimness, then total darkness, are characteristic of the physician. “The first miracle which Paul performed was the infliction of a judgment; and that judgment the same which befell himself when arrested on his way to Damascus” (Gloag).
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee,” (kai nun edou cheir kuriou epi se) “And now behold (take notice that) the hand of the Lord (is) upon thee,” from this moment. It was a Divine hand of judgement, the hand of the Lord, not the hand of Paul. To illustrate, see Exo 9:3; 1Sa 5:6.
2) “And thou shalt be blind,” (kai ese tuphlos) “And thou shalt (wilt) be blind,” in a state or condition of blindness, total physical darkness, as an act of Divine Judgement for his insurrection against, opposition to Paul’s witnessing to Sergius Paulus, the governor, Act 13:7-8.
3) “Not seeing the sun for a season.” (me blepon ton helion achri kairou) “Not even seeing (able to see) the sun for a season, or for some period of time,” similar to Paul’s experience on the Damascus Road, Act 9:8-9; Act 9:17-18. For he, like Paul and false prophets, had “loved darkness rather than light,” Joh 3:19-20.
4) “And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness,” (parachrema de epesen ep’ auton achlus kai skotos) “Then at once there came over him a mist of total darkness,” absolute blindness in a physical way; He was (became) stone-blind as a consequence of Divine punishment.
5) “And he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.” (kai perigon ezetei cheiragous) “And wherever he went he groped, sought (people) to lead him of or by the hand;” Even physically the blind can not safely lead the blind, much less spiritually, Mat 15:14; Luk 6:39. This lasted “for a time” until it pleased the Lord to end his punishment and restore his sight, as he did that of Paul earlier, Act 9:17-18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
11. Behold the hand. The hand is put here to punish; (789) a whereby he doth signify that God is the author of this punishment, and that he is only the minister. Furthermore, I think that this hability is that which Paul calleth δυναμις, or power, (1Co 12:28.) For as they did excel in power of the Spirit to help the faithful with miracles, so had they the whip in their hand to tame the rebellious and obstinate withal. Such vengeance of God did Peter show upon Ananias and Sapphira, (Act 5:5.) But because miracles ought, for the most part, to resemble the nature of Christ, who is all gentle, sweet, bountiful, and merciful; therefore he would seldom have the apostles to show examples of the contrary power. Neither must we think that they were endued with this power to punish any man so often as it seemeth good in their own eyes, but the same Spirit of God, which did thus arm them, did direct them unto the lawful and right use. Therefore we must remember that which we had before, that Paul spake by inspiration of the Spirit. Furthermore, it was a very fit kind of punishment. For seeing that the sorcerer essayed to darken the sun, and to take from others the benefit of the light, he was, by good right, cast into horrible darkness.
But now, forasmuch as many of the Papists do far exceed this sorcerer at this day in ungodliness, it is a wonder why they be suffered to be so bold without being punished. Is the hand of God weakened? Is he less careful for his glory? Hath he no care to revenge the gospel? I answer, that this visible punishment which was once laid (790) upon the sorcerer, and such as this, are perpetual examples of God’s wrath against all those who are not afraid either to corrupt and deprave, or openly with slanders to resist the pure doctrine of the gospel. For we do know that miracles were wrought for a time to this end, that they may continually be in force, and be fresh before our eyes, and that they may give us light to behold the judgments of God, which we cannot see so plainly; but it is not for us to prescribe God this or that way to punish his enemies. Sergius Paulus, who, before he came to man’s estate, had no taste of true religion, who, from his childhood, was infected with diverse superstitions, and had very hard lets, which kept him back from embracing the faith; lastly, who was bewitched with the dotings of the sorcerer, that he could scarce come to the faith, had need of no small helps. Hereby it came to pass that God did, as it were, reach his hand out of heaven manifestly, though he helped us all in his person; for the same gospel, the authority whereof was then established, is at this day preached to us, and yet, notwithstanding, God doth not so linger, but that he showeth his fearful power diverse ways against the enemies of the gospel, unless our eyes were so dull when he showeth his judgments that we cannot see.
(789) “ Ad plagam infligendam,” for inflicting a blow.
(790) “ Inflicta,” inflicted.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(11) The hand of the Lord is upon thee.The anthromorphic phrase would convey to every Jew the thought of a chastisement which was the direct result of the will of God. (Comp. 1Ki. 18:46; Eze. 1:3; Eze. 8:1.)
Thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season.The form of the punishment may have been, in part, determined by the Apostles choice as manifested in prayer. If so, it suggests the thought that he had looked back on his own blindness, the exclusion of the outward light, as being that which had been to him the process by which he was led to the Sun of Righteousness and the Light that lighteth every man, and hoped that it might be so now. (See Note on Act. 9:8-9.) In any case, there was a moral fitness in blindness as the penalty of the sin the very essence of which was that the man was fighting against light. That the blindness was to be for a season only implies that it was designed to be remedial and not simply retributive.
There fell on him a mist and a darkness . . .Here, as in the scales of Act. 9:13, we seem to trace something of the precision of the trained physician. The first effect of the loss of the power to see was, as in the case of St. Paul, that Elymas, who had selfishly used his knowledge to guide others to his own advantage, now had to seek for others to guide his own steps. The tense of the Greek verb (he was seeking) seems to imply that he sought and did not find. He had no friends to help him, and was left to his fate unpitied.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. And now Most of the miracles of the New Testament are miracles of direct mercy; this was one of justice in that it was a due yet slight penalty for sin; but also of mercy, as it converted the proconsul, and may have ultimately resulted in the conversion of the sorcerer himself.
For a season Mercy in judgment. Proof that the apostle spake not in personal resentment. Perhaps it intimated that, like Saul himself, the sorcerer should find his blindness of body result in light both to soul and body.
Immediately So instantly as to prove the connection between the apostle’s words and the sorcerer’s ill.
A mist Deepening to a darkness.
Seeking hand Titus showing how little fit he was to lead men by the hand to the true light. The original is very expressive: He, groping about, was seeking for hand-guides; a line which has furnished a subject for one of the masterpieces of Raphael’s pencil.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a season.” And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness, and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.’
‘The hand of the Lord is on you.’ This is a typical Old Testament phrase (compare Jos 4:24; 1Sa 12:15; Psa 75:8) which would be meaningful to someone who claimed connection with Old Testament prophets (he was a false prophet), and would be a reminder not to make such claims before God. As a self-proclaimed prophet he himself should have been able to call for ‘the hand of the Lord’ to act. The fact that His hand was against him should have given him pause to think.
The temporary blindness put on him by God (as He had previously put it on Saul) was symbolic of his spiritual blindness. If we knew all the circumstances we might more fully understand why it was bestowed on him. He may well have challenged Saul and threatened him with his sorcery, or himself have aimed a curse, never dreaming that it would be returned. So the blindness may well have been connected with things that he had said and spells that he had attempted to use. Now his vulnerability was revealed to all by his being led about by the hand. He who had claimed to lead others, now had to be led.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Act 13:11 . ] a designation, borrowed according to constant usage from the O.T. (LXX. Jdg 2:15 ; Job 19:21 ; 2Ma 6:26 ; Sir 33:2 ), of “ God’s hand ,” Luk 1:66 , Act 11:21 , and here, indeed, of the punitive hand of God, Heb 10:31 .
] sc. , is directed against thee.
] The future is not imperative, but decided prediction; comp. Act 5:9 .
. ] self-evident, but “auget manifestam sententiam,” Quinctil. ix. 3. 45. To the blind the sun is , Soph. O. C. 1546.
] for a season. Comp. Luk 4:13 . His blindness was not to be permanent; the date of its termination is not given, but it must have been in so far known by Paul, seeing that this penal consequence would cease with the cause , namely, with the withstanding, Act 13:8 . Comp. on Act 13:12 . With the announcement of the divine punishment is combined, by , the hint of future possible forgiveness. Chrysostom well remarks: , , . Comp. Oecumenius.
. . ] We are as little to inquire what kind of blindness occurred, as to suppose (with Heinrichs) that with the sorcerer there was already a tendency to blindness, and that this blindness actually now set in through fright. The text represents the blindness as a punishment of God without any other cause, announced by Paul as directly cognizant of its occurrence.
] dimness and darkness , in the form of a climax. See on (only here in the N.T.), Duncan, Lex. Hom. , ed. Rost, p. 193.
The text assigns no reason why the sorcerer was punished with blindness (as, for instance, that he might be humbled under the consciousness of his spiritual blindness; comp. Baumgarten). We must abstain from any such assertion all the more, that this punishment did not befall the similar sorcerer Simon. Rom 11:34 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.
Ver. 11. Not seeing the sun ] A philosopher being asked whether it were not a pleasant thing to see the sun? answered, that is , a blind man’s question. Life without light is a lifeless life.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
11. ] The punishment was only temporary, being accompanied with a gracious purpose to the man himself, to awaken repentance in him. The sense given to . by Tittmann and Meyer here and at ref. Luke, of , is one of which it seems to me incapable.
. ] In the same precise and gradual manner is the healing of the lame man, ch. Act 3:8 , described: (first), . . So here, first a dimness came on him, then total darkness. And we may conceive this to have been evinced by his gestures and manner under the infliction.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 13:11 . , cf. Hort, Ecclesia , p. 179. : emphasising the punishment, as it would imply that he should be stone-blind (Weiss). : “until a season,” R.V. margin, “until the time” (Rendall), i.e. , the duly appointed time when it should please God to restore his sight, cf. Luk 4:13 ; Luk 21:24 (Act 24:25 ). The exact expression is only found here and in Luk 4:13 . Wendt (1899) asks if the ceasing of the punishment is conceived of as ceasing with the opposition in Act 13:8 . See his earlier edition, 1888, and the comment of Chrys., so Oecumenius: : so too Theophylact. , see above on p. 106. , see critical notes. If we retain T.R. with Weiss, the word may be called characteristic of St. Luke, see above on p. 216 its use as denoting an attack of disease is quite medical, Hobart, p. 44. : only here in N.T., not in LXX. Galen in describing diseases of the eye mentions amongst them. So Dioscorides uses the word of a cataract, and Hippocrates also employs it, Hobart, p. 44. The word is no doubt frequent in Homer, sometimes of one deprived of sight by divine power, and it also occurs in Polyb. and Josephus. But here it is used in conjunction with other words which may also be classed as medical, ., , to say nothing of ( ) . : marks the final stage of blindness the word is no doubt a common one, but it is used, as also some of its derivatives, by medical writers in a technical sense, and Dioscorides in one place connects and together. : only absolutely here in N.T., so sometimes in classical Greek, and sometimes with acc [259] loci, as also in N.T. ( cf. Mat 4:23 ; Mat 9:35 , etc.). , imperf., he sought but did not find. : only here in N.T., not in LXX, cf. the verb in Act 9:8 , Act 22:11 , and in LXX, Jdg 16:26 A, Tob 11:16 (but not A, ); used by Plutarch, etc.
[259] accusative case.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
seeing. Greek. blepo. App-133.
for = until.
immediately. Greek. parachrema, as in Act 3:7.
mist. Greek. achlus. Only here. A medical word for incipient blindness.
some to lead, &c. Literally hand-leaders. Greek. cheiragogos. Only here. Compare Act 9:8.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
11. ] The punishment was only temporary, being accompanied with a gracious purpose to the man himself, to awaken repentance in him. The sense given to . by Tittmann and Meyer here and at ref. Luke, of , is one of which it seems to me incapable.
. ] In the same precise and gradual manner is the healing of the lame man, ch. Act 3:8, described: (first), . . So here, first a dimness came on him,-then total darkness. And we may conceive this to have been evinced by his gestures and manner under the infliction.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 13:11. ) the sun, and light. It is probable, that the sorcery of Elymas was much directed to observations of the sun.- , for a season) There was no need that the time should be definitely indicated by Luke. A double miracle: blindness was inflicted, and there was a limiting of its duration (of the time).-, a mist) internally.-, darkness) externally.-, he was seeking) A criterion of blindness.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
hand: Exo 9:3, 1Sa 5:6, 1Sa 5:9, 1Sa 5:11, Job 19:21, Psa 32:4, Psa 38:2, Psa 39:10, Psa 39:11
thou: Act 9:8, Act 9:9, Act 9:17, Gen 19:11, 2Ki 6:8, Isa 29:10, Joh 9:39, Rom 11:7-10, Rom 11:25
a mist: 2Pe 2:17
Reciprocal: 1Ki 22:28 – If thou return 2Ki 6:18 – Smite this people 2Ch 18:27 – If Job 12:25 – grope Job 38:15 – from Isa 51:18 – that taketh Eze 11:13 – when Luk 11:34 – but Act 5:5 – hearing Act 22:11 – being 2Co 10:6 – in 2Ti 3:9 – their Heb 8:9 – I took
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1
Act 13:11. Hand of the Lord was said to let the deputy know that he (Paul) was working under Him. A man who is so blind that he cannot see even the sun is certainly very much so, although this was to be on this man only for a season. This miracle was immediate, as all of them were that the Lord brought to pass. The fact the man sought for someone to lead him proved the genuineness of the deed.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 13:11. Thou shalt be blind. Miracles of punishment are very rare in the New Testament. Peter and Paul each once at least worked a miracle of wrath in the name of their Master,Peter, in the case of Ananias and his guilty wife in the presence of a great Jewish assembly; Paul, before the Roman governor of Cyprus. In both these instances of a terrible severity, it was not simple unbelief which was punished, but a course of conduct which, in the one case, set the example of religious hypocrisy, and in the other gave its sanction to a self-indulgent, evil life. Elymas was punished for a deliberate using of talents and power to persuade men to be enemies of righteousness, and haters of the pure life loved by the Lord.
Not seeing the sun for a season. Even here the punishment might be only of temporary duration, the gracious purpose being to awaken repentance in him, as well to show the Roman that the doctrine of the Lord preached by Paul and Barnabas was with authority. Gloags remarks here on the miracle-power of the apostles are good: We are not, however, to suppose that the apostles possessed the power of working miracles at pleasure, but only when they felt a Divine impulse urging them to perform one. Paul struck Elymas with blindness because he felt inspired to perform that miracle; but he could not cure Epaphroditus of his sickness, or remove from himself the thorn in the flesh. The miraculous power with which he was invested was not under his own control, but under the control and direction of Him who bestowed that power.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
See notes one verse 8
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
11, 12. Now Paul, in the name of the Lord, pronounces on him an awful anathema of physical blindness, symbolic of his spiritual darkness, which immediately supervenes, beginning with a mist and developing into total darkness. Consequently the people are convinced that Elymas (an Arabic word, meaning wise man, by himself assumed) is wrong, and Paul is right. Therefore the proconsul is happily converted, as the Greek says, delighted with the doctrine of the Lord.
SAUL VERSUS PAUL
He was honored with the royal name of Israels first king. It suited him well to be called Saul, i. e., the grand one, while standing at the head of the fallen church and persecuting the poor holiness people. But when he got sanctified the name no longer had the right ring. So he did a thing very common with scholars even down to Luthers day, i. e., he changed his name into Greek. Paulus is a Greek word, and means little, i. e., the little one. Saulus versus Paulus only changes one letter. Sanctification takes the royalty out of you and makes you so little the devil can not find you, and never will while you keep sanctified. Hence he finds it convenient to make this little change in the form of the word and call himself Paulus, instead of Saulus, i. e., Paul, the little one. Hence in the Pauline writings we hear no more of King Saul. He died in Arabia and Paul buried him in the sand, where I buried a college president, Freemason, and Odd Fellow, and have never gone back to pay homage at their graves.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
13:11 And now, behold, the {f} hand of the Lord [is] upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.
(f) His power which he shows in striking and beating down his enemies.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Paul’s stern words recall Peter’s as he dealt with Ananias and Sapphira, and Simon the sorcerer (Act 5:3-4; Act 5:9; Act 8:20-23). Perhaps Paul hoped that when God darkened Elymas’ physical eyesight He might restore his spiritual eyesight, as had been his own experience (ch. 9).