Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 13:7
Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.
7. which was with the deputy of the country [ proconsul ], Sergius Paulus ] Under Augustus the Roman provinces were divided into two classes, one class of which (needing the presence of troops for their government, and the possession of which gave the Emperor the control of the army) was called imperatorial, while the others were called senatorial provinces. The former were governed by an officer named proprtor, the latter by a proconsul. We know from Dio Cassius (liii. 12) that Cyprus was originally an imperatorial province, and therefore under a proprtor. This also Strabo confirms (xiv. 685), but says that Augustus made it over to the people along with Cyprus and part of Galatia, and took instead of these Dalmatia for one of his provinces. So that the government was at St Paul’s visit held by a proconsul for the Roman Senate, as is here recorded; and this is another instance of the historic faithfulness of St Luke’s record.
Of Sergius Paulus we know nothing, but the opportunities now afforded, by the English occupation of Cyprus, for the investigation of the antiquities of the island, may lead to some discovery of his name and office in coin or inscription.
a prudent man ] The presence of Elymas among his staff shews that the proconsul was a man of enquiring mind, and the same is displayed by his desire to hear Barnabas and Saul.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Which was with the deputy – Or with the proconsul. The exact accuracy of Luke in this statement is worthy of special remark. In the time when Augustus united the world under his own power, the provinces were divided into two classes. Augustus found two names which were applied to public officers in existence, one of which was henceforward inseparably blended with the imperial dignity and with military command, and the other with the authority of the senate and its civil administration. The first of these names was Praetor; the other was Consul. What is to be accounted for here is that the latter is the name given by Luke to Sergius Paulus, as if he derived his authority from the senate. The difficulty in the ease is this: that Augustus told the senate and the people of Rome that he would resign to them those provinces where soldiers were unnecessary to secure a peaceful administration, and that he would himself take the care and risk of the other provinces where the presence of the Roman legions would be necessary.
Hence, in the time of Augustus, and in the subsequent reigns of the emperors, the provinces were divided into these two classes; the one governed by men who went forth from the senate, and who would be styled Proconsul, anthupatos – the term used here; and the other those sent forth by the emperor, and who would be styled Procurator, Epitropos or Proproetor, Antistrategos. Both these kind of officers are referred to in the New Testament. Now we are told by Strabo and Dio Cassius that Asaia and Achaia were assigned to the senate, and the title, therefore, of the governor would be Proconsul, as we find in Act 18:12; Act 19:38. At the same time, Dio Cassius informs us that Cyprus was retained by the emperor for himself, and the title of the governor, therefore, would naturally have been, not Proconsul, as here, but Procurator. Yet it so happens that Dio Cassius has stated the reason why the title Proconsul was given to the governor of Cyprus, in the fact which he mentions that Augustus restored Cyprus to the senate in exchange for another district of the empire. It is this statement which vindicates the strict accuracy of Luke in the passage before us. See Life and Epistles of Paul, vol. 1, pp. 142-144, and also Lardners Credibility, part 1, chapter 1, section 11, where he has fully vindicated the accuracy of the appellation which is here given to Sergius by Luke.
Sergius Paulus, a prudent man – The word here rendered prudent means intelligent, wise, learned. It also may have the sense of candid, and may have been given to this man because he was of large and liberal views; of a philosophic and inquiring turn of mind; and was willing to obtain knowledge from any source. Hence, he had entertained the Jews; and hence, he was willing also to listen to Barnabas and Saul. It is not often that men of rank are thus willing to listen to the instructions of the professed ministers of God.
Who called for Barnabas and Saul – It is probable that they had preached in Paphos, and Sergius was desirous himself of hearing the import of their new doctrine.
And desired to hear … – There is no evidence that he then wished to listen to this as divine truth, or that he was anxious about his own salvation, but it was rather as a speculative inquiry. It was a professed characteristic of many ancient philosophers that they were willing to receive instruction from any quarter. Compare Act 17:19-20.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. The deputy of the country] , The proconsul. Rosenmuller and others remark, that in those days the Romans sent two different kinds of governors into the provinces. Some of the provinces were Caesarean or imperial, and into those they sent propretors; others belonged to the senate and people of Rome, and into those they sent proconsuls. Cyprus had formerly been an imperial province; but Augustus, who made the distinction, had given it to the people, whence it was governed by a proconsul. See Dion Cass. Hist. Rom. lib. iv. p. 523. [Edit. Leunclav.]
Sergius Paulus] This proconsul is not mentioned any where else: he became a Christian, had his name written in the book of life, and, probably on that very account, blotted out of the Fasti Consulares.
A prudent man] , A man of good sense, of a sound understanding, and therefore wished to hear the doctrine taught by these apostles; he did not persecute the men for their preaching, but sent for them that he might hear for himself.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The deputy of the country; whether he was pro-consul or proprietor, it is in effect the same; for he it was that governed the island.
Desired to hear the word of God; this desire was extraordinary, and wrought by God, in order to the fitting him for the further mercy of his conversion and salvation. Where such a desire is, it shall be granted: Ask, and it shall be given you, Luk 11:9.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. Which was with thedeputyproperly, “the proconsul.” This namewas reserved for the governors of settled provinces, which wereplaced under the Roman Senate, and is never given in the NewTestament to Pilate, Felix, or Festus, who were but procurators,or subordinate administrators of unsettled, imperial, militaryprovinces. Now as Augustus reserved Cyprus for himself, its governorwould in that case have been not a proconsul, but simply aprocurator, had not the emperor afterwards restored it to the Senate,as a Roman historian [DIOCASSIUS] expressly states.In most striking confirmation of this minute accuracy of the sacredhistorian, coins have actually been found in the island, stamped withthe names of proconsuls, both in Greek and Latin[AKERMAN, NumismaticIllustrations of the New Testament]. (GROTIUSand BENGEL, not aware ofthis, have missed the mark here).
Sergius Paulus, a prudentmanan intelligent man, who thirsting for truth, sent forBarnabas and Saul, desiring (“earnestly desiring”) to hearthe Word of God.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Which was with the deputy of the country, c. Or the Roman governor of the island who very likely dwelt at Paphos, it being a principal, if not the principal city in the island, since Pliny mentions it first of all the cities in it, as before observed: and with this governor, or proconsul, as the word signifies, or rather praetor, Bar-jesus was: either he lived with him, making great pretensions to knowledge and learning, which the governor might be a favourer of, or in quality of a physician; the Ethiopic version adds, “and he was a servant of the governor”; or he might be only with him occasionally and accidentally, just at that time, though the former seems most likely: and the name of this deputy was Sergius Paulus; the name of Paulus was common among the Romans; Pliny the younger speaks b of one Passienus Paulus, a famous Roman knight, and very learned, who wrote elegies; and Trajan c, in an epistle to him, makes mention of Paulus the proconsul; and Pliny the older, among his authors from whom he compiled his history, cites one of this very name, Sergius Paulus d. The island of Cyprus was at this time in the hands of the Romans, and this man was the governor of it; it was first inhabited by some of the sons of Japhet; Josephus e assigns it to Cittim: Cittim, he says,
“had the island Chetima, which now is called Cyprus; and from it all the islands, and most places about the sea, are called Chethim by the Hebrews; and as a proof of what I say, (adds he,) one of the cities in Cyprus still retains the name; for it is called Citium by those who have made it Greek, and not much differing from the name Chethimus.”
After the Trojan war, it came into the hands of the Grecians; and continued with them from the times of Teucer, until Evagoras and his son Nicocles; and then it fell into the hands of the Romans, and through them to the kings of Egypt; and after them became a Roman colony, in the following manner: Clodius Pulcher condemned Cyprus to the Roman people, to possess which Cato being sent, Ptolomy the king of the island, having cast his money into the sea, prevented the ignominy of it by a voluntary death, Anno U. C. 698 f. The Roman historian says g, Cyprus being conquered, the glory of it was not assigned to any, seeing it was made a province by the decree of the senate, by the means of Cato, through the death of the king, which he brought upon himself; and from that time, as Strabo says h, it became a praetorian province, and was now governed by a praetor, though he is called a deputy, or proconsul; the reason of which Dr. Hammond thinks was, because that P. Lentulus, Ap. Claudius, and M. Cicero, being proconsuls of Cilicia, had the administration of Cyprus also granted to them by the senate; hence afterwards the governors of Cyprus were called proconsuls, or deputies. This same Greek word here used, is adopted by the Jewish Rabbins into their language; hence we read of , “the deputy”, or “proconsul” of Caesarea i; which is explained by a governor, and a judge k or a third from the king l; and it is refined in the Syriac version: this deputy is said to be a “prudent man”. The Arabic version seems to distinguish Paul the prudent man, from Sergius the deputy, or tribune, as it calls him; reading the words thus, “who was by Sergius the tribune, with Paul a prudent man”; but Sergius and Paulus undoubtedly design one and the same man, who was prudent: he is said to be “a prudent man”, in the management of his affairs, as a governor; and might be very learned, ingenious, and an understanding man; a man of great sagacity and penetration, who very likely saw through the vain pretensions, and impostures of Bar-jesus, and was desirous to expose him in a public manner; or at least might conclude he would be discovered and exposed by those good men, who were come into the city; and what follows seems to be mentioned as an instance of his prudence:
who called for Barnabas and Saul; sent messengers to them, to desire them to come to him; Barnabas is mentioned first, though the inferior person, because he was a native of the country, and might be best known:
and desired to hear the word of God; whether this was at first from mere curiosity, or from any political view, or from a true desire of knowing the way of life and salvation, which might be wrought in his soul by the Spirit of God, is not certain; though the latter seems most likely, since it issued in his conversion.
b L. 6. ep. 15. p. 139. c Ib. l. 10. ep. 68. p. 267. d Elenchos Hist. ex autoribus, l. 2. & 1. 18. e Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1. f Petav. Rationar. Temp. par. 1. l. 4. c. 18. p. 191. g Velleius Paterculus, l. 2. h Geograph. l. 14. p. 471. i T. Hieros. Beracot, fol. 9. 1. Midrash Kohelet, fol. 66. 3. & 82. 2. k Arnch apud Mattanot Cehuna in Midrash ib. l David de Pomis Lex, Heb. fol. 9. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
With the proconsul Sergius Paulus ( ). Luke used to be sharply criticized for applying this term to Sergius Paulus on the ground that Cyprus was a province under the appointment of the emperor with the title of propraetor and not under the control of the senate with the title of proconsul. That was true B.C. 30, but five years later it was changed to proconsul by Augustus and put under the control of the Senate. Two inscriptions have been found with the date A.D. 51 and 52 with the names of proconsuls of Cyprus and one is in the Cesnola Collection, an inscription found at Soli with the name of Paulus as Proconsul, undoubtedly this very man, though no date occurs.
A man of understanding ( ). All the more amazing that he should be a victim of Barjesus. He had given up idolatry at any rate and was eager to hear Barnabas and Saul.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
The deputy [] . Better, Rev., proconsul. See Introduction to Luke, on Luke’s accuracy in designating public officers.
Sergius Paulus. Di Cesnola relates the discovery at Soli, which, next to Salamis, was the most important city in the island, of a slab with a Greek inscription containing the name of Paulus, proconsul.
Prudent [] . Better, as Rev., a man of understanding. See on Mt 11:25.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Which was with the deputy of the country,” (hos en sun to anthupato Sergio Paulo) “Who was with (in colleague with) Sergius Paulus the pro-consul,” a political supporter of the governor of the country.
2) “Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; (Sergio Paulo andri suneto) “Sergius Paulas who (was) an intelligent, prudent, or refined man,” a Greek man who with prudence of judgement in making political decisions desired to determine the facts for himself regarding the doctrines preached by Paul and Barnabas regarding Jesus Christ. .
3) “Who called for Barnabas and Saul,” (houtos proskalesamenos Barnaban kai Saulou) “This intelligent (prudent) man calling (of his own choice) Barnabas and Saul,” to be his personal guests, invited them to meet in conference with him.
4) “And desired to hear the word of God.” (epezetesen akousai ton logon tou theou) “Sought to hear the word of God,” or desired to hear the word of God from them. Tho there was an interruption of their message, an insurrection of protest raised against them by another Sorcerer, called Elymas, the deputy (pro-consul, Governor) with the desire to hear the word of God, was saved, confirming the promise of the Holy Scriptures, Isa 55:10-11; Joh 7:17; Act 13:12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
7. And whereas Sergius Paulus, desiring some better thing than that which he had learned from his childhood, was unaptly drawn aside unto diverse superstitions, I gather hereby that he sendeth for Paul and Barnabas of his own accord, to teach him. Therefore, he had conceived a certain reverence and fear of God, though he knew him not as yet; and forasmuch as he was persuaded that that was the true God which was worshipped in Judea, he desired to know out of his word a pure and certain rule of godliness. So soon as he hath tasted of the dotings of the false prophet he standeth in doubt. And it is not to be doubted, but that God doth solicit his mind, that he may not be altogether stayed in vanity, though he suffered himself to be deceived for a time by a wicked man.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulius.The translators consistently use the word deputy as representing the Greek for proconsul. It will be remembered that it was applied, under Elizabeth and James, to the governor, known in more recent times as the Viceroy, or Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and was therefore a very close approximation to the meaning of the Latin. The provinces of the Roman empire, under the organisation of Augustus, were divided (B.C. 27) into two classes. Those that were looked on as needing direct military control were placed under the emperor as commander of the legions, and were governed by proprtors, or generals; the others were left to the Senate, and were under the rule of proconsuls. Strabo (xiv. ad fin.) describes Cyprus as a military or proprtorian province, and this has led some to question St. Lukes accuracy. It appears, however, that Augustus, in A.D. 22, re-assigned it to the Senate (Dio. Cass. iv. p. 523). Coins of Cyprus are extant, bearing the date of Claudius, and the name of Cominius Proclus as proconsul (Akerman, Numismatic Illustrations, pp. 39-42), and as stated above (Note on Act. 13:4), one has recently been discovered in Cyprus itself, in which that title appears as borne by one of the name of Paulus. Under Hadrian, it appears to have been under a proprtor; under Severus, it was again under a proconsul. Of the proconsul himself we know nothing certain more than is recorded here. The name probably implied a connection with the old milian gens, among whom, as in the case of the great conqueror of Macedonia, it was a favourite cognomen. Dr. Lightfoot has, however, pointed out that Pliny, writing circ. A.D. 90, names a Sergius Paulus as his chief authority for the facts in Books 2 and 18 of his Natural History, and that among these are two specially connected with Cyprus; and that Galen, writing circ. A.D. 150, speaks of one bearing the same name, also a proconsul, as a contemporary of his own, and as distinguished for his love of wisdom. Here, of course, identity is out of the question, but relationship is, at least, probable.
A prudent man.The adjective describes what we should call general intelligence and discernment, as in Mat. 11:25; Luk. 10:21; 1Co. 1:19. It was shown in this instance in his at once recognising the higher type of character presented by the Apostles, and desiring to know more of the word which they spake to him as a message from God.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Deputy The proconsul. When Augustus became by military fortune master of the Roman empire, he provided that all the provinces requiring a military government should be in his own imperial hands; and those at peace, and needing only a civil authority, should be in the hands of the Senate; thus skilfully retaining all military power under his own control. The provinces under the emperor were governed by a legatus or representative, namely, of the emperor. The provinces under the Senate were governed by a proconsul. This title is rendered deputy in our translation, from the fact that the officer was deputed by the Senate to govern under its authority. The original term proconsul really signifies literally a consul’s substitute, a title which was inherited by the Senate from the republican age of Rome. Now, a century ago, according to all existing evidence, it was supposed that Cyprus was under the emperor, and that its governor was not a proconsul, as Luke calls him, but a legatus, and Luke’s accuracy was impeached. And, in fact, it was governed by a legatus at first; but later investigations have historically proved that Augustus subsequently surrendered the island to the Senate; and thus was shown Luke’s peculiar accuracy in calling the governor just at this time proconsul. Later still a medal has been found bearing the picture and name of a proconsul of Cyprus.
A prudent man An understanding man; namely, in the matters here discussed.
Called in consequence of his intelligent interest in spiritual and religious matters he had a desire to know what these preachers of the crucified Jesus could present.
Word of God He sent not to see prodigies, but to hear truths. He both saw and heard, and, in consequence, believed.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘The same called to him Barnabas and Saul, and sought to hear the word of God.’
The pro-consul called for Barnabas and Saul to declare to him the word of God. It may have been because he was a seeker of truth, or it may have been in order to learn what they were teaching because of reports of trouble that had reached him.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
7 Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.
Ver. 7. Which was with the deputy ] The greater opposites to the truth have been ever the greatest courtiers. The Arians in their age. And of them the Jesuits learned it, and of them the Arminians, as Utenbogardus in the Low Countries, and Canterbury here.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
7. ] The Greek term for the Latin ‘ proconsul ,’ the title of the governor of those provinces which were (semblably) left by the emperors to the government of the senate and people. The proconsul was appointed by lot, as in the times of the republic; carried with him the lictors and fasces as a consul: but had no military power, and held office only for a year (Dio Cass. liii. 13). This last restriction was soon relaxed under the emperors, and they were retained five or even more years. The imperial provinces, on the other hand, were governed by a military officer, a Proprtor ( ) or Legatus ( ) of the Emperor who was girded with the sword, and not revocable unless by the pleasure of the Emperor. The minor districts of the imperial provinces were governed by Procurators ( ). (C. and H. pp. 173 ff.: Dio Cassius, liii. 13, 15: Merivale, Hist. of the Romans under the Empire, ch. 32) The title , used in the N. T. of the procurator of Juda, of the legatus of Syria, and of the emperor himself, is a general term for any governor. But we never find the more definite title of assigned in the N. T. to a legatus. Cyprus, as Dio Cassius informs us, liii. 12, was originally an imperial province, and consequently was governed by a proprtor or legatus (so also Strabo, xiv. 685, , , ): but immediately after he relates that Augustus . , . And in liv. 4, repeating the same, he adds, . The title of Proconsul is found on Cyprian coins, both in Greek and Latin. (See C. and H. p. 187, who give an inscription (Boeckh, No. 2632) of the reign of Claudius, A.D. 52, mentioning the , a former and a present one, Julius Cordus and L. Annius Bassus.)
Nothing more is known of this Sergius Paulus. Another person of the same name is mentioned by Galen, more than a century after this, as a great proficient in philosophy. He was of consular rank, and is probably the Sergius Paulus who was consul with L. Venuleius Apronianus, A.D. 168, in the reign of M. Aurelius. Another S. P. was one of the consules suffecti in A.D. 94: but this could hardly have been the same.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 13:7 . ., cf. Act 4:13 . Nothing was more in accordance with what we know of the personnel of the strange groups which often followed the Roman governors as comites , and it is quite possible that Sergius Paulus may have been keenly interested in the powers or assumed powers of the Magian, and in gaining a knowledge of the strange religions which dominated the East. If the Roman had been completely under the influence of the false prophet, it is difficult to believe that St. Luke would have described him as (a title in which Zckler sees a distinction between Sergius Paulus and another Roman, Felix, over whom a Jewish Magian gained such influence, Jos., Ant. , xx., 7, 2), although magicians of all kinds found a welcome in unexpected quarters in Roman society, even at the hands of otherwise discerning and clear-sighted personages, as the pages of Roman writers from Horace to Lucian testify. It was not the first time in the world’s history that credulity and scepticism had gone hand in hand: Wetstein, in loco; Farrar, St. Paul , i., pp. 351, 352; Ramsay, St. Paul , p. 74 ff. ; perhaps means, as in classical Greek, “put questions to them”. The typical Roman is again marked by the fact that he was thus desirous to hear what the travellers would say, and it is also indicated that he was not inclined to submit himself entirely to the Magian. : “the proconsul,” R.V., “deputy,” A.V. In the reign of James I. the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was called “the deputy” ( cf. Shakespeare, Measure for Measure , i., 2, 161). Under Augustus, B.C. 27, the Roman provinces had been divided into two classes: (1) imperial and (2) senatorial, the former being governed by proprtors or generals, and the latter by proconsuls. But as the first kind of government would often be required when a province was unruly, it frequently happened that the same province might be at one time classed under (1) and at another time under (2). Cyprus had been originally an imperial province, Strabo, xiv., but in 22 B.C. it had been transferred by Augustus to the Senate, and was accordingly, as Luke describes it, under a proconsul, Dio Cassius, liii., 12, liv., 4. Under Hadrian it appears to have been under a proprtor; under Severus it was again under a proconsul. At Soloi, a town on the north coast of Cyprus, an inscription was discovered by General Cesnola, Cyprus , 1877, p. 425 ( cf. Hogarth, Devia Cypria , 1889, p. 114), dated ( ) , and the probable identification with Sergius Paulus is accepted by Lightfoot, Zckler, Ramsay, Knabenbauer, etc.; see especially amongst recent writers Zahn, Einleitung , ii., Excurs. ii., p. 632, for a similar view, and also for information as to date, and as to another and more recent inscription (1887), bearing upon the connnection of the Gens Sergia with Cyprus; see also McGiffert, Apostolic Age , p. 175, note, and Wendt, edition 1899. : R.V., “a man of understanding,” cf. Mat 11:25 . A.V. and other E.V [255] translate “prudent,” Vulgate, prudens , but see Genevan Version on Matt., u. s. ; frequent in LXX in various significations: , practical discernment, intelligence, so , one who can “put things together” ( ): , the wisdom of culture (Grimm-Thayer); on “prudent,” see Humphry, Commentary on R.V., p. 28.
[255] English Version.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
deputy of the country. Greek. anthupatos. Here, verses: Act 13:8, Act 13:12, Act 13:38. This is the Greek word for proconsul. Cyprus had been an imperial province, governed by a propraetor, but according to Strabo Augustus transferred it to the Senate, and the governor would be now a proconsul. The title “proconsul” has been found on a coin of Cyprus of A.D. 62, and a slab has been discovered at Soli in Cyprus, with the name Paulus,
proconsul. One of the proofs of Luke’s accuracy.
prudent. Greek. sunetos. Here, Mat 11:25. Luk 10:21. 1Co 1:19.
man. Greek. aner, App-123.
who = he.
desired = sought earnestly. Greek. epizeteo. See Act 12:19.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
7. ] The Greek term for the Latin proconsul, the title of the governor of those provinces which were (semblably) left by the emperors to the government of the senate and people. The proconsul was appointed by lot, as in the times of the republic; carried with him the lictors and fasces as a consul: but had no military power, and held office only for a year (Dio Cass. liii. 13). This last restriction was soon relaxed under the emperors, and they were retained five or even more years. The imperial provinces, on the other hand, were governed by a military officer, a Proprtor () or Legatus () of the Emperor who was girded with the sword, and not revocable unless by the pleasure of the Emperor. The minor districts of the imperial provinces were governed by Procurators (). (C. and H. pp. 173 ff.: Dio Cassius, liii. 13, 15: Merivale, Hist. of the Romans under the Empire, ch. 32) The title , used in the N. T. of the procurator of Juda, of the legatus of Syria, and of the emperor himself, is a general term for any governor. But we never find the more definite title of assigned in the N. T. to a legatus. Cyprus, as Dio Cassius informs us, liii. 12, was originally an imperial province, and consequently was governed by a proprtor or legatus (so also Strabo, xiv. 685, , , ): but immediately after he relates that Augustus . , . And in liv. 4, repeating the same, he adds, . The title of Proconsul is found on Cyprian coins, both in Greek and Latin. (See C. and H. p. 187, who give an inscription (Boeckh, No. 2632) of the reign of Claudius, A.D. 52, mentioning the , a former and a present one, Julius Cordus and L. Annius Bassus.)
Nothing more is known of this Sergius Paulus. Another person of the same name is mentioned by Galen, more than a century after this, as a great proficient in philosophy. He was of consular rank, and is probably the Sergius Paulus who was consul with L. Venuleius Apronianus, A.D. 168, in the reign of M. Aurelius. Another S. P. was one of the consules suffecti in A.D. 94: but this could hardly have been the same.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 13:7. , was with the proconsul [deputy]) , proconsul, was the expression commonly used for proprtor, or proqustore, among the Cyprians. Elymas was with Sergius Paulus, or was wont to be frequently with him. The latter had either admitted the former of his own will, or had borne with him by a kind of necessity. Yet it was an act of prudence, not to be held fast by his impositions, but to seek the truth. The prudence, which acts with sobriety, watchfulness, and moderation, is a memorable virtue in the case of those, who might esteem power in their magistracy as if it were reason.-, he) as being a prudent man. Prudence did not make Sergius positively disposed to faith, but less indisposed towards it.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
deputy
proconsul (Roman).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
the deputy: Act 13:12, Act 18:12, Act 19:38
a prudent: Act 17:11, Act 17:12, Pro 14:8, Pro 14:15, Pro 14:18, Pro 18:15, Hos 14:9, 1Th 5:21
Reciprocal: Ezr 5:14 – governor Luk 2:2 – governor Act 13:9 – who Act 28:7 – the chief 1Co 1:26 – not many mighty
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Elymas, Paulus, and Paul
Act 13:7-31
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
Barnabas and Saul and John Mark made up the party that journeyed together, as the Holy Ghost led them in the way. It was a strong party, and the grace of the Lord was with them.
They passed from city to city giving their testimony and preaching the Word of God in the synagogues of the Jews.
When they had left Salamis and had gone through the Isle of Paphros, they found “a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus.”
This man Bar-jesus, who by interpretation was called Elymas, was with Sergius Paulus, the deputy of the country. Sergius Paulus sent for Barnabas and Saul, desiring to hear the Word of God. Then it was that Elymas vehemently withstood them, seeking to turn Sergius Paulus from the faith.
This was too much for the ardent Saul. He was willing to personally bear the maledictions of men, but he would not allow the faith which he preached to be without defense. Therefore “Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost set his eyes on him.
“And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? 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.”
Whatever else may be said, Saul did not wear gloves when he rebuked Elymas. He did not apologize for his faith, nor felicitate his Lord. He spoke with conviction and with the assurance that he was right. He spoke as one set for the defense of the Gospel. He spoke as one unwilling to allow the lies of an enemy of Christ to pass unchallenged.
Saul and Barnabas did not set up a flag of truce and seek some means by which they and Elymas might fight together. Saul and Barnabas did not withhold words of defense for Christ because they hated to disrupt the peaceful conduct of affairs.
Mark once more Saul’s words, “O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness.” Do not dare to accuse Saul, saying that he was “hotheaded,” and that he spoke unseemly, for we read that Saul spoke, “filled with the Holy Ghost.”
Men and brethren! Those who defame our Lord and deny the faith, are children of the devil. Even if they are “suave” and “cultured,” they are filled with all subtilty, and they are wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Men and brethren! Those who withstand the faith and drag the Name of the Lord down into the mire of a human begetting, are children of the devil, still breathing out the devil’s insinuations-“If Thou be the Son of God.”
Men and brethren! Those who deny our only Lord God, and our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, acclaiming Him no more than perfect man, are enemies of all righteousness.
I. THE RESULTS OF SAUL’S DEFENSE (Act 13:11-12)
There are two things that happened as a result of Saul’s words to Elymas.
1. Elymas was stricken, temporarily blind. Perhaps Saul in pronouncing this judgment on Elymas thought of the days when he had been set against God, withstanding saints and dragging them bound to Jerusalem. Perhaps he remembered how God had stopped him in his madness, and had struck him with blindness for the while.
As we think of this we can see the inner heart of Saul. Saul not only sought to stay the hand that was raised to strike his Lord, but he sought by his words of denunciation and judgment to turn foe to friend. Had not he been turned from a persecutor to a preacher?
We do not know the future of Elymas, We do know that he went about seeking some one to lead him by the hand. We trust that he humbled his heart and became the servant of the Lord.
We are sure of one thing-the best way to help the enemy of Christ is not to flatter his venom of words, spoken against the Lord, We can never save the denier of the faith by false affiliations with the enemy. We must speak strongly and truly if we would arouse him from his madness.
2. The deputy believed God. Let me read Act 13:12; “Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.”
There is one thing certain-the faithfulness of Saul in exposing the subtilty and sin of Elymas, friend of the deputy, did not result in disaster to the furtherance of the Gospel. On the other hand, the Gospel message was enhanced. The deputy believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.
The conversion of this deputy must have been most marked. He was Sergius Paulus-now mark the expression, “Then Saul (who also is called Paul).” The inference is that Saul became known as Paul, from the name of this noted convert to the faith, whose name was Sergius Paulus.
Of this we are sure that it always pays to go all of the way with God; and it pays to always expose the deceitfulness of sin. The Church has not gained in influence nor in power, by hobnobbing with the world.
We find that Saul is now called Paul, One other thing is to be noted, Saul had taken the place of “associate” with Barnabas. Since the marked victory over Elymas, and the conversion of Sergius Paulus, Paul was reckoned leader. Act 13:13 opens this way, “Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos.” It is no longer, “Barnabas and Saul,” but, “Paul and his company.”
II. IN JOURNEYINGS OFT (Act 13:13)
From Paphos they went to Perga in Pamphylia, and from there John Mark departed from them, returning to Jerusalem.
From Perga, they went on to Antioch in Pisidia.
It is interesting to follow the missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul. He never wearied of travel, although many dangers beset his path. Travel in those days was anything but convenient. There were no fast trains, and no automobiles de luxe. Perhaps it was better so. We fear that the fast methods of travel that mark our time have forced us to pass by thousands with whom, otherwise, we might have touched elbows, and to whom we might have given our testimony.
Difficulties however, never even caused Paul to hesitate. He pressed on and on, from city to city, preaching Christ in the regions beyond him, and never content with another man’s line of work made ready to his hands. He himself recounts some of the perils which beset him by the way.
There are too many who are seeking soft places for service: large salaries, comfortable homes, twentieth century luxuries, and but little of arduous service. We are unwilling to press from city to city, evangelizing the needy places of earth, and carrying Christ into hearts and homes where they know not the Lord.
Paul went on and on with the Gospel of grace. Shall we not follow in his footsteps?
Go out through the lanes of the city,
Tell the Good Tidings to men;
Pass on through the byways and hedges,
And tell it again, and again.
Press on to the ends of creation,
Press over moor and o’er fen,
Press on with the news of salvation,
And tell it again, and again.
In Christ there is no condemnation,
Preach it from hilltop and glen,
Cease not till the lost of each nation,
Have heard it again and again.
III. THE PLACE OF CONTACT NEEDED (Act 13:14-15)
Paul and Barnabas reaching Antioch that was in Pisidia, went into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day and sat down. After the reading of the Law and of the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue said to Paul and Barnabas, “Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.”
We are of the impression that Paul and Barnabas had not revealed their real identity. Had they entered the city emblazoning the fact that they were Christians, the rulers of the Jewish religion would never have hailed them with, “Men and brethren.” They took them for orthodox Jews of an high order.
The two travelers had not sought to hide their allegiance to Christ, but they did seek to be all things to all men, in order that they might gain the more.
Paul and Barnabas had nothing of the spirit of cowardice that would pull down the colors, they only sought entrance to the synagogue where they might raise them to greater advantage.
When the rulers asked them to speak, they had obtained just what they wanted,-the privilege of proclaiming Christ in the citadel of those who rejected and repulsed Him.
IV. THE MESSAGE NEEDED (Act 13:16)
We will not consider Paul’s words in detail, which he delivered upon the opportunity afforded him by the rulers. We can only now note some outstanding features of that message.
1. Paul began with a common ground, where both he and his auditors stood.
It was the part of wise strategy for Paul to first emphasize certain great underlying facts which were well known and accepted by the rulers of the Jews and by the Jewish nation. In this Paul accomplished several things. First of all, he established the fact that he knew the Scriptures, and was well versed in Jewish lore. Secondly, he won his way into their confidences by acknowledging the good that was in them. Paul had, however, in reserve, some very vital things to say, concerning Christ, These things were not accepted by the Jews, and yet they were based upon the very things that the Jews did believe. Thus, thirdly, by expounding the basic facts of the Jewish Scriptures, Paul was laying deeply the foundations upon which he was about to build the message concerning Jesus Christ.
2. Paul quickly presented the indissoluble link between the old and the new. As Paul led the people to David, God’s first great appointed king over Israel, he also spoke of David’s seed which God, according to His promise, had raised up unto Israel, even Jesus Christ, a Saviour.
The Apostle did not make wild fire statements, that were controvertible. He builded his statements upon the more sure Word of God. He proved his contentions by plain and positive Scriptures that could brook no denial We who contend for the faith must be certain of our statements. We must build upon the Word of God. We must rightly divide the Word of Truth.
3. Paul made plain that the errors of the rulers of Israel were caused by their ignorance of, and unbelief in, the very Word of God. He had just listened to the reading of the Law and of the Prophets in the Jewish Synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia. He now reminded the people that those Prophets were read each Sabbath in the Temple. Then said he, “They that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, * * knew Him not, nor yet the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath day.”
There is nothing comparable to the power of the Word of God when it is faithfully presented in the Spirit. Jesus Christ used the Bible as a drawn sword to meet the devil in the wilderness. Satan quoted Scripture also, but he misquoted and also misapplied it. Christ responded with Scripture, rightly dividing it, and Satan fell back defeated.
For Paul to have argued with human reasonings against the Jews that day in Antioch, would have been no more than folly. Paul did nothing more or less than open up the Scriptures, and thus illumine the minds of his hearers. He answered error by truth, and not by mere words of human or scholastic wisdom.
Until our preachers and laity are men of one book, versed in the Word of God, we can never meet the encroachments of religious unbelief. We must either be able to show up the errors of the false, by the luster of the true, or else we must succumb to error.
4. Paul dealt with candid criticism against the men who rejected the Truth. The Apostle went so far as to quote the Prophet’s word, “Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish.”
Before Paul had completed his charge, he had convinced many of the error of their ways. We will never win dissenters from the faith by conceding to them the possibility of their being right. There are never two opposite sides to any truth. Truth is truth, and departure from truth is error. Error is heresy, it is corrupting, misleading destructive.
V. A RESUME OF JEWISH HISTORY FROM ABRAHAM TO DAVID (Act 13:17-21)
1. Israel’s first call. Paul said: “The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers.” These words really look back to Abraham.
When God called the fathers and made them His nation, He apportioned unto them their land. Hear these words: “When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the Children of Israel.”
Thus Paul truly said, “The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers.”
2. Israel exalted among strangers. The Apostle is now referring to the coming down of Jacob and his sons and their families to Egypt, The exaltation of Joseph is familiar to all. Then came the years of plenty and the succeeding years of famine. It was during the famine that Joseph made himself known to his brethren, and it was then that Jacob came down. Pharaoh received them gladly. However, as time wore on there rose up a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph. He beheld the ever-increasing group of the sons of Jacob. They were becoming many in number and great in influence and power, and the new Pharaoh feared for his kingdom. Then began the persecutions of Pharaoh-but God was with His own. They grew and multiplied. Finally God raised up Moses as a deliverer, and through him Israel was exalted and delivered, while the hosts of Pharaoh were overthrown in the Red Sea.
All of this marvelous history Paul epitomized in one phrase, “God * * exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought He them out.”
3. Israel suffering in the wilderness. It was after Israel had been brought out of Egypt that God proved them for forty years. Let me read the Old Testament account of God’s testings during those sad and disappointing years. “He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not. * * Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.” All of this was done that God might know what was in their heart, and whether they would keep His commandments or no.
Paul thus summarizes the period of the forty years of wandering: “About the time of forty years suffered He their manners in the wilderness.”
4. Israel settled in the land of Canaan. After the wilderness experience and the purging that those years brought about, God led the Children of Israel into Canaan by the way of the Jordan and of Jericho. This was the fourth stage in Israel’s national life, Joshua was then their leader. We know how the walls of Jericho fell down flat. We know how the fear of Israel fell upon the nations. The land which God has given unto His people for an inheritance was infested by seven nations whose cup of iniquity was full. These nations were overthrown and cast out, and Israel entered into their possessions, each tribe having their own distinctive and God-ordered portion.
All of this presents a most fascinating and instructive story of God’s dealings upon which Paul might easily have dwelt at length. However, the Apostle summed it all up in one word, even this, “And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, He divided their land to them by lot.”
5. Israel under judges. The fifth stage of Israel’s history was that of the period known as “The Judges.” During that time God was Himself the head of His people, and He ruled them under judges. This period was a memorable time of development and of growth. Many marvelous deliverances were granted Israel. The people time and again rebelled against God, and time and again they were delivered into the hands of their enemies. Then they cried unto the Lord and He heard their voice and restored them.
Memorable among the judges of this period were Deborah, and Gideon, and Jephthah, and Samson, and Eli, and Samuel.
Paul passed over the history of each and of all of these and merely mentioned Samuel with this summing up of the period of the judges, “And after that He gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the Prophet.”
6. Israel under their first king. In the days of Samuel the Children of Israel cried for a king. God allowed them to have their own way, and granted them their own desires in the choosing of Saul, the son of Kish, as king. This man Saul was a man superior in brain and brawn. He was a great soldier and the admiration of the nation. However, he was not God’s man, and soon he led Israel into sin, and one disaster after another followed his reign.
When men or nations step aside from God’s choice, and walk in their own way, they will assuredly come to sorrow.
Paul simply says, “And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.”
7. Israel under David. Saul had hurried through the earlier history of Israel because he was leading up to a great climax. He hurriedly mentioned great historic events, some of which covered as much as four hundred years, each, because he was building a foundation for an argument that would present the real objective of his address.
VI. A CULMINATING PLEA CONCERNING JESUS CHRIST (Act 13:22-26)
After Paul’s historical survey of Israel’s past, from Abraham to David, he immediately turned the discussion to David’s seed and greater Son, even to Jesus their Saviour. He said: “Of this man’s seed hath God according to His promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus.”
This simple statement has many great truths hidden in its depths.
1. Jesus was born of David’s line, according to the flesh. The genealogy of Mary is given in Luke’s Gospel, and it carries it back to David, by the way of Nathan, David’s son. Joseph, Mary’s husband was also of the seed of David, along the kingly line, from David through Solomon. Thus, both Mary and Joseph sprang from David but through different sons.
2. Jesus came according to promise. Paul certainly believed that what God had said, He was able to perform.
3. Jesus was raised up unto Israel. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles did not forget that to Israel Christ first came, preaching repentance. Jesus Himself said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the House of Israel.” He came into the world, but He came unto His own. Christ said unto the Twelve, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
4. Jesus was raised unto Israel a Saviour. This was Paul’s fourth great statement in the enclosure of one simple verse, which read in its entirety:-“Of this man’s seed hath God according to His promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus.”
VII. THE IGNORANCE OF THE RULERS (Act 13:27-29)
“For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.”
1. The rulers knew Him not. Paul is now drawing his message rapidly to a close, and he, having established the fact of Christ’s coming and of His Deity, begins to explain the attitude of the rulers, the Jews who crucified Christ.
First of all he says, “They knew Him not.” These words are in line with the testimony of the Holy Spirit through John, He “came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.” Paul goes just a little bit further. He intimated that Israel received Him not because they knew Him not. All of this is passing strange. Every mark of His Deity, and every signet of His personality, had been so fully detailed in the Prophets, that the rulers should have known Him when He came, yet they knew Him not.
2. They knew Him not because they knew not the Prophets. Had they known the voices of the Prophets they certainly would have known the Christ, for the Prophets spoke of Christ. On the Emmaus road, Jesus found no difficulty in discoursing upon the things concerning Himself, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets.
Strangest of all, the rulers neither knew Christ, nor the voices of the Prophets, although they read the Prophets every Sabbath Day. They had a knowledge of the verbage of the prophetical Scriptures, but they made them void by their vain reasoning.
3. They fulfilled the Prophets in condemning Christ. Stranger than all strange things is this-The rulers, because they knew Him not, nor yet the voices of the Prophets, fulfilled everything the Prophets had said concerning Christ’s death. Their very going about to slay Him; their giving Him gall for His meat, and vinegar for His drink; their dividing His raiment by the casting of lots; their surrounding His Cross like bulls, and compassing Him like dogs; their piercing His hands and His feet-these and many other things had all been written in the Prophets, and all of them they had ignorantly fulfilled.
4. They desired that He should be slain. The rulers with envy delivered Him, condemning Him before their High Priest and before Pilate. They smote Him, they spat upon Him, they placed a crown of thorns upon His brow, and yet they found no cause of death in Him. They desired of Pilate that He should be slain, although they had no charge against Him which they could sustain. These were the words with which Paul pressed home his message before the gathered crowds in Antioch of Pisidia.
Paul said that when they had fulfilled all that was written of Him they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a sepulcher. Paul is emphasizing that, step by step, the Jews with wicked hands were doing the very things that the Prophets had said would be done.
VIII. GOD’S VINDICATION OF CHRIST (Act 13:30-31)
“But God raised him from the dead: And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people” (Act 13:30-31).
After Paul had shown the villainy of the people, and yet withal, the purposes of God in the death of Christ, he showed that God gave glory to Christ in that He raised Him from the dead. The resurrection of Christ was the vindication of every claim to Deity that Christ had ever made. God raised Him from the dead and declared Him the Son of God with power. God raised Him from the dead that He might also declare Him “a Prince and a Saviour,”
Had the grave held Jesus, as it held all other men, Jesus had not been God. Had the body of Christ gone the usual route of “dust to dust,” “earth to earth,” “ashes to ashes,” He would have remained for ever covered with shame and spitting. However, God raised Him up.
IX. PAUL’S TWO GREAT THEREFORES (Act 13:38; Act 13:40)
1.The “first therefore.”
“God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Paul likewise recounts-
1.Jesus, the Man,-Abraham’s Seed.
2.Jesus, the Man, slain.
3.Jesus, the Man, raised up. Then comes his “THEREFORE.”
“Through this Man is preached”
4.”The forgiveness of sins.”
5.Justification “from all things.”
What we want now to accomplish is to set forth the results which God obtained for us in Christ, born, crucified, raised.
6.Through Christ we have forgiveness. He who feels the curse of his sins heavy upon him; he who is weighed down under the burden of his sin, realizing the wrath of God, and seeks relief, even the forgiveness of sin, can find it only in Jesus Christ, born of the seed of David, and yet begotten of the Holy Ghost. This, however, is not enough. He can find it only in Jesus Christ, God’s Substitute in sacrificial death, and in Jesus Christ proclaimed God’s acknowledged and accepted sacrifice, as shown in His resurrection.
7.Through Christ we have justification. Paul was not preaching a new doctrine when he taught that by Christ believers were justified from all things.
Paul knew the inability of the Law to justify those who broke the Law. He knew that by the Law came the curse. That the Law wrought wrath.
2.Paul’s second great “therefore.”
“Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the Prophets; behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.”
This second “therefore” carries a warning most applicable to the Jew, yet just as vitally applicable to the unbelieving Gentile, both of that day, and also of ours.
After Christ has died for us, and God, upholding His own honor and glory, has provided for us a way of forgiveness and of justification, God pity the despisers who perish.
X. THE AFTERMATH OF PAUL’S SERMON AT ANTIOCH (Act 13:43-52)
1. Many Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas. Paul spake to these persuading them to continue in the Grace of God.
2. The next Sabbath Day came almost the whole city together to hear the Word of God, It must have been a wonderful sight to see the great throngs pressing their way to hear Paul proclaim the Word of God.
3. The Jews seeing the multitudes were filled with envy. Some among Jews, no doubt, believed, but the masses of the Jews spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Some believed, but the most believed not.
4. Paul and Barnabas turned to the Gentiles. They admitted that it was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken to the Jews, but since they put it from them and judged themselves unworthy of everlasting life, Paul turned to the Gentiles, “For,” said he, “so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.”
5. The Gentiles glorified the Word of the Lord. When Paul and Barnabas turned to the Gentiles they were glad, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. The result was that the Word of the Lord was published throughout all those regions.
Israel, proving herself unworthy, was broken off; and the Gentiles were grafted in. From that day until this, covering a period of twenty centuries, God has been taking out of the nations a people for His Name. Not all, mark you, but only those who believe among the Gentiles are saved.
6. The Jews raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas. As the Word of the Lord swept its way throughout all that region, the unbelieving Jews stirred up devout and honorable women and the chief men of the city, and thus they expelled the two evangelists out of their coasts. As the two men left they shook off the dust of their feet against them. In this was fulfilled that which was spoken by the Lord, If they have hated Me, they will hate you; “if they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” Our Lord Jesus is now exiled from earth, despised and rejected of men. What then can we who follow Him, preaching His Name, expect? “In the world ye shall have tribulation.”
There is, however, a bright side to every cloud. The last verse of the chapter reads-“And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.” The world may be filled with wrath and anger against the Son of God, but the Church rejoices and praises God for all His wondrous mercy, and the salvation which He has brought.
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
7
Act 13:7. -Sergius Paulus was the deputy (acting governor) of the island, which was a part of the Roman Empire. This man was prudent (very intelligent) and wished to hear what Barnabas and Saul were preaching.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 13:7. The deputy of the country. The word rendered deputy is the Greek term for the Latin proconsul. In the Roman empire there were two classes of provincial governments. The one class was under the direction of the senate and people. In these senatorial provinces the presence of an armed force was not supposed to be needed to ensure a peaceful administration. The rulers of these peaceful provinces were termed proconsuls; they carried with them into their governments the ensigns of a consul, the lictors and the fasces. These held office at first only for a year, but this restriction was after a time relaxed, and these governors remained five years, or longer, in office. Such a province was Cyprus.
The other class of provincesless peaceful, as it was supposed, needing the presence of a military force to preserve orderwere governed by a military officer styled a propraetor or legatus, appointed by and removed at the pleasure of the emperor. Syria was a province of this description. The sub – districts of these imperial provinces were under the charge of procurators. Judea, at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, was under the charge of one of these, the procurator Pontius Pilate, whose commanding officer was the legatus of Syria.
Sergius Paulus. Nothing certain is known of this Roman official. Renan (St. Paul, chap. 1) suggests that he may fairly be identified with the naturalist of this name mentioned by Pliny.
A prudent manbetter rendered a man of understanding. The proconsul was one of those many high-class Romans of that period, who, finding no satisfaction in the strange, fantastic system of idolatry at Rome and the East, sought for a nobler faith. It was this restless, uneasy spirit which led Sergius Paulus, while seeking truth, to make a friend of the wandering Magian Elymas, who professed to be a Jewone of that strange nation which claimed for ages the title of the exclusive servants of the one true God.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
See notes one verse 6
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Verse 7
The deputy; the Roman officer who had command of the island.