Acts 13:10

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 SAID. Henceforward Barnabas sinks into the background, and Paul is the great figure on the historic canvass. His whole soul, now drawn out as never before, shoots, by the lightning-gaze of his eye, through the dark and tortuous spirit of the sorcerer. What a picture! O FULL OF ALL SUBTILTY AND ALL MISCHIEF, [ radiourgias (G4468)]. The word signifies 'readiness for anything,' knavish dexterity. CHILD, [ huie (G5207)] ('son') OF THE DEVIL, THOU ENEMY OF ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS. These words were not (as Chrysostom well says) w...

10._O thou full of deceit. _It was not without a cause that Paul was thus hot and angry; for he had no hope to do any good if he should deal after some moderate and mild sort. We must always begin with doctrine, and those are also to be admonished, exhorted, and pricked forward, who do not as yet appear to be altogether obstinate. Neither doth Paul so vehemently inveigh against the sorcerer at the first dash; but when he seeth him maliciously and manifestly fight against the doctrine of godliness, he handleth him like a bond-slave of Satan. Thus must we deal with the desperate enemies of the gospel, in whom appeareth open contumacy and wicked contempt of God, especially when they stop the way before others, And lest any man should think that Paul was out of measure angry, Luke saith plainly that the inspiration of the Spirit was his guide. Wherefore this heat of zeal is not only not to b...

4-13 Satan is in a special manner busy with great men and men in power, to keep them from being religious, for their example will influence many. Saul is here for the first time called Paul, and never after Saul. Saul was his name as he was a Hebrew; Paul was his name as he was a citizen of Rome. Under the direct influence of the Holy Ghost, he gave Elymas his true character, but not in passion. A fulness of deceit and mischief together, make a man indeed a child of the devil. And those who are enemies to the doctrine of Jesus, are enemies to all righteousness; for in it all righteousness is fulfilled. The ways of the Lord Jesus are the only right ways to heaven and happiness. There are many who not only wander from these ways themselves, but set others against these ways. They commonly are so hardened, that they will not cease to do evil. The proconsul was astonished at the force of th...

Verse Acts 13:10. _O FULL OF ALL SUBTILTY_] δολου, _Deceit_, pretending to supernatural powers without possessing any, and having only _cunning_ and _deceit_ as their substitutes. _AND-MISCHIEF_] ραδιουργιας, from ραδιος, _easy_, and εργον, _a work_; one who is _ready at his work_; a word which excellently well defines a _juggler_, one who is _expert_ at _sleight of hand_; though it is often employed to signify an abandoned and accomplished villain. _CHILD OF THE DEVIL_] υιε διαβολου, _Son of the devil_, possessing his nature; filled with his cunning; and, in consequence, practising deceit. _ENEMY OF ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS_] εχθρεπασης δικαιοσυνης; Opposed in thy heart to all that is _just, true_, and _good_. Wilt thou not ceas

O FULL OF ALL SUBTILTY AND ALL MISCHIEF - The word “subtilty” denotes “deceit and fraud,” and implies that he was practicing an imposition, and that he knew it. The word rendered “mischief” ῥᾳδιουργίας radiourgias denotes properly “facility of acting,” and then “sleight of hand; sly;, cunning arts, by which one imposes on another, and deceives him with a fraudulent intention.” It is not used elsewhere in the New Testament. The art of Elymas consisted probably in sleight of hand, legerdemain, or trick, aided by skill in the abstruse sciences, by which the ignorant might be easily imposed on. See the notes on Acts 8:9. CHILD OF THE DEVIL - Under his influence; practicing his arts; promoting his designs by deceit and imposture, so that he may be called your father. See the n

EXPOSITION ACTS 13:1 _At Antioch., in the Church that was there _for _in the Church that was at Antioch, _A.V.; _prophets, _etc., for _certain prophets, _etc., A.V. and T.R.; _Barnabas, _etc., for _as Barnabas, _etc., A.V.; _Symeon _for _Simeon, _A.V.; _the foster-brother of _for _which had_ _been brought up with, _A.V. AT ANTIOCH, IN THE CHURCH, etc. Κατὰ τὴν οὖσαν ἐκκλησίαν rather means "the existing Church," just as at αἱ οὖσαι ἐξουσίαι_ _means "the existing powers," "the powers that be," in Romans 13:1, A.V. and T.R. _The then Church _seems mere the meaning than _the Church there. _Luke writes from the standpoint of

AND SAID, O FULL OF ALL SUBTLETY AND ALL MISCHIEF,.... Which may have regard both to his general character as a sorcerer, and a false prophet; in acting up to which he used much deceit and cunning among the people, and did much mischief to them; to which there was a promptness and readiness in him, as the word used signifies; and also to the sophistry he used, and the mischief he endeavoured to do in seeking to turn the deputy from the faith. The minds of carnal men are vain and empty, and destitute of all that is good, and full of all that is evil: their character is, FILLED WITH ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, Romans 1:29. They have many of them a great deal of wit, but it is wicked wit, and they employ it in an evil and mischievous way, both to the hurt of themselves and others; they are like the old serpent, whose seed they are, who was more subtle than any beast of the field; they

PART III The Witness to the Gentiles. The Apostle to the Gentiles; his Ministry and Captivity. Chapter s 13-28 CHAPTER 13 _ 1. The Divine Choice. Barnabas and Saul separated unto the work (Acts 13:1)._ 2. The Beginning of the Journey and the events in Cyprus (Acts 13:4). 3. The Gospel in Galatia. Paul's Address (Acts 13:13). 4. The Gospel rejected by the Jews (Acts 13:42). The thirteenth chapter is the beginning of the third part of this book. The second great center of Christianity comes to the front. It is no longer Jerusalem, but the city of Antioch. The gospel which had been preached in

SUCCESSES IN CYPRUS. Acts 13:4. went down: the usual phrase in connexion with a seaport. SELEUCIA is the port of Antioch, about sixteen miles from it. Acts 13:5. Salamis is the eastern port of Cyprus. IN THE SYNAGOGUES: this was the natural procedure for a Jew with a message bearing on the faith and on the salvation of his race. Ac. develops later a theory as to Paul's practice in addressing Jew and Gentile; the fact as told here may be accepted. What was Mark's function as their attendant? The synagogue was fully supplied with officials, and no services elsewhere are spoken of. Acts 13:6. Paphos is at the W. end of the island, and there Paul, like Peter on his first mission among Gentiles ...

THE FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY (Acts 13:1-3) Acts 13:1-52; Acts 14:1-28 tell the story of the first missionary journey. Paul and Barnabas set out from Antioch. Antioch was 15 miles up the River Orontes so that they actually sailed from Seleucia, its port. From there they went across the sea to Cyprus where they preached at Salamis and Paphos. From Paphos they sailed to Perga in Pamphylia. Pamphylia was a low-lying coastal province and they did not preach there because it did not suit Paul's health. They struck inland and came to Antioch in Pisidia. When things grew too dangerous there they went 90 miles further on to Iconium. Once again their lives were threatened and they moved on to Lystra, about 20 miles away. A