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. AND NOW, BEHOLD, THE HAND OF THE LORD IS UPON THEE, AND THOU SHALT BE BLIND, NOT SEEING, [ mee (G3361) blepoon (G991): see the note at Acts 9:9 ] THE SUN FOR A SEASON - the temporary character of the judgment being mercifully designed to lead him to repentance. But the tradition that it did so is hardly to be depended on. And immediately there fell on him a mist (as the consequence of this) and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by th...

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, _(1 Corinthians 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, (Acts 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 we

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 13:11. _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

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, 1 Corinthians 5:5;...

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 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...

ACTS 13:11 paracrh/ma, te External evidence is divided between paracrh/ma, te, read by î45 a C 81 623 1175 vg syrp copbo eth, and paracrh/ma de,, read by î74 A B E H L P most minuscules syrh copsa arm, while codex Bezae goes its own way with kai. euvqe,wj. The frequent use of te in Acts and Luke’s fondness for paracrh/ma (all but two of its 18 occurrences in the New Testament are in Luke-Acts) led the Committee to prefer the reading of î45 a C 81 _al_....

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 ...