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. WHICH WAS WITH THE DEPUTY OF THE COUNTRY, [ sun (G4862) too (G3588) anthupatoo (G446)]. It should have been rendered, 'with the proconsul,' or (retaining the original word) 'with the Anthupatos;' for this name was reserved for the governors of settled provinces, that were placed under the Roman Senate, and is never given in the New Testament to Pilate, Festus, or Felix, who were but procurators, or subordinate administrators of unsettled, imperial, military provinces. Now, since Augustus had reserved Cyprus for himself, its governor would in that case have been not a pro...

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....

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 13:7. _THE DEPUTY OF THE COUNTRY_] ανθυπατω, 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_....

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 administratio...

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

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...

DEPUTY proconsul (Roman)....

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 ...