---

1. Evangelistic work hitherto had been sporadic, the mere result of circumstances, or the prompting of spiritual instinct. The Church had made no direct effort to carry the truth abroad. But now Antioch has the honour of sending out the first heralds of the Cross. The vessel which carried them bore in the highest sense the fortune of the world. The two strangers were inaugurating a new era, and commencing a work which should be repeated, until every people shall have its sanctuary and its Scriptures, and the world bow to the happy reign of the Lord Jesus.

2. The evangelists landed at the nearest port, that of Salamis, which had a number of synagogues, while other towns usually had but one. It is to be borne in mind that numerous proselytes must have been in those synagogues, for paganism had greatly lost its hold, and the unsatisfied spirit of many sought refuge in Judaism. Such minds were the more easily impressed by the gospel, for they would find in it a doctrine that spoke to their inmost longings. A preference was given to the Jews. How could it have been otherwise? It was impossible even in the apostle of the Gentiles to throw off the attachments of blood and kindred.

3. Barnabas and Saul went through the whole isle as far as Paphos, a place infamous for its temple and dissolute worship. Here the gospel came again into contact with the magic of the East. Already it had confronted Simon at Samaria. Bar-Jesus — son of Jesus or Joshua, "was with the governor" — had attached himself to his court, and probably exercised no little sway over him as a confidential adviser. The proconsul had apparently thrown off the religion of his country, but had adopted none other. His soul was groping in darkness, scarce knowing what it yearned after. To a mind in such a state any doctrine claiming Divine authority is welcome, and the theology of this Jewish magician must have to some extent commended itself. It brought with it the unity and spirituality of the Divine Being — a refreshing doctrine to a mind wearied out with the very names of numberless divinities. But he was not satisfied, and the same desire that brought him under the power of Elymas led him to send for the preachers of a new religion. He could not be supposed to know much of the gospel, yet he seems to style it "the Word of God," for it was in its character of a Divine revelation that he wished to hear it. It was not speculation or philosophy that his soul thirsted after.

4. The addresses of the evangelists produced a deep impression on the mind of the proconsul. The sorcerer could not suffer those impressions to be deepened. His selfish schemes would all vanish if his patron should yield to the teaching of this two strangers. So he sought "to turn away the deputy from the faith." How, is not known; probably by sophistry and malignant insinuation. But so pertinacious was he and dexterous, that an example must be made of him; and Saul's first miracle must be one of judgment on a spiteful and irreclaimable adversary. The contest was, whether Elymas the sorcerer or the truth of Christ was to have the ascendency.

5. Saul, henceforth to be named Paul, has been during this mission rising to a full conception of his apostolical dignity and prerogative. "The Spirit of God came upon him" to do a mightier act than Samson ever did by the same influence. Intensely conscious of his position and what it involved at that awful moment, and looking on the wizard with an eye that read his soul, the anathema burst from his lips. "Filled with the Holy Ghost" — armed with a supernatural power to chastise the incorrigible — Paul said: "O full of all subtilty" — a master of low cunning and ingenious retort. "And all mischief" — facility of evil-working. "Thou child of the devil" — not a child of Jesus, as thy name is — proving thy lineage by showing thy father's spirit and doing thy father's work. "Thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?" Not only the gospel, but also the old dispensation, which he contrived either to give a crooked turn, that it might lead in an opposite direction, or made it such a labyrinth that none could find their way in it save such as paid him for the clue.

6. The apostle adds the terrible words (ver. 11). This challenge was Paul's first conscious putting forth of supernatural power. Strange that his earliest miracle should be one of doom — the infliction of such a blindness as in the moment of his conversion had come upon himself. That blindness was a symbol of Elymas' spirit and work. His moral sense was blunted, and in attempting to sway Sergius Paulus, it was the blind leading the blind, while he needed to be led himself. His sin might be read in his judgment. His boast was of insight, but he was taught that he saw nothing. Infliction coming direct from God's hand, often takes its shape from the crime. Ham mocked his father, and his doom was one of servitude, under which a father's claims are ignored, Abimelech wished to add Sarah to his harem, and sterility was the penalty of his household. Israel, God's first born, are kept in bondage, and Pharaoh's first born fall before the destroying angel. Jeroboam put forth his hand against "the man of God which had cried against the altar in Bethel," "and his hand dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him." When Herod accepted homage as a god, his godship "was eaten up of worms, and gave up the ghost."

7. Paul had risen to the dignity and authority of his apostolate. He had a "power to edification," though it now assumed a terrific aspect; and the deputy, awed and overcome, believed, "being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord." He was awe-struck, and unable to refuse his assent. He could not allow the sorcerer to trifle with him any longer, nor durst he longer "halt between two opinions." Thus judgment and mercy have been often associated. "Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God!"

(J. Eadie, D. D.)

---

---

KJV: And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

WEB: Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.