Acts
13:1 ¶ Now there were in the church that
was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was
called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with
Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they
ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas
and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid
their hands on them, they sent them away.
Besides Barnabas, at
Antioch there was Simeon also called Niger meaning black in Latin. There was
Lucius of Cyrene in North Africa, and Manaen who may have been an acquaintance
of Herod in his youth, and Saul. The Holy Ghost chose Barnabas and Saul for a
mission.
Acts
13:4 ¶ So they, being sent forth by the
Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.
5 And when they were at Salamis, they
preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to
their minister. 6 And when they
had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false
prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus: 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. 8 But Elymas the
sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn
away the deputy from the faith. 9 Then
Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes
on him, 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?
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. 12
Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished
at the doctrine of the Lord. 13 Now when
Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and
John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.
Seleucia
was Antioch’s seaport, about 16 miles from it. This
is not a reference to the Seleucia on the Tigris river in what would become
present day Iraq. Cyprus is
strategically located island in the Eastern Mediterranean that contained at
that time numerous religious sites. It was divided into four main districts;
Salamis, Paphos, Amathous, and Lapethos.
Here we have Saul’s new
name, Paul, which may have been a nickname as it means, according to Strong; small
or little. Perhaps, Paul was a short man. It is interesting that one of Paul’s
first miracles was to make someone else blind temporarily considering what
happened to him.
Northwest of Cyprus on
what is now the Turkish mainland but was then the Roman province of Asia was
the region of Pamphylia. The city of Perga was known for its worship of Diana,
known in Greek as Artemis.
Notice here that John
Mark leaves the work and returns to Jerusalem. This will become a point of
great contention later between Barnabas and Paul.
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