We notice, first, the accuracy of the title proconsul, ap- plied to the governor of Cyprus. The remarkable incident that follows is connected with a definite individual, who is named and characterised. He was Sergius Paulus, a man of ability.2 A Greek inscription of Soloi8 on the north coast of Cyprus is dated " in the proconsulship of Paulus," who probably is the same governor that played a part in the strange and interesting scene now to be described.
1 In classical Greek the meaning would be " put questions to them " ; and perhaps that is the sense here.
2 f-weros (in Attic) " of practical ability," tro^w " cultivated ".
8 Found and made known by General Cesnola : but more accurately and completely published in Mr. D. G. Hogarth's Devia Cypria, p. 114.
Sec. 2. Paphos. 75
The order and style of narrative adopted in this incident is noteworthy in itself, and instructive in regard to the author's plan and his conception of history. He directs the reader's attention first to the prominent figure round whom the incident is centred: "in Paphos they found a certain Bar-jesus ". Nothing is said about the length of residence in Paphos, nor about the conduct of the missionaries in the earlier part of their visit Before anything else is mentioned about Paphos, Bar-jesus is named, and then it is explained who he was and how the missionaries came in contact with him. The order of narrative does not follow the order of time, but is guided by the special interest felt by the author, i.e., he seizes first the detail or the personage that is most important in his eyes.
If we attempt to follow the order of development in time, the incident might be thus described. The missionaries came to Paphos. There they began preaching in the synagogues as they had done in other cities. They soon acquired notoriety and were talked about through the city ; and the report about these strangers who were teaching a new kind of philosophy reached the Roman governor's ears. The governor was a highly educated man, interested in science and philosophy ; and his attention was caught by the report of the two strangers, who were giving public teaching in rhetoric and moral philosophy (p. 271).
Travellers of that class were well known at the time. Those who aimed at high rank and fame as teachers of philosophy often travelled through the great cities of the Empire, giving public demonstrations of their skill : thus they became famous, and were accepted finally in some of the great universities as established teachers and Professors of Philosophy or Morals.
76 Journey of Barnabas and Said. Chap. IV.
The governor, Sergius Paulus, then invited or com- manded— a Roman proconsul's invitation was equivalent to a command — the two travellers to his court, and sought to hear a specimen of their skill and a demonstration of their philosophy on the subject which, as he had been in- formed, was their favourite topic, the nature of God and His action towards human beings. The exposition which they gave seemed to him striking and excellent ; and the marked effect which it produced on him was apparent to all who were in his train (who in Roman language would be termed his comites). Among these was a Jew, Etoimas Bar-jesus by name, a man skilled in the lore and the un- canny arts and strange powers of the Median priests or magi. On v. 6 see p. 115.
It is often said that the governor was "under the influence of" the Magian ; implying the view that the mind of Sergius Paulus was dominated by Bar-jesus, but that the Roman, deeply impressed by the way in which Paul seemed to overpower the Magian, recognised the new master as more powerful than the old, and thus passed under the influence of a better teacher. This account seems to me not to be consistent with the text, and to give a far too un- favourable conception of the governor's character ; while it certainly conveys rather a vulgar idea of the way in which Paul's teaching first affected the Roman world. According to the conception of Luke's method as a historian, which guides us in this attempt to realise the facts, the words of Acts require a different interpretation. The author, who is singularly delicate, concise, and appropriate in his use of language, would not have praised Sergius Paulus as "a man of understanding," when describing the relation in which the Magian stood to him, if he had understood