The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 407

than Zoroaster: eo muoh more reoent ls the long been his Roman nnmA, but that the eohool of Oyprue:" showing tho.t he knew conversion of Ser~iu~ Panlus, as it were, of a eohool of mngio art at Cyprus t1tught stereotyped the Roman name an that by by Jews, ond loading ue to infer tl11it he whioh the apostle was henceforth to lie hod acquired thle knowleclge either from known. The idea of Augustine an,l othrrs, tho pen or the mouth of Sergius Paulus. that he took the name of Paul (priulu.,, Anyhow, o remarko.ble oonfirmation of St. small) from humility, to indicate that he Luke's narrotivo, Another Scrgius Paulus, w~ "the_ least" of the, apo,tles, is fanciful. who might be a son or granclsou of the pro- Neither IB Chrysostom s assertion that he oonsul, is highly commencled by Galen for changed his name at his ordidation or his eminent philosophical attainments consecration, borne out by the facts. Renan (Lewin, vol. i. p. 127), One L. Sergius (' Saint Paul,' i. 19) notes that "P::.ul" was Paulus was consul suffectns in A.D. 94, a very common name in Cilicia. No cer- another in A.D, 168. Rencm thinks they may tainty can be arrived at in the matter. have been descendants of the Sergiua Paulus Ver. 10.-All gui'le ana all villainy for all in the text. aublilty and all mischief, A.V.; son ror child Ver. 8.-Tum a8ide for tum affla'!J, A. V.; A.Y. The word p<fiitoup,-ia., reckless conduc~ proconsul for deputy, A.V. Elyma.s, from villainy, wickedness, is only found here in the Ara.hie elim, plural oulema, a wise the New Testament. The kindred form man, a wizard, a magician. But Renan (p<fiito6p-y>7µa) occurs in eh. xviii. H. Thon son thinks this derivation doubtful. Elymae of the devil (comp. John viii. 38, H; 1 John withstood Barnabas and Saul just as iii. 10). Elymas showed himself a child nf Jannos and Jambree withstood Moses (2 the devil in his endeavours to resist tho Tim. iii. 8, a.11TtO'T1JO'a.11). truth of the gospel, and substitute his own Ver. 9.-But for then, A.V.: is also for falsehoods and imposture. Compare the also is, A.V.: fastened for set, A.V. (above, severity of Peter's language in rebukin" oh, iii.. 4, note). Who is also called Paul. Simon I\Iagus (eh. viii._ 20-23). Probably, The explanation of Jerome, Augustine, Bede, too, he accused (lidfJa.>..•11) Paul and Dar- and many modern commentators, as Meyer, nabas, and traduced their motives before Olshaueen, eto., and not rejected by Renan, the proconsul, when he saw hie own is that Saul took the name of Paul on the influence being undermined, and hie gains occasion of this remarkable and important likely to be stopped. conversion of SergiUB Paulus. Saul's future Ver. 11.-Is upon thee; or rather, again~t intercourse with Gentiles made it desirable thee (Matt. x. 21; xxvi. 55: Luke xi. 17: that, after the common custom of the Jews and ver. 50 of this chapter). For a season. of his day-as seen in Peter, Stephen, Mark, It has been well observed that this limita- Lucius, Jason, Orispns, Justus, Niger, tion in time is an indication that there was Aquila, Priscilla, Drusilla eto.-he should place for repentance. It was a remedial have a Gentile name, and so, in honour cho.stisement. A mist (~xAos); ouly here in of his illustrious convert, or in memory of the New Testament; but it is a medical his conversion, or at the special request of term, very common in Hippocrates, to express Bergius Paulus (Baroniue), he took the a darkening and dimming of the eyes by name of Paul, which in sound was not cataract or other disease. As regards the uulike his Hebrew name. The fact of this reason why the particular punishment of change of name being recorded by St. Luke blindness was inflicted upon Elymas, it at this precise moment makes this the most might be to pnt a forcible interruption upon simple and natural explann.tion. Compare those observations of the stars and clouds Gideon's change of name to Jerubbaal by which the magicio.n pretended to foresee (Judg. vi. 32: vii. 1: viii. 29, 35). Alford, the future. It would exhibit, too, to Sergins on the other hand, thinks it strange thai Paulus the utter helplessness of the great any one should make such a mistake a9 necromancer. Some to lead him by the Jerome's, and says that "this notice marko hand Cx"P"'l'"''l'oos), as Saul had needed the transition from the former part of his X"Pa.'l'"''l'oii11Ta.s when he was struck bliud by history"-" gn.thered from tile narratives of the vision of the Saviour's glory ( oh. i:s:. 8). others "-to "tile joint memoirs of himself Ver. 12.-The proconsul for the deputy, and St. Paul." But this gives no account A.V.; teaching for doctrine, A. V. llelieved. of the coincidence of the two Paule, nor is We cannot, perhaps, oonclnde positively it true that the latter half of the Aots begins from this that SergiWI was baptized and here. It began at ver, 1, and the no.me of became an avowed Christian, though the Baul baa been retained three times in tho usual language of the Aots rather leads us early part of this chapter. Farrar speaks of to infer it (see ver. 48: oh. ii. 4¼; iv. -i; viii. this explanation as " long and deservedly 12, 13 ; xi. 21; xix. 18). FILl'l'Br thinks that abandoned," and as havin<> in it an element if so marked a person had btcome a lildou,, of vulgarity. .E[ow,oll tbiuks i1mt .Paul had couvert, we sbould have heard ofhi!ll I\, :iuoh  "!'HE AOTS 011' THE APOSTLES. [OR, mr. 1-62.