[73] 2. PAPHOS. (XIII 6) AND WHEN THEY HAD GONE THROUGH THE WHOLE ISLAND UNTO PAPHOS, THEY FOUND A CERTAIN MAN, MAGlAN, PROPHET OF LIES, JEW, BY NAME BAR-JESUS, (7) WHO WAS IN THE COMPANY OF THE PROCONSUL, SERGIUS PAULUS, A MAN OF UNDER- [74] STANDING. THE PROCONSUL SUMMONED TO HIS PRESENCE BARNABAS AND SAUL, AND SOUGHT 1 TO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD. (8) AND THERE STOOD FORTH AGAINST THEM THE MAGlAN, ETOIMAS (Son Of the Ready), FOR SO IS THIS NAME TRANSLATED, SEEKING TO DIVERT THE PROCONSUL FROM THE FAITH. (9) BUT SAUL, OTHERWISE PAUL, FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, LOOKED FIXEDLY AT HIM, (10) AND SAID, "O FULL OF ALL GUILE AND ALL VILLANY, THOU SON OF THE DEVIL, THOU ENEMY OF ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS, WILT THOU NOT CEASE TOPERVERT 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 PROCONSUL, WHEN HE SAW WHAT WAS DONE, BELIEVED, BEING STRUCK TO THE HEART AT THE TEACHING OF THE LORD.

We notice, first, the accuracy of the title proconsul, applied 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 Soloi 3 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.

[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] The governor, Sergius Paulus, then invited or commanded 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 informed, 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 uncanny arts and strange powers of the Median priests or . 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 unfavourable 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 [77] that the Roman was "under the influence of"the false prophet. Either we must say that the author scatters his words heedlessly on the page, or we must understand that these words of praise coming at that precise point exclude any idea of weak submission to the strong personality of the Magian. Moreover the Greek words express the simple fact that the Magian was one of the train of comiteswho always accompanied a Roman governor. Some of these were personal friends who came with him from Rome, others were young Romans of rank who thus gained an insight into administrative life (which as yet they were too young to enter on), others were in official attendance on the governor, and others were provincials, men of letters or of scientific knowledge or of tastes and habits that rendered them agreeable or useful to the great man.

There is also no reason to think that the Magian was an inmate of the proconsul's house. The words do not imply that; and the facts in no way suggest it.

FOOTNOTES

1 In classical Greek the meaning would be "put questions to them"; and perhaps that is the sense here.

2 {ksuvetos} (in Attic) "of practical ability," {sophos} "cultivated".

3 Found and made known by General Cesnola: but more accurately and completely published in Mr. D. G. Hogarth's Devia Cypria, p. 114.