Kisah Para Rasul 8:9-12

8:9 Now in that city was a man named Simon, who had been practicing magic ¹  and amazing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great. 8:10 All the people, ²  from the least to the greatest, paid close attention to him, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called ‘Great.’” ³  8:11 And they paid close attention to him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God ⁴  and the name of Jesus Christ, ⁵  they began to be baptized, ⁶  both men and women.

Kisah Para Rasul 13:8-12

13:8 But the magician Elymas ⁷  (for that is the way his name is translated) ⁸  opposed them, trying to turn the proconsul ⁹  away from the faith. 13:9 But Saul (also known as Paul), ¹⁰  filled with the Holy Spirit, ¹¹  stared straight ¹²  at him 13:10 and said, “You who are full of all deceit and all wrongdoing, ¹³  you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness – will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? ¹⁴  13:11 Now ¹⁵  look, the hand of the Lord is against ¹⁶  you, and you will be blind, unable to see the sun for a time!” Immediately mistiness ¹⁷  and darkness came over ¹⁸  him, and he went around seeking people ¹⁹  to lead him by the hand. 13:12 Then when the proconsul ²⁰  saw what had happened, he believed, ²¹  because he was greatly astounded ²²  at the teaching about ²³  the Lord.

[8:9]  ¹ tn On the idiom προϋπῆρχεν μαγεύων (prouphrcen mageuwn) meaning “had been practicing magic” see BDAG 889 s.v. προϋπάρχω.

[8:10]  ² tn Grk “all of them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:10]  ³ tn Or “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” The translation “what is called the Great Power of God” is given by BDAG 263 s.v. δύναμις 5, but the repetition of the article before καλουμένη μεγάλη (kaloumenh megalh) suggests the translation “the power of God that is called ‘Great.’”

[8:12]  ⁴ sn The kingdom of God is also what Jesus preached: Acts 1:3. The term reappears in 14:22; 19:8; 28:23, 31.

[8:12]  ⁵ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[8:12]  ⁶ tn The imperfect verb ἐβαπτίζοντο (ebaptizonto) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[13:8]  ⁷ tn On the debate over what the name “Elymas” means, see BDAG 320 s.v. ᾿Ελύμας. The magician’s behavior is more directly opposed to the faith than Simon Magus’ was.

[13:8]  ⁸ sn A parenthetical note by the author.

[13:8]  ⁹ sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.

[13:9]  ¹⁰ sn A parenthetical note by the author.

[13:9]  ¹¹ sn This qualifying clause in the narrative indicates who represented God in the dispute.

[13:9]  ¹² tn Or “gazed intently.”

[13:10]  ¹³ tn Or “unscrupulousness.”

[13:10]  ¹⁴ sn “You who…paths of the Lord?” This rebuke is like ones from the OT prophets: Jer 5:27; Gen 32:11; Prov 10:7; Hos 14:9. Five separate remarks indicate the magician’s failings. The closing rhetorical question of v. 10 (“will you not stop…?”) shows how opposed he is to the way of God.

[13:11]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “And now.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[13:11]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “upon,” but in a negative sense.

[13:11]  ¹⁷ sn The term translated mistiness here appears in the writings of the physician Galen as a medical technical description of a person who is blind. The picture of judgment to darkness is symbolic as well. Whatever power Elymas had, it represented darkness. Magic will again be an issue in Acts 19:18-19. This judgment is like that of Ananias and his wife in Acts 5:1-11.

[13:11]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “fell on.”

[13:11]  ¹⁹ tn The noun χειραγωγός (ceiragwgo") is plural, so “people” is used rather than singular “someone.”

[13:12]  ²⁰ sn See the note on proconsul in v. 8.

[13:12]  ²¹ sn He believed. The faith of the proconsul in the face of Jewish opposition is a theme of the rest of Acts. Paul has indeed become “a light to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:47).

[13:12]  ²² tn The translation “greatly astounded” for ἐκπλησσόμενος (ekplhssomeno") is given by L&N 25.219.

[13:12]  ²³ tn Grk “of,” but this could give the impression the Lord himself had done the teaching (a subjective genitive) when actually the Lord was the object of the teaching (an objective genitive).