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10 and said, “You who are full of all deceit and all wrongdoing,[a] you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness—will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?[b] 11 Now[c] look, the hand of the Lord is against[d] you, and you will be blind, unable to see the sun for a time!” Immediately mistiness[e] and darkness came over[f] him, and he went around seeking people[g] to lead him by the hand. 12 Then when the proconsul[h] saw what had happened, he believed,[i] because he was greatly astounded[j] at the teaching about[k] the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 13:10 tn Or “unscrupulousness.”
  2. Acts 13:10 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.
  3. Acts 13:11 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.
  4. Acts 13:11 tn Grk “upon,” but in a negative sense.
  5. Acts 13:11 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.
  6. Acts 13:11 tn Grk “fell on.”
  7. Acts 13:11 tn The noun χειραγωγός (cheiragōgos) is plural, so “people” is used rather than singular “someone.”
  8. Acts 13:12 sn See the note on proconsul in v. 8.
  9. Acts 13:12 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).
  10. Acts 13:12 tn The translation “greatly astounded” for ἐκπλησσόμενος (ekplēssomenos) is given by L&N 25.219.
  11. Acts 13:12 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).