Who was the sorcerer in the King James Bible?īut Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. For the first time, Saul sees Jesus for what he really is, and his spiritual blindness is healed. Being healed from his physical blindness highlights his spiritual awakening. Saul was spiritually blind when he “saw the light” on the road to Damascus. What does the Bible say about Paul’s blindness?Īcts 9 – Paul’s Blindness. But Elymas the sorcerer (that is the meaning of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. Who was the sorcerer that tried to turn the proconsul away?īut Elymas the sorcerer (for that is how his name is translated) opposed them, trying to turn the proconsul away from accepting the faith. Paul’s first missionary journey begins, and he strikes Elymas the sorcerer blind. This page is a verse by verse study of Acts 13:1-12. And in Greek, pharmakeia could mean magic, sorcery, witchcraft, enchantment, drugs or medication. What is the biblical meaning of the word sorcery?ġ : the use of power gained from the assistance or control of evil spirits especially for divining : necromancy.īut in the original Greek text, the word used for sorcery was pharmakeia. What did Simon Magus do?Īccording to Acts, Simon was a Samaritan magus or religious figure of the 1st century AD and a convert to Christianity, baptised by Philip the Evangelist…. Simon Magus, (Latin), English Simon the Magician, or The Sorcerer, (flourished 1st century ad), practitioner of magical arts who probably came from Gitta, a village in biblical Samaria. What was the name of the sorcerer in the Bible?
4 Who was the sorcerer that tried to turn the proconsul away?.3 Who was the blind sorcerer in Acts 13?.1 What was the name of the sorcerer in the Bible?.As prophecy, however, this phrase clearly has deeper spiritual meaning.Īdditional information about Simon Magus can be found in these reference works: The eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Schaff's History of the Christian Church Hastings' Dictionary of the Apostolic Church and Dictionary of the Bible Dictionary of Christian Biography and the Encyclopaedia Biblica. Josephus, a Jewish historian of the first century, mentions that Samaritans would falsely claim to be Jews when they thought it was to their advantage to do so ( Antiquities of the Jews, 9.14.3 9.8.6). John's phrase about those "who say they are Jews, and are not, but lie" ( Revelation 3:9) may have its first-century basis in Simon's Samaritan counterfeit of true Christianity. John, the apostle who completed the Bible, placed great emphasis on Christians keeping God's commandments ( I John 2:3-6). Jude 4, for example, is rather pointed against Simon's principal doctrine-the heresy that one does not have to obey God's laws after conversion. There are veiled references to Simon's false Christianity and similar heretical sects in the New Testament. It cannot be denied that a connection is possible, and may have existed between the two, that is between Simon Magus and some of the gnostic heresies but the facts of history show widespread tendencies at work, during and even before the Apostolic age, which amply account for the rise of Gnosticism. The exact origin of Gnosticism is certainly difficult to trace, but there is little or no indication that it arose from the incidents narrated in Acts 8. In the midst of the various legends regarding Simon, it may be that there is a substratum of fact, of such a nature that future investigation and discovery will justify these early Christian writers in their judgment, and will show that Simon Magus is not to be overlooked as one of the sources from which Gnosticism sprang. Perhaps they were right, "but from the very little authentic information we possess, it is impossible to ascertain how far he was identified with their tenets" (Alford, New Testament, II, 86). The early Christian writers took this view, and regarded Simon Magus as the founder of Gnosticism. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia comes to this conclusion about him based on what is available from history: He invented a new religion by blending his own version of the doctrine of grace with elements of the old Babylonian mysteries and attaching Christ's name to it. In spite of Peter's stinging rebuke (verses 20-23), tradition and various legends say Simon presented himself as a Christian apostle, particularly in Rome. The Bible records this historic event in Acts 8:9-24. Simon was the Samaritan sorcerer who professed conversion to Christianity and sought to buy an apostleship.
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