Acts 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

. It records the first missionary journey of

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

and

Barnabas Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

and

Pisidia Pisidia (; grc-gre, Πισιδία, ; tr, Pisidya) was a region of ancient Asia Minor located north of Pamphylia, northeast of Lycia, west of Isauria and Cilicia, and south of Phrygia, corresponding roughly to the modern-day province of Ant ...

. The book containing this chapter is anonymous but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascensi ...

.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter is divided into 52 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(AD 325–350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(330–360) *

Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis, designated by siglum D or 05 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 5 (in the von Soden of New Testament manuscript), is a codex of the New Testament dating from the 5th century writ ...

(~400) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400–440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) designated by the siglum C or 04 {in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 3 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a ma ...

(~450; extant verses 2–52) *

Codex Laudianus Codex Laudianus, designated by Ea or 08 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 1001 ( von Soden), called ''Laudianus'' after the former owner, Archbishop William Laud. It is a diglot Latin — Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, palaeo ...

(~550)

Old Testament references

* :

Psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

; * :

* Acts 13:34: Isaiah 55:3 * :

* : * :

New Testament references

* Acts 13:33: Hebrews 1:5; 5:5

Locations

This chapter mentions the following places (in order of appearance): *

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

* Seleucia ( gr, σελευκεια), i.e.

Seleucia Pieria Seleucia in Pieria ( Greek Σελεύκεια ἐν Πιερίᾳ), also known in English as Seleucia by the Sea, and later named Suedia, was a Hellenistic town, the seaport of Antioch ad Orontes ( Syria Prima), the Seleucid capital, modern Ant ...

, the port serving Antioch *

: Salamis,

Paphos Paphos ( el, Πάφος ; tr, Baf) is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. The current city of P ...

Perga Perga or Perge ( Hittite: ''Parha'', el, Πέργη ''Perge'', tr, Perge) was originally an ancient Lycian settlement that later became a Greek city in Pamphylia. It was the capital of the Roman province of Pamphylia Secunda, now located i ...

Pamphylia Pamphylia (; grc, Παμφυλία, ''Pamphylía'') was a region in the south of Asia Minor, between Lycia and Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean to Mount Taurus (all in modern-day Antalya province, Turkey). It was bounded on the north b ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Iconium Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empir ...

Timeline

The first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas took place about AD 47–48.

The church in Antioch (13:1–3)

This section opens the account of Paul's first missionary journey (Acts 13:1-14:28) which starts with a deliberate and prayerful step of the church in Antioch, a young congregation established by those who scattered from persecution in Jerusalem () and has grown into an active missionary church. Paul's mission was not his own initiative, but by the command of the Holy Spirit ( verses 2, 4), with the framework of prayer and fasting forming an inclusio at the end of this first journey ().

Verse 1

: ''Now in the church that was at

there were certain prophets and teachers:'' :: ''

,'' :: '' Simeon who was called Niger,'' :: '' Lucius of Cyrene,'' :: '' Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and'' :: ''

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...

.'' This Lucius of Cyrene is thought to be the same person as mentioned in , or the same as Luke, the writer of the

and the

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

Asimov's Guide to the Bible ''Asimov's Guide to the Bible'' is a work by Isaac Asimov that was first published in two volumes in 1968 and 1969, covering the Old Testament and the New Testament (including the Catholic Old Testament, or deuterocanonical, books (see Catholic ...

. The New Testament. New York: Doubleday. 1969.

Verse 2

: ''As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Now separate to Me

and

for the work to which I have called them."''

Journey from Antioch to Cyprus (13:4–5)

The first main destination of the missionary journey is the island of

, Barnabas' home area (Acts 4:36). There were already believers who scattered due to the persecution in Jerusalem (Acts 11:19), but Barnabas and Saul came on a mission ('sent out by the Holy Spirit', verse 4) to visit formal meeting-places of Jewish communities they pass through (verse 5) to preach the gospel.

Verse 4

: ''So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to

Seleucia Seleucia (; grc-gre, Σελεύκεια), also known as or , was a major Mesopotamian city of the Seleucid empire. It stood on the west bank of the Tigris River, within the present-day Baghdad Governorate in Iraq. Name Seleucia ( grc-gre, ...

, and from there they sailed to

.'' * "They":

and

( Acts 13:2)

The governor and the guru (13:6–12)

The account of Saul/Paul displaying the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit (verse 9) that led a proconsul into faith (verse 12) parallels

Simon Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...

's encounters with

Simon Magus Simon Magus (Greek Σίμων ὁ μάγος, Latin: Simon Magus), also known as Simon the Sorcerer or Simon the Magician, was a religious figure whose confrontation with Peter is recorded in Acts . The act of simony, or paying for position, is ...

(), and with

Ananias and Sapphira Ananias (; he, חָנַנְיָהּ, Chānanyah) and his wife Sapphira (; he, סָפִירַה, Ṣafīrah) were, according to the biblical New Testament in Acts of the Apostles chapter 5, members of the early Christian church in Jerusalem. T ...

(). Paul sharply denounced Elymas using a prophetic language (verses 10–11) that resulted in the latter's blindness using words echoing Paul's own experience in .

Verse 6

: ''Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus,'' It is noted from his failure to recognize the truth of gospel (verse 8) that Elymas is a 'false prophet', using the term ''magus'' (verses 6, 8), which is always in negative sense in the book of Acts ().

Verse 7

: ''who was with the proconsul,

Sergius Paulus Lucius Sergius Paulus or Paullus was a Proconsul of Cyprus under Claudius (1st century AD). He appears in Acts 13:6-12, where in Paphos, Paul, accompanied by Barnabas and John Mark, overcame the attempts of Bar-Jesus (Elymas) "to turn the pro ...

, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.'' The correct Greek title (anthupatos, proconsul) is used for a governor of a senatorial province. A 'Sergius Paulus' is mentioned in a Roman inscription as a holder of an office in Rome under Claudius (at about the same period) and his family also seems to have a tie to

Verse 9

: ''However, Saul (who is the same as Paul), full of the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes on him'' The change of name from Saul (a Hebrew name) to Paul (Latin name; verse 9) is appropriate as he moved deeper into "Gentile territory", and very common for diaspora Jews to have Greek or Latin names alongside their Hebrew names.

Verse 12

: ''Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.'' Luke presents

as the first Gentile ruler to believe the gospel. Unlike Cornelius ( Acts 10:2), there is no evidence that Sergius attended the temple or was a God-fearer. This pagan government official was amazed at the power of God and believed the truth.The Nelson Study Bible. Thomas Nelson, Inc. 1997

Journey from Cyprus to Pisidia (13:13-52)

It is customary for Paul to start his mission by visiting the local synagogue (verse 14). Paul's sermon in a synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia (13:16—41) serves as the centerpiece of a long and tightly constructed travel-and-mission account, moving into new places (13:13-14, 51; 14:6-7), then successively going back retracing each stage of the journey (14:21, 24–26). All the sites visited by Paul on this journey eventually fall within the territory of the Roman province of Galatia in the first century, so it could be assumed that 'these are the churches Paul addresses in the

Epistle to the Galatians The Epistle to the Galatians is the ninth book of the New Testament. It is a letter from Paul the Apostle to a number of Early Christian communities in Galatia. Scholars have suggested that this is either the Roman province of Galatia in southe ...

Verse 13

:''Now when Paul and his party set sail from

, they came to

; and John, departing from them, returned to

.'' This John, also mentioned in verse 5, was

John Mark John Mark is named in the Acts of the Apostles as an assistant accompanying Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journeys. Traditionally he is regarded as identical with Mark the Evangelist, the traditional writer of the Gospel of Mark. Bibli ...

, the nephew of

( Acts 12:25). Whatever the trouble was between Paul and John Mark, it was enough for Paul not to want John Mark to accompany him on a later journey, which caused a rift between Paul and Barnabas (). John Mark would prove faithful later in Paul's ministry (see 2 Timothy 4:11). Antiocheia in Psidia

Verse 33

:''God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm:'' ::''‘You are My Son,'' ::''Today I have begotten You.’'' Citing , which is also quoted and used for exposition in Hebrews 1:5; 5:5.

Verse 34

: ''And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead,'' :: ''now no more to return to corruption,'' : ''he said on this wise,'' : ''I will give you the sure mercies of David.'' KJV Citing Isaiah 55:3

References

Sources

* * *

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.)

{{Acts of the Apostles 13