Man living at the time of the New Testament
Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of Cyprus, was an intelligent man who sought to hear the word of God and believed after witnessing Paul's confrontation with Elymas the sorcerer.
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Sergius Paulus, mentioned in Act.13.7, was the proconsul of Cyprus during Paul's first missionary journey. He is described as an intelligent man who summoned Barnabas and Saul (Paul) because he desired to hear the word of God. However, Elymas, a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet, opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, confronted Elymas and temporarily blinded him, which led to Sergius Paulus believing, being astonished at the teaching about the Lord. This event marked a significant moment in Paul's ministry, as it demonstrated the power of the gospel to overcome spiritual opposition and reach even high-ranking officials.
Part of: Paul's Circle
On Cyprus the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, summoned Barnabas and Saul and believed when he saw Elymas struck blind. This is the first Roman official recorded as a convert.
Sources: Scripture
Luke first uses "Paul" right after the encounter with Sergius Paulus and thereafter calls Saul only Paul. Jerome suggested he took the name from this convert. A Roman cognomen was likely carried from birth.
Sources: Jerome, Commentary on Philemon (preface)
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A “prudent man” (R.V., “man of understanding”), the deputy (R.V., “proconsul”) of Cyprus (Acts 13:6-13). He became a convert to Christianity under Paul, who visited this island on his first mission to the heathen. A remarkable memorial of this proconsul was recently (1887) discovered at Rome. On a boundary stone of Claudius his name is found, among others, as having been appointed (A.D. 47) one of the curators of the banks and the channel of the river Tiber. After serving his three years as proconsul at Cyprus, he returned to Rome, where he held the office referred to. As he is not saluted in Paul’s letter to the Romans, he probably died before it was written.
was the proconsul of Cyprus when the apostle Paul visited that island with Barnabas on his first missionary tour. (Acts 13:7) seq. (A.D. 44.) He is described as an intelligent man, truth-seeking, eager for information from all sources within his reach. Though at first admitting to his society Elymas the magician, he afterward, on becoming acquainted with the claims of the gospel, yielded his mind to the evidence of its truth.
SER'GIUS PAU'LUS, the proconsul or deputy governor of Cyprus at the time of Paul and Barnabas' visit. He showed his intelligence and candor by sending for the apostles and accepting the overthrow of Elymas, the sorcerer, as demonstration of the overthrow of the creed Elymas represented. He embraced the gospel. Acts 13:7, Jud 4:12. Some think the apostle Paul took this name instead of Saul, in compliment to his distinguished convert: which is improbable. It is a proof of Luke's minute accuracy that he calls Sergius Paulus a proconsul because the island had been governed by a propraetor during the reign of Augustus, but in the reign of Claudius, the time of the visit, as is proved by coins, it was under proconsular government.
SER'GIUS PAU'LUS, the proconsul or deputy governor of Cyprus at the time of Paul and Barnabas' visit. He showed his intelligence and candor by sending for the apostles and accepting the overthrow of Elymas, the sorcerer, as demonstration of the overthrow of the creed Elymas represented. He embraced the gospel. Acts 13:7, Jud 4:12. Some think the apostle Paul took this name instead of Saul, in compliment to his distinguished convert: which is improbable. It is a proof of Luke's minute accuracy that he calls Sergius Paulus a proconsul because the island had been governed by a propraetor during the reign of Augustus, but in the reign of Claudius,
the time of the visit, as is proved by coins, it was under proconsular government.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
1 verse in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s G4588
an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, a man of intelligence, summoned Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.