Exodus 8:18-19

8:18 When ¹  the magicians attempted ²  to bring forth gnats by their secret arts, they could not. So there were gnats on people and on animals. 8:19 The magicians said ³  to Pharaoh, “It is the finger ⁴  of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, ⁵  and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.

Exodus 9:11

9:11 The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.

Acts 8:9-13

8:9 Now in that city was a man named Simon, who had been practicing magic ⁶  and amazing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great. 8:10 All the people, ⁷  from the least to the greatest, paid close attention to him, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called ‘Great.’” ⁸  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 ⁹  and the name of Jesus Christ, ¹⁰  they began to be baptized, ¹¹  both men and women. 8:13 Even Simon himself believed, and after he was baptized, he stayed close to ¹²  Philip constantly, and when he saw the signs and great miracles that were occurring, he was amazed. ¹³ 

Acts 13:8-11

13:8 But the magician Elymas ¹⁴  (for that is the way his name is translated) ¹⁵  opposed them, trying to turn the proconsul ¹⁶  away from the faith. 13:9 But Saul (also known as Paul), ¹⁷  filled with the Holy Spirit, ¹⁸  stared straight ¹⁹  at him 13:10 and said, “You who are full of all deceit and all wrongdoing, ²⁰  you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness – will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? ²¹  13:11 Now ²²  look, the hand of the Lord is against ²³  you, and you will be blind, unable to see the sun for a time!” Immediately mistiness ²⁴  and darkness came over ²⁵  him, and he went around seeking people ²⁶  to lead him by the hand.

Acts 19:19-20

19:19 Large numbers ²⁷  of those who had practiced magic ²⁸  collected their books ²⁹  and burned them up in the presence of everyone. ³⁰  When ³¹  the value of the books was added up, it was found to total fifty thousand silver coins. ³²  19:20 In this way the word of the Lord ³³  continued to grow in power ³⁴  and to prevail. ³⁵ 

Acts 19:1

Disciples of John the Baptist at Ephesus

19:1 While ³⁶  Apollos was in Corinth, ³⁷  Paul went through the inland ³⁸  regions ³⁹  and came to Ephesus. ⁴⁰  He ⁴¹  found some disciples there ⁴² 

Acts 4:4

4:4 But many of those who had listened to ⁴³  the message ⁴⁴  believed, and the number of the men ⁴⁵  came to about five thousand.

[8:18]  ¹ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the main clause as a temporal clause.

[8:18]  ² tn Heb “and the magicians did so.”

[8:19]  ³ tn Heb “and the magicians said.”

[8:19]  ⁴ tn The word “finger” is a bold anthropomorphism (a figure of speech in which God is described using human characteristics).

[8:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the heart of Pharaoh became hard.” This phrase translates the Hebrew word חָזַק (khazaq; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53). In context this represents the continuation of a prior condition.

[8:9]  ⁶ tn On the idiom προϋπῆρχεν μαγεύων (prouphrcen mageuwn) meaning “had been practicing magic” see BDAG 889 s.v. προϋπάρχω.

[8:10]  ⁷ tn Grk “all of them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:10]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[8:12]  ¹¹ tn The imperfect verb ἐβαπτίζοντο (ebaptizonto) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[8:13]  ¹² tn Or “he kept close company with.”

[8:13]  ¹³ sn He was amazed. Now Simon, the one who amazed others, is himself amazed, showing the superiority of Philip’s connection to God. Christ is better than anything the culture has to offer.

[13:8]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ sn A parenthetical note by the author.

[13:8]  ¹⁶ sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.

[13:9]  ¹⁷ sn A parenthetical note by the author.

[13:9]  ¹⁸ sn This qualifying clause in the narrative indicates who represented God in the dispute.

[13:9]  ¹⁹ tn Or “gazed intently.”

[13:10]  ²⁰ tn Or “unscrupulousness.”

[13:10]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Grk “upon,” but in a negative sense.

[13:11]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Grk “fell on.”

[13:11]  ²⁶ tn The noun χειραγωγός (ceiragwgo") is plural, so “people” is used rather than singular “someone.”

[19:19]  ²⁷ tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 4.a has “many, quite a few” for ἱκανοί (Jikanoi) in this verse.

[19:19]  ²⁸ tn On this term see BDAG 800 s.v. περίεργος 2.

[19:19]  ²⁹ tn Or “scrolls.”

[19:19]  ³⁰ tn Or “burned them up publicly.” L&N 14.66 has “‘they brought their books together and burned them up in the presence of everyone’ Ac 19:19.”

[19:19]  ³¹ tn Grk “and when.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[19:19]  ³² tn Or “fifty thousand silver drachmas” (about $10,000 US dollars). BDAG 128 s.v. ἀργύριον 2.c states, “ἀργυρίου μυριάδας πέντε 50,000 (Attic silver) drachmas Ac 19:19.” Another way to express the value would be in sheep: One drachma could buy one sheep. So this many drachmas could purchase a huge flock of sheep. A drachma also equals a denarius, or a day’s wage for the average worker. So this amount would be equal to 50,000 work days or in excess of 8,300 weeks of labor (the weeks are calculated at six working days because of the Jewish cultural context). The impact of Christianity on the Ephesian economy was considerable (note in regard to this the concerns expressed in 19:26-27).

[19:20]  ³³ sn The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; here and in Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.

[19:20]  ³⁴ tn The imperfect verb ηὔξανεν (huxanen) has been translated as a progressive imperfect, as has the following verb ἴσχυεν (iscuen).

[19:20]  ³⁵ sn The word of the Lord…to prevail. Luke portrays the impact of Christianity in terms of the Lord’s transforming power in the lives of individuals.

[19:1]  ³⁶ tn Grk “It happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[19:1]  ³⁷ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[19:1]  ³⁸ tn Or “interior.”

[19:1]  ³⁹ tn BDAG 92 s.v. ἀνωτερικός has “upper τὰ ἀ. μέρη the upper (i.e. inland) country, the interior Ac 19:1.”

[19:1]  ⁴⁰ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[19:1]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “and found.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the sequencing with the following verse the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[19:1]  ⁴² tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[4:4]  ⁴³ tn Or “had heard.”

[4:4]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “word.”

[4:4]  ⁴⁵ tn In the historical setting it is likely that only men are referred to here. The Greek term ἀνήρ (anhr) usually refers to males or husbands rather than people in general. Thus to translate “of the people” would give a false impression of the number, since any women and children were apparently not included in the count.