Chapter 13

Acts 13:1. Now there were in Antioch, in the church there, certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who is called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen, the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. He mentions Barnabas first, for Paul was not yet illustrious; he had not yet worked any sign. It should be noted that both Paul and Barnabas were ranked among the prophets. ‘Manaen, the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch.’ See, it is each one’s character, and not upbringing from childhood, that saves. For look how Herod was utterly wicked, while his foster-brother Manaen was so transformed that he was even counted worthy of the gift of prophecy.

Acts 13:2–8. As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said: Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then, after fasting and praying and laying their hands on them, they sent them off. So these, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and from there sailed to Cyprus. And when they were at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they had John as their assistant. Passing through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain man, a magician, a false prophet, a Jew, named Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, a prudent man. He summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. What does ‘as they were ministering’ mean? That is, as they were preaching. And ‘set apart for Me for the work’ stands for ‘for the apostleship.’ By whom is he ordained? By Lucius and Manaen, or rather by the Spirit; and he is ordained so as to preach with authority. How then does he himself say, ‘not from men, nor through man’? In the sense that no man called him or brought him to it. They did not ordain the deacons casually, but with prior fasting and prayer. And they laid their hands on them, so that from this one may infer that, through the laying-on of hands that followed, they passed beyond the rank of deacon. They do not linger in Seleucia, knowing that from the neighboring city it could reap much benefit; but they hasten on to what is pressing. ‘He, the proconsul, summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.’ The wonder in the proconsul is that, though he had already been taken beforehand by that man’s magic, he wished to hear the apostles. But observe the magician too: when they preached to others, he was not greatly vexed; but when they came to the proconsul, then he was.

Acts 13:9–11. But Saul, who is also Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit and fixing his gaze on him, said: O you who are full of all deceit and all villainy, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the straight ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.

Acts 13:12. Immediately a mist and darkness fell upon him, and going about he sought for someone to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul, seeing what had happened, believed, astonished at the teaching of the Lord. ‘Saul, who is also Paul.’ Here his name is changed together with the ordination. He was renamed so that in this too he might be no less than the apostles; rather, the special distinction that the chief of the disciples possessed, this too he would acquire, and would take as a basis for even greater intimacy. ‘Full of all deceit.’ Lacking in nothing, he says. He spoke well: ‘all deceit,’ for he was a dissembler. He calls him ‘son of the devil’ because he was doing the devil’s work. You are not warring against us, he says, nor fighting us, but you pervert the straight ways of the Lord. ‘And you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.’ By the very sign by which he himself had been brought to faith, he wished to bring this man too. So it was not a punishment but a healing. For he all but said: It is not I who do this, but the hand of God. And the ‘for a time’ was not the word of one punishing, but of one converting. For if it had been the word of one punishing, he would have made him blind forever; but as it is, not so, but only ‘for a time.’ That he might win the proconsul, he says ‘for a time,’ setting a limit for his mind to hold within itself the recovery of the light, as it changes his manner for the better. ‘And going about he sought for someone to lead him.’ This is proof of the blindness, the seeking for guides. It was fitting that the one who had been heralded for his magic should be schooled by this punishment, just as the magicians too were schooled by the boils.

Acts 13:13–15. Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. But John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem. And they, passing on from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia, and entering the synagogue on the Sabbath day, they sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying: Men and brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, speak. ‘But John.’ John, who is called Mark, had been traveling with them on the evangelical course from Palestine as far as Perga in Pamphylia. Then, when the apostles pressed on with their course vigorously and armed themselves with an unbending soul for the contests, Mark, as a man who had grown faint and was not strong enough for so great a course, and for the contests and dangers and battles that rose up in every city, renounced the apostles’ course and returned to Palestine, not denying Christ, but declining the long road as too heavy for him. Later Paul and Barnabas returned, laden with the fruits of piety, bringing the good news to the church in Jerusalem of the conversion and repentance of the Gentiles. So when all were praising Paul and Barnabas for their achievements, Mark was grieved and stricken in soul; and perhaps he thought: If I had been a companion of the apostles, I too would now have been a sharer in the praises; and he resolved to go out with the apostles to the preaching. ‘And they came to Perga in Pamphylia.’ Again they run up to Perga, for they were hastening to the metropolis, Antioch. ‘And entering the synagogue on the Sabbath day, they sat down.’ They entered the synagogues in Jewish dress, so as not to be opposed or driven out; and in this way they accomplished everything.

Acts 13:16–24. Paul stood up and, motioning with his hand, said: Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen. The God of this people chose our fathers and exalted the people during their sojourn in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm he brought them out of it. And for about forty years’ time he sustained them in the wilderness. And having destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. And after this, for about four hundred and fifty years, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And having removed him, he raised up for them David as king, of whom he also testified, saying: I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all my will. Of this man’s seed, according to promise, God brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, when John had already proclaimed, before his coming, a baptism of repentance to Israel. ‘And Paul stood up.’ Here Paul preaches for the first time, and see his discernment: where the word had already been sown, he passes by; but where no one had preached, he lingers, as he himself says when he writes, being ambitious to preach the gospel not where Christ had already been named. Observe too that Barnabas yields to Paul, just as John everywhere yields to Peter, though Barnabas was the more venerable; yet they looked to the common benefit. ‘The God of this people chose our fathers.’ Going back to the beginning, he shows the benefits of God to be great, just as Stephen does. ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart.’ It must be noted that these words do not stand in this exact wording in the book of Kingdoms; there they were only spoken prophetically by the divine Samuel to Saul: ‘The Lord will seek out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord will appoint him to be ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.’ From this Paul composed the statement, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart.’ As for the saying, ‘Men and brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, speak’—this came about because it was the custom of the Jews on the Sabbaths to read the law of Moses and the prophets, and after the reading to address the people and expound what was read. Therefore these men invite Paul’s company to speak in the synagogue. ‘Of this man’s seed, according to promise, God brought salvation to Israel.’ The name of David was especially dear to the Jews; for this reason it is said that a king reigns from his offspring. ‘When John had proclaimed before his coming.’ By ‘coming’ he means the incarnation.

Acts 13:25–37. And as John was finishing his course, he said: Whom do you suppose me to be? I am not he; but behold, there comes one after me, the sandal of whose feet I am not worthy to loose. Men and brothers, sons of the race of Abraham, and those among you who fear God: to you the word of this salvation has been sent. For the inhabitants of Jerusalem and their rulers, not recognizing him and not understanding the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. And finding in him no cause worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him put to death. And when they had accomplished all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead. He appeared for many days to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses before the people. And we bring you the good news that the promise made to the fathers God has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is also written in the second psalm: You are my Son; today I have begotten you. And that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus: I will give you the holy and sure mercies of David. Therefore he also says in another place: You will not allow your Holy One to see corruption. For David, after serving his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep and was gathered to his fathers and saw corruption; but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. John bears witness not simply; rather, while all were attributing the glory to him, he himself repels it. For it is not the same thing to decline this honor when no one offers it and when many present it. ‘Men and brothers, sons of the race of Abraham.’ Here he points to the Jewish nobility. ‘And their rulers, not recognizing him.’ He quietly makes a defense on their behalf: they crucified him, he says, not knowing who he was; for the sin was one of ignorance. ‘And finding no cause worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him put to death.’ He said that the manner of death was eagerly sought by them. He brings Pilate into the midst, so that on the one hand the passion may become well known from the tribunal, and on the other that they may be the more accused, having handed him over to a man of another race. And he did not say ‘they petitioned,’ but ‘they asked.’ They obtained a favor, he says, since Pilate was unwilling. Which Peter states more clearly: ‘When he had decided to release him.’ ‘But God raised him from the dead.’ Let it not trouble you that Jesus is said to have been raised by God. For if Jesus is none other than the Word made flesh, and this Word is the power of the Father, through which he works all things—according to the saying, ‘Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God’—then he will be understood to have raised himself, even when he is said to be raised by the Father, to whom, as the timeless beginning and cause, all things are referred. Since he himself also says: ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ ‘…to those who came up with him to Jerusalem, for many days, who are his witnesses before the people’—which they could never have been, had they not been confirmed by divine power. ‘For us, the children of the fathers, by raising up Jesus.’ The brothers of the God-killers take the name ‘Jesus’ as the name of the man. Since, then, he had said earlier that the Word was laid in a tomb, lest anyone suppose that he had called the Word fleshless, he again calls him Jesus, nowhere admitting any division in the incarnate Word after the union. ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.’ Understand these words with reference to the incarnation of Christ, which had a temporal visitation. For ‘today’ and ‘tomorrow’ are indicative of days; whereas timelessly he is begotten of the Father, as even the children of the heretics confess. ‘You will not give your Holy One to see corruption.’ He lies, then, who says that he confesses the body of God and Savior Christ to be passible, that is, receptive of sufferings, and at the same time calls it, even before the resurrection, incorruptible, that is, impassible and immortal. For it is plain that the body possessed incorruption, in respect of its sinlessness, from the very time of the incarnation. ‘But he whom God raised did not see corruption,’ having made the tomb a place of incorruption. For Christ, raised from it, has truly risen as the leader of incorruption; that we too, rising up from our tombs at the hoped-for resurrection, may go to meet him as he comes a second time in the clouds with glory.

Acts 13:38–41. Therefore let it be known to you, men and brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; and from everything from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses, by this man everyone who believes is justified. Beware, therefore, lest there come upon you what is spoken in the prophets: Behold, you despisers, and marvel, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work that you would never believe, even if someone were to tell it to you. Observe how he draws the word away from present things, from the seed according to promise. He did not bring forward a testimony by which they were to be persuaded that forgiveness of sins comes through him; that was beyond dispute. ‘Behold, you despisers, and marvel.’ When the prophet Habakkuk cried out, God answers to those who do wrong concerning the calamities that will come upon them and the things destined to happen. And it was a matter of great astonishment, how Israel—numbered among the children of God, named the firstborn, and for whose sake Egypt perished—was handed over to the Babylonians, and not only to their sword, but indeed also to captivity, and slavery, and all detestable things. ‘Which you would never believe.’ So great and so vast, he says, is its magnitude, that it would even be disbelieved if someone were to announce it to you.

Acts 13:42–48. As they were going out of the synagogue of the Jews, the Gentiles begged that these words might be spoken to them on the next Sabbath. And when the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. On the coming Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with envy, and contradicted the things spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly and said: It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you; but since you thrust it away, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us: I have set you for a light of the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the end of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. You have seen Paul’s discernment. He instilled in them a desire for a second hearing, having spoken certain seeds and not unfolding them, so as to make them dependent on him and attach them to himself, and not make them more careless by flinging everything at once into their souls. For he said that forgiveness of sins is announced to us; but how, he did not make clear. Nor did he baptize them at once, because it was not the time. And ‘the next Sabbath’ stands for ‘the coming one,’ as he makes clear below. ‘But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with envy.’ So great is the tyranny of malice; for many waste away and perish when they see others held in honor. Such people contend not only with their brother but even with the will of God. ‘But since you thrust it away.’ Lest anyone think the saying ‘you do not judge yourselves worthy of eternal life’ to be a mark of their reverence, for this reason he first said, ‘you thrust it away,’ and only then, ‘we turn to the Gentiles.’ He did not say, ‘we abandon you,’ but speaks in such a way that it remains possible, he says, to turn here again. ‘I have set you for a light of the Gentiles,’ that is, for the knowledge that leads to salvation; and not simply of the Gentiles, but of all. ‘As many as were appointed to eternal life.’ Appointed, but not by necessity. ‘For those whom he foreknew,’ he says, ‘he also predestined.’ Now the race of the Lord according to the flesh—the whole nature of mankind is common to it; but his own and near kin is Israel. Since, then, he came to Israel but enlightened the Gentiles through the apostles, ‘I have given you,’ he says, ‘to these because of the promise made to their fathers; and I will enlighten the Gentiles through you, and to all people I will grant salvation’ (for this is what ‘to the end of the earth’ means), ‘and I will put an end to the covenants made with their fathers.’ For what is ‘covenant’ the others translated as ‘compact.’ ‘And as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.’ By foreknowledge those appointed to life—that is, set apart—believed, yet by their own judgment and choice. For the foreknowledge of God does not destroy the freedom of our will. Paul, predestined before the foundation of the world, by the foreknowledge of God, to be a chosen vessel, did not obtain this from his mother’s womb, nor in his youth, but after the advance of time, when he had come to knowledge of what is noble and good.

Acts 13:49–50. And the word of the Lord was spread throughout the whole region. But the Jews stirred up the devout women and the men of standing and the leading men of the city, and raised a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and cast them out of their borders. But they shook off against them the dust of their feet and went to Iconium; and the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. The phrase ‘the word was spread’ stands for ‘was distributed.’ ‘But the Jews’—they did not stop at envy, but added deeds as well. By ‘devout women’ he means not the faithful women, but the Greek or Jewish ones; and by ‘of standing,’ the wealthy. Do you see to what shame they brought the women? In imitation of the demon who is the author of evil, they are eager, through women, to shut off from men the way of salvation, just as he, through Eve, shut off paradise from men. But they…

Acts 13:51. shook off against them the dust of their feet. They did not do this without reason, but because they had been driven out by them.

Acts 13:52. And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. The teachers were being persecuted, and they themselves rejoiced; this was a mark of the power of the Gospel. For the suffering of a teacher does not cut off boldness, but makes the disciple more eager.