SEV Biblia, Chapter 13:10
dijo: Oh, lleno de todo engao y de todo libertinaje, hijo del diablo, enemigo de justicia, ¿no cesars de trastornar los caminos rectos del Seor?
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Acts 13:10
Verse 10. O full of all subtilty] dolou, Deceit, pretending to supernatural powers without possessing any, and having only cunning and deceit as their substitutes. And-mischief] radiourgiav, from radiov, easy, and ergon, a work; one who is ready at his work; a word which excellently well defines a juggler, one who is expert at sleight of hand; though it is often employed to signify an abandoned and accomplished villain.
Child of the devil] uie diabolou, Son of the devil, possessing his nature; filled with his cunning; and, in consequence, practising deceit.
Enemy of all righteousness] ecqrepashv dikaiosunhv; Opposed in thy heart to all that is just, true, and good.
Wilt thou not cease to pervert, &c.] ou paush diastrefwn. Wilt thou not cease perverting? He had probably laboured in this bad work from the beginning of Paul's ministry in the place; and God in his mercy had borne with him; and no doubt the apostle had warned him, for thus much seems implied in the reproof. What a terrible character is given of this bad man! He no doubt passed among the people for what we call a clever fellow; and he was so clever as to hide himself under a pretty dense mask; but God, who searches the heart, plucked it off, and tells him, and those who were perverted by him, what an accomplished deceiver and knave he was.
The right ways of the Lord] tav odouv kuriou tav euqeiav, The ways of the Lord, the straight ways. This saying is very emphatical. The ways of Elymas were crooked and perverse; the ways of the Lord, the doctrine taught by him, plain and straight. What is here said of the conduct and teaching of Elymas, for he was a false prophet, is true of all false doctrine: it is complex, devious, and tortuous: while the doctrine of God is simple, plain, and straight; directing in the way, the sure way, that leads to present peace and everlasting happiness. From the phraseology which the apostle employs in this terrible address to Elymas, we may learn, as well as from his name Bar-Jesus, that he was by birth and education a Jew. On this account he was the greater enemy to Christianity; and on this same account he was the less excusable.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 10. And said, O full of all subtlety and all mischief , etc.] Which may have regard both to his general character as a sorcerer, and a false prophet; in acting up to which he used much deceit and cunning among the people, and did much mischief to them; to which there was a promptness and readiness in him, as the word used signifies; and also to the sophistry he used, and the mischief he endeavoured to do in seeking to turn the deputy from the faith. The minds of carnal men are vain and empty, and destitute of all that is good, and full of all that is evil: their character is, filled with all unrighteousness , ( Romans 1:29). They have many of them a great deal of wit, but it is wicked wit, and they employ it in an evil and mischievous way, both to the hurt of themselves and others; they are like the old serpent, whose seed they are, who was more subtle than any beast of the field; they are wiser in their generation than the children of light; they are wise to do evil, though they have no knowledge of what is spiritually good; they are able to form very cunning and artful schemes, to commit sin, and do mischief; for all their craft and subtlety are used in such a way; nor can they sleep, or be easy in their minds, unless they are doing mischief. Thou child of the devil ; perhaps alluding to his name, that instead of Bar- Jesus, the son of a saviour, he should have been called Bar-Satan, the son of Satan, or Ben-Belial, a son of Belial. The phrase j rwkb , the firstborn of Satan, is used by the Jews, sometimes in a good sense, for one that is acute, sharp, and subtle, and that abides by his doctrine, and does his work f642 : but here a child of the devil is used in an ill sense, for being like him in wicked cunning and subtlety; in like sense as the other phrase was used by Polycarp, whom Marcion the heretic met, and said unto him, know us; to whom Polycarp replied, I know thee, the firstborn of Satan f643 : thou enemy of all righteousness; a wicked man is an enemy to all righteousness in every branch of it, in whatsoever light it may be considered: he is an enemy, yea, enmity itself against God the righteous being, and who is the fountain of all righteousness; he is an enemy to Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the Lord our righteousness; he is an enemy to that righteousness which he has wrought out; he is an enemy to all righteous persons, and hates their holy and righteous conversation; he is an enemy to the law, and cannot be subject to it, which is the rule of righteousness; and he is an enemy to the Gospel, which reveals the righteousness of God from faith to faith, and teaches men to live soberly, righteously, and godly; in short he is an enemy to all righteousness, moral and evangelical. Wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord ? the doctrines and ordinances of Christ, in which he has directed his people to walk; which this man, through his sophistry and wickedness, in which he was industrious and indefatigable, endeavoured to render intricate and obscure, when they were plain, and straight, and easy. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them, ( Hosea 14:9) they are right, and it is becoming such to walk in them; they are plain to them that have a true knowledge of them, even wayfaring men, though fools shall not err in them; they are entirely consistent with the righteousness and holiness of God, and lead right on to eternal glory and happiness. Christ himself is the true way to eternal life, which is plainly pointed, and clearly directed to in the word of God, and by the ministers of the Gospel, who show unto men the way of salvation; the path of truth is fully described, and such things said of it as are very inviting to walk in it; and good men cannot but choose and delight to walk in it, when led into it by the Spirit of truth: Wisdoms ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths of peace; even all the paths of duty and worship, the ways of righteousness and holiness; but wicked men seek to pervert these ways, to give a false account of them, to set them in a wrong light, and represent them not only as rough and troublesome, but as dangerous, and leading to ruin; and do all they can to hinder persons from entering into them, and to cause those to stumble who are in them; nor will they cease acting this wicked part; they are continually at work to make the ways of Christ odious, to set people against them, to discourage from walking in them by their opposition to them, the false glosses they put upon them, and by their scoffs and jeers at those that walk in them, and by their violent persecutions of them, when it is in their power.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 4-13 - Satan is in a special manner busy with great men and men in power, to keep them from being religious, for their example will influence many Saul is here for the first time called Paul, and never after Saul. Sau was his name as he was a Hebrew; Paul was his name as he was a citize of Rome. Under the direct influence of the Holy Ghost, he gave Elyma his true character, but not in passion. A fulness of deceit an mischief together, make a man indeed a child of the devil. And thos who are enemies to the doctrine of Jesus, are enemies to all righteousness; for in it all righteousness is fulfilled. The ways of the Lord Jesus are the only right ways to heaven and happiness. Ther are many who not only wander from these ways themselves, but set other against these ways. They commonly are so hardened, that they will no cease to do evil. The proconsul was astonished at the force of the doctrine upon his own heart and conscience, and at the power of God by which it was confirmed. The doctrine of Christ astonishes; and the mor we know of it, the more reason we shall see to wonder at it. Those wh put their hand to the plough and look back, are not fit for the kingdo of God. Those who are not prepared to face opposition, and to endur hardship, are not fitted for the work of the ministry.
Greek Textus Receptus
ειπεν 2036 5627 V-2AAI-3S ω 5599 INJ πληρης 4134 A-NSM παντος 3956 A-GSM δολου 1388 N-GSM και 2532 CONJ πασης 3956 A-GSF ραδιουργιας 4468 N-GSF υιε 5207 N-VSM διαβολου 1228 A-GSM εχθρε 2190 A-VSM πασης 3956 A-GSF δικαιοσυνης 1343 N-GSF ου 3756 PRT-N παυση 3973 5695 V-FDI-2S διαστρεφων 1294 5723 V-PAP-NSM τας 3588 T-APF οδους 3598 N-APF κυριου 2962 N-GSM τας 3588 T-APF ευθειας 2117 A-APF
Vincent's NT Word Studies
10. Mischief (radiourgiav). Only here in New Testament. Originally, ease or facility in doing; hence readiness in turning the hand to anything, bad or good; and so recklessness, unscrupulousness, wickedness. A kindred word (rJadiourghma, lewdness, Rev., villainy) occurs at ch. xviii. 14.Right ways. Or straight, possibly with an allusion to Elymas' crooked ways.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
13:10 {Of all guile} (pantos dolou). From delw, to catch with bait, old word, already seen in #Mt 26:4; Mr 7:22; 14:1. Paul denounces Elymas as a trickster. {All villainy} (pases rhaidiourgias). Late compound from rhaidiourgos (rhaidios, easy, facile, ergon, deed, one who does a thing adroitly and with ease). So levity in Xenophon and unscrupulousness in Polybius, Plutarch, and the papyri. Only here in the N.T., though the kindred word rhaidiourgema occurs in #Ac 18:14. With deadly accuracy Paul pictured this slick rascal. {Thou son of the devil} (huie diabolou). Damning phrase like that used by Jesus of the Pharisees in #Joh 8:44, a slanderer like the diabolos. this use of son (huios) for characteristic occurs in #Ac 3:25; 4:36, a common Hebrew idiom, and may be used purposely by Paul in contrast with the name Barjesus (son of Jesus) that Elymas bore (#13:6). {Enemy of all righteousness} (ecqre pases dikaiosunes). Personal enemy to all justice, sums up all the rest. Note triple use of "all" (pantos, pases, pases), total depravity in every sense. {Wilt thou not cease?} (ou pausei). An impatient rhetorical question, almost volitive in force (Robertson, _Grammar_, p. 874). Note ou, not me, {To pervert} (diastrefwn). Present active participle describing the actual work of Elymas as a perverter or distorter (see verse #8). More exactly, Wilt thou not cease perverting? {The right ways of the Lord} (tas hodous tou kuriou tas euqeias). The ways of the Lord the straight ones as opposed to the crooked ways of men (#Isa 40:4; 42:16; Lu 3:5). The task of John the Baptist as of all prophets and preachers is to make crooked paths straight and to get men to walk in them. this false prophet was making even the Lord's straight ways crooked. Elymas has many successors.
