Rick Strelan, «Who Was Bar Jesus (Acts 13,6-12)?», Vol. 85 (2004) 65-81
In Acts 13, Bar Jesus is confronted by Paul and cursed by him. This false prophet is generally thought to have been syncretistic and virtually pagan in his magical practices. This article argues that he was in fact very much within the synagogue and that he had been teaching the ways of the Lord. He was also a threat to the Christian community of Paphos and may even have belonged inside of it. Luke regards him as a serious threat to the faith because of his false teaching about righteousness and the ways of the Lord.
Who Was Bar Jesus (Acts 13,6-12)? 77
believing their name was a variation of oJsiovth" (Quod Omnis 75).
Luke himself says that Barnabas means ‘son of consolation’ (4,36), a
derivation to which very few modern scholars would give their assent.
For a curious logic, Clement of Alexandria is classic. He claims that
when the bacchanals shriek ‘evoe’ (eujoi) they are calling out the name
'
Eva “by whom error came into the world. The symbol of the Bacchic
orgies is a consecrated serpent. Moreover, according to the strict
interpretation of the Hebrew term, the name Hevia, aspirated, signifies
a female serpent†(Exhortation to the Heathen 2). I suggest that a key
to understanding this baffling link between Elymas and Bar Jesus and
the word magos is Luke’s use of this kind of etymological argument.
In 13,8, the choice is between understanding mavgo" as a translation
of Elymas, and understanding Elymas as a translation of the name
(onoma) mentioned in 13,6, namely Bar Jesus. As suggested, the use of
[
the word o[noma in both 13,6 and 13,8 might not be at all coincidental.
The issue of the sacred Name lurks. After all, the man is called Bar
Jesus. Without exception, every time in Acts that Luke introduces a
new character into the narrative, he does so by using the dative case,
o[nomati (5,1.34; 8,9; 9,10.11.33.36; 10,1; 11,28; 12,13; 16,1.14;
17,34; 18,2.7.24; 19,24; 20,9; 21,10; 27,1). Only with Bar Jesus is the
nominative case used; elsewhere, Luke uses the nominative o[noma
exclusively of Jesus. By using the nominative in this episode to
describe Bar Jesus, Luke draws sharp attention to the significance of
the man’s name, of the Name, and of the relation between the two.
Among recent scholars, it is almost unanimously thought that
mavgo" in 13,8 is a translation of Elymas. It is suggested that the name
Elymas derived either from the Aramaic word hlm or the Arabic alim,
both meaning a ‘diviner’ or ‘dream-interpreter’. So Jervell says, “oJ
mavgo" wird als Übersetzung des Namens Elymas bezeichnet …
Elymas ist wahrscheinlich die gräzisierte Form des aramäischen:
haloma, ‘der Magier’†(33). Schille likewise says, “Lukas hat … zu
entlasten versucht, daß er mavgo" als Übersetzung für Elymas versteht
… Tatsächlich kommt aramäisch amyla = stark bzw. Arabisch alim =
gelehrt der Bedeutung ‘Traumdeuter’ nahe†(34). This too is an old
suggestion. The seventeenth century scholars, Edmund Castell and
(33) JERVELL, Apostelgeschichte, 346 and 346, n. 424.
(34) SCHILLE, Apostelgeschichte, 287; compare also SCHNEIDER, Apostel-
geschichte, 122; L. YAURE, “Elymas-Nehelemite-Pethorâ€, JBL 79 (1960) 297-
314; C. HEMER, The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History (Tübingen
1989) 227; KLAUCK, Magic, 50.
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