Elymas

Elymas, also known as Bar - Jesus ( Aramaic Bar - Yeshua, son of Jesus, Latin Bariesu ), was a Jewish magician in the wake of the Roman Senate appointed by the governor of Cyprus, in the New Testament in the Acts of the Apostles 13.6 -12 EU is mentioned.

The name Elymas is given in Acts 13.8 as a translation of the name of Bar - Jesus. Presumably, this refers to a Semitic root, namely either alim Arabic ( Weiser ) or Aramaic haloma ( dream interpreter ).

The Acts of the Apostles calls him a " Magos ", ie "Magician" (originally a loanword from Persian, where it denotes manner or members of a priestly caste, as well as Mt 2:1). The biblical account of Elymas tried by the governor, the Roman proconsul Sergius Paulus, to influence against the preaching of Paul of Tarsus and Barnabas message. The two apostles had been summoned by the governor to Paphos in Cyprus, to tell him about Jesus. The Apostle Paul referred to at this point for the first time with his Roman name. It was customary for Jews to accept an additional Greek or Roman name, and Saul / Paul moved from now on increasingly in non-Jewish cultures. It comes to an announcement of disaster: Paul spoke as God's punishment temporary blindness on Elymas out. Immediately, " darkness and gloom " on him, so he had to be led by the hand. Early boom as the Venerable Bede referenced own blindness experience of Paul: The darkening of the eyes could favor an enlightenment of the mind. It is also conceivable relation to astrological practices of the magician Bar - Jesus.

After this miracle, the proconsul Sergius Paulus is said to have converted to Christianity. Then parted John Mark of Paul and Barnabas, and returned to Jerusalem.