Elymas

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Elymas the sorcerer is struck blind before Sergius Paulus.  Painting by Raphael from the Raphael Cartoons.
Elymas the sorcerer is struck blind before Sergius Paulus. Painting by Raphael from the Raphael Cartoons.

Elymas ("Wise" in Arabic) is another name for Bar-Jesus ("son of Jesus"), a Jewish magician who appears in the New Testament in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 13.

Acts calls him a magus, which the King James Bible here translates as "sorcerer". He is represented as opposing Paul of Tarsus and Barnabas on the city of Paphos on Cyprus, when Sergius Paulus, the Roman proconsul, wishes to hear Paul and Barnabas speak about Jesus. Because of this opposition, Paul states that God has decided to make him temporarily blind. He immediately goes blind; and after this miracle, Sergius Paulus is converted to Christianity. These events took place during Paul's first missionary journey.

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