Acts 13:10

Devil - Slanderer; false accuser.

O full of all subtilty - Δολου, Deceit, pretending to supernatural powers without possessing any, and having only cunning and deceit as their substitutes.

And - mischief - Ῥᾳδιουργιας, from ῥᾳδιος, easy, and εργον, 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 - Υἱε διαβολου, Son of the devil, possessing his nature; filled with his cunning; and, in consequence, practising deceit.

Enemy of all righteousness - Εχθρεπασης δικαιοσυνης; Opposed in thy heart to all that is just, true, and good.

Wilt thou not cease to pervert, etc. - Ου παυσῃ διαϚρεφων. Wilt thou not cease perverting? He had probably labored 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 - Τας ὁδους Κυριου τας ευθειας, 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.

O full of all subtilty and all mischief - The word "subtilty" denotes "deceit and fraud," and implies that he was practicing an imposition, and that he knew it. The word rendered "mischief" ῥᾳδιουργίας radiourgias denotes properly "facility of acting," and then "sleight of hand; sly;, cunning arts, by which one imposes on another, and deceives him with a fraudulent intention." It is not used elsewhere in the New Testament. The art of Elymas consisted probably in sleight of hand, legerdemain, or trick, aided by skill in the abstruse sciences, by which the ignorant might be easily imposed on. See the notes on Acts 8:9.

Child of the devil - Under his influence; practicing his arts; promoting his designs by deceit and imposture, so that he may be called your father. See the notes on John 8:44. Satan is represented here as the author of deceit and the father of lies.

Enemy of all righteousness - Practicing deceit and iniquity, and thus opposed to righteousness and honesty. A man who lives by wickedness will, of course, be the foe of every form of integrity. A man who lives by fraud will be opposed to the truth; a panderer to the vices of people will hate the rules of chastity and purity; a manufacturer or vendor of ardent spirits will be the enemy of temperance societies.

Wilt thou not cease to pervert - In what way he had opposed Paul and Barnabas is not known. It may have been either by misrepresenting their doctrines, or by representing them as apostate Jews thus retarding or hindering the progress of the gospel. The expression "wilt thou not cease." implies that he had been engaged sedulously in doing this, probably from the commencement of their work in the city.

The right ways of the Lord - The straight paths or doctrines of the Christian religion, in opposition to the crooked and perverse arts of deceivers and impostors. Straight paths denote "integrity, sincerity, truth," Jeremiah 31:9; Hebrews 12:13; compare Isaiah 40:3-4; Isaiah 42:16; Luke 3:5. Crooked ways denote "the ways of the sinner, the deceiver, the impostor," Deuteronomy 32:5; Psalm 125:1-5; Proverbs 2:15; Isaiah 59:8; Philippians 2:15.

13:10 O full of all guile - As a false prophet, and all mischief - As a magician. Thou son of the devil - A title well suited toa magician; and one who not only was himself unrighteous, but laboured to keep others from all goodness. Wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? - Even now thou hast heard the truth of the Gospel.