Elymas the Sorcerer (ca. 47 C.E.)

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Elymas the Sorcerer (ca. 47 C.E.)

As reported in the Christian New Testament (Acts 13:7-12), a magician of Paphos, in Cyprus, who openly defied the Apostle Paul before the Roman governor. "Oh, full of all subtlety and mischief," said Paul in righteous anger, "child of the devil, enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And, now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season."

How Elymas exercised his talents is not related, nor are the characteristics of his sorceries, but we are told that the sentence of Paul immediately took effect, and "there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about, seeking some to lead him by the hand."

"Elymus the Sorcerer Struck with Blindness" is the title of a famous cartoon by Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520), from which tapestries in the Vatican were executed.