Atos 13

BLIVRE · Chapter 13/28

1E havia em Antioquia, na igreja que estava [ali] , alguns profetas e mestres: Barnabé e Simeão, chamado Níger, e Lúcio cireneu, e Manaem, que tinha sido criado na infância junto com Herodes o Tetrarca, e Saulo.

2E tendo eles prestado serviço ao Senhor, e jejuado, o Espirito Santo disse: Separai-me a Barnabé e a Saulo, para a obra para a qual eu os tenho chamado.

3Então jejuando, e orando, e pondo as mãos sobre eles, [os] despediram.

4Portanto estes, enviados pelo Espírito Santo, desceram a Selêucia, e dali navegaram para o Chipre.

5E tendo chegado a Salamina, anunciavam a palavra de Deus nas sinagogas dos judeus; e também tinham a João como trabalhador [para os auxiliar] .

6E tendo eles atravessado a Ilha até Pafo, acharam a um certo mago, falso profeta, judeu, cujo nome era Barjesus.

7O qual estava com o procônsul Sérgio Paulo, homem prudente. Este, tendo chamado a si a Barnabé, e a Saulo, procurava muito ouvir a palavra de Deus.

8Mas resistia-lhes Elimas, o mago (que assim significa seu nome), procurando afastar o procônsul da fé.

9Mas Saulo, que também [se chama] Paulo, cheio do Espírito Santo, e olhando fixamente para ele, disse:

10Ó filho do diabo, cheio de toda enganação e toda malícia, inimigo de toda justiça, não cessarás de perverter os corretos caminhos do Senhor?

11E agora, eis que a mão do Senhor [está] contra ti, e serás cego, não vendo o sol por algum tempo.E no mesmo instante caiu sobre ele um embaçamento, e trevas; e ele, andando ao redor, procurava alguém que o guiasse pela mão.

12Então o procônsul, vendo o que tinha acontecido, creu, espantado pela doutrina do Senhor.

13E tendo partido de Pafo, Paulo e os que estavam com ele foram a Perges, [cidade] da Panfília. Mas João, separando-se deles, voltou a Jerusalém.

14E eles, tendo passado de Perges, vieram a Antioquia, [cidade] da Pisídia; e ao entrarem na sinagoga [n] um dia de sábado, sentaram-se.

15E depois da leitura da Lei e dos profetas, os chefes da sinagoga lhes mandaram, dizendo: Homens irmãos, se em vós há [alguma] palavra de exortação ao povo, dizei.

16E Paulo, levantando-se e fazendo gesto com a mão, disse: Homens israelitas, e [vós] os que temeis a Deus, ouvi:

17O Deus deste povo de Israel escolheu a nossos pais, e exaltou ao povo, sendo eles estrangeiros na terra do Egito, e com o braço levantando, ele os tirou dela.

18E pelo tempo de cerca de quarenta anos, ele suportou os costumes deles no deserto.

19E tendo destruído a sete nações na terra de Canaã, repartiu-lhes as terras por sorte.

20E depois disto, cerca de quatrocentos e cinquenta anos, ele [lhes] deu juízes, até o profeta Samuel.

21E depois disto, pediram a um Rei, e ele lhes deu a Saul, filho de Quis, homem da tribo de Benjamim, [durante] quarenta anos.

22E tirando a este, levantou-lhes por rei a Davi, ao qual também deu testemunho, e disse: Eu achei a Davi, [filho] de Jessé, um homem conforme o meu coração, que fará toda a minha vontade.

23Da descendência deste, conforme a promessa, Deus levantou a Jesus por Salvador de Israel;

24Tendo João primeiro, antes de sua vinda, pregado o batismo de arrependimento a todo o povo de Israel.

25Mas quando João cumpriu [sua] carreira, disse: Quem vós pensais que eu sou? Eu não sou o [Cristo] ,mas eis que após mim vem aquele, cujas sandálias dos pés eu não sou digno de desatar.

26Homens irmãos, filhos da descendência de Abraão, e os que dentre vós temem a Deus, a vós é enviada a palavra desta salvação.

27Porque os que habitavam em Jerusalém, e seus líderes, não conhecendo a este, ao condenarem [-no] ,cumpriram as vozes dos profetas, que são lidas todos os sábados.

28E [mesmo] achando nenhum motivo para morte, pediram a Pilatos que fosse morto.

29E tendo eles cumprido todas as coisas que estavam escritas sobre ele, tirando [-o] do madeiro, puseram [-no] na sepultura.

30Mas Deus o ressuscitou dos mortos.

31O qual foi visto durante muitos dias pelos que haviam subido com ele da Galileia, que são suas testemunhas para com o povo.

32E nós vos anunciamos o Evangelho da promessa que foi feita aos pais; ao qual Deus já nos cumpriu a nós, filhos deles, ressuscitando a Jesus.

33Assim como está escrito no salmo segundo: Tu és meu Filho, hoje eu te gerei.

34E [quanto a] que o ressuscitasse dos mortos, para nunca mais voltar à degradação, assim disse: Eu vos darei as fiéis beneficências de Davi.

35Por isso que também em outro [salmo] ele diz: Não permitirás que teu Santo veja degradação.

36Porque, na verdade, tendo Davi servido ao conselho de Deus, morreu, foi posto junto a seus pais, e viu degradação.

37Mas aquele a quem Deus ressuscitou nenhuma degradação viu.

38Seja-vos pois conhecido, homens irmãos, que por este vos é anunciado o perdão dos pecados.

39E de tudo o que pela lei de Moisés não pudestes ser justificados, neste é justificado todo aquele que crê.

40Então vede, para que não venha sobre vós o que está escrito nos [livros dos] profetas:

41[Vós] desprezadores, vede e espantai-vos, e desaparecei-vos; porque eu opero obra em vossos dias, obra na qual não crereis, se alguém vos contar.

42E tendo os judeus saído da sinagoga,os gentios rogaram [-lhes] que no sábado seguinte eles lhes falassem estas palavras.

43E tendo terminado [a reunião] da sinagoga, muitos dos judeus, e dos religiosos prosélitos, seguiram a Paulo e a Barnabé; os quais, falando-lhes, exortavam-nos a permanecerem na graça de Deus.

44E no sábado seguinte ajuntou-se quase toda a cidade para ouvir a palavra de Deus.

45Mas os Judeus, ao verem as multidões, ficaram cheios de inveja, e falavam contrariamente ao que Paulo dizia, falando contrariamente e blasfemando.

46Mas Paulo e Barnabé, usando de ousadia, disseram: Era necessário que a palavra de Deus fosse primeiro falada a vós; mas já que a rejeitais, e não vos julgais dignos da vida eterna, eis que nós nos viramos [em direção] aos gentios.

47Porque assim o Senhor nos mandou, [dizendo] : Eu te pus como luz para os gentios, para que tu sejas como salvação até às extremidades da terra.

48E os gentios, tendo ouvido [isto] ,alegraram-se, e glorificavam ao Senhor; e creram todos quantos estavam determinados para a vida eterna.

49E a palavra do Senhor era divulgada por toda aquela região.

50Mas os judeus incitaram algumas mulheres devotas e honradas, e aos líderes da cidade, e levantaram perseguição contra Paulo e Barnabé, e os expulsaram de seus limites.

51Mas eles, sacudindo contra eles o pó dos seus pés, vieram a Icônio.

52E os discípulos se enchiam de alegria e do Espírito Santo.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The church in Antioch sends Barnabas and Saul (now called Paul) on the first missionary journey. They preach in Cyprus and in Pisidian Antioch, where Jews reject the message but Gentiles receive it with joy.

Explanation

This chapter marks the official beginning of Paul's missionary journeys, commissioned by the church through fasting and prayer — a model for how important mission decisions should arise from communal spiritual seeking. The confrontation with the sorcerer Elymas shows the spiritual opposition the message would face. Paul's sermon in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch summarizes Israel's history culminating in Jesus, following the same pattern as Stephen's sermon. Paul's closing statement — that he would turn to the Gentiles in light of Jewish rejection — would become a recurring pattern throughout his journeys.

Fun facts

  • It is in this chapter that Luke begins calling 'Saul' by the name 'Paul' (Acts 13:9), possibly because he begins working predominantly in Gentile territory, where his Roman name would be more recognizable.
  • Sergius Paulus, the proconsul converted in Cyprus, is confirmed by an archaeological inscription found on the island, which mentions a Roman official with that name during the period corresponding to the account.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Atos 13:1The nickname “Niger” given to Simeon likely indicates dark skin, suggesting African origin. Together with Lucius of Cyrene, it shows how the leadership of the church in Antioch already brought together people from very different backgrounds from early on.
  2. Atos 13:2While the group of leaders in Antioch was fasting and worshiping, the Holy Spirit gives a direct and specific command: set apart Barnabas and Saul for a mission He Himself had already planned.
  3. Atos 13:3The church’s response is to confirm the calling with fasting, prayer, and the laying on of hands before sending them off, a simple ritual of missionary commissioning.
  4. Atos 13:4Barnabas and Saul first go down to the port of Seleucia, and from there sail to the island of Cyprus, Barnabas’s homeland, officially beginning the first missionary journey in the book of Acts.
  5. Atos 13:5John, mentioned here as their assistant, is John Mark, who accompanies Paul and Barnabas as a kind of helper on the journey. He abandons the group shortly afterward, which later causes a falling-out between Paul and Barnabas in chapter 15.
  6. Atos 13:6Crossing the island to Paphos, they find a Jew posing as a magician and false prophet, named Bar-jesus, an influential figure connected to the local court.
  7. Atos 13:7“Proconsul” was the title of the Roman governor of the province of Cyprus. Archaeological finds on the island confirm the existence of Roman officials with that title at the time, which lends historical support to Luke’s account.
  8. Atos 13:8Elymas — a name that also means “sorcerer” — opposes Paul and Barnabas, trying to prevent the island’s Roman governor from hearing and accepting their message.
  9. Atos 13:9This is the point in the book where the name officially changes in the narrative, from Saul to Paul. Saul was his Jewish name and Paul his Roman name, common among diaspora Jews who held a dual cultural identity — not a change tied only to his conversion.
  10. Atos 13:10Paul confronts Elymas harshly, calling him a child of the devil and an enemy of righteousness, for trying to twist the straight ways of God before the governor.
  11. Atos 13:11Paul announces an immediate punishment: temporary blindness, which takes effect right away, leaving Elymas needing to be led by the hand like a dependent.
  12. Atos 13:12Governor Sergius Paulus is converted when he sees the miracle happen before him, struck both by the event itself and by the message Paul was preaching.
  13. Atos 13:13From the port of Paphos the group sails to Perga in Pamphylia, and this is the point where John Mark abandons them and returns to Jerusalem, a decision that will cause conflict later in chapter 15.
  14. Atos 13:14Paul follows the custom of visiting the local synagogue in every new city, taking advantage of the fact that any traveling Jew had the right to be invited to speak after the reading of the law and the prophets. This is the cultural opening he uses again and again to preach.
  15. Atos 13:15Following Jewish custom, after the reading of the law and the prophets in the synagogue, the local leaders invite the visitors, Paul and Barnabas, to say a word of encouragement.
  16. Atos 13:16Paul accepts the invitation, motions for silence with his hand, and begins a lengthy speech addressed both to Jews and to Gentiles who already attended the synagogue because they feared God.
  17. Atos 13:17Paul begins by retelling the history of Israel from Egypt, recalling how God chose the people, made them grow even as foreigners there, and brought them out with great power.
  18. Atos 13:18Paul quickly moves through the forty years in the wilderness, a period in which God put up with the people’s difficult behavior before they entered the promised land.
  19. Atos 13:19After destroying seven Canaanite nations, God distributes the conquered land among the tribes of Israel by lot, as already told in the book of Joshua.
  20. Atos 13:20Paul sums up the long period of the judges, about four hundred and fifty years, which runs up to the prophet Samuel, the last figure before the monarchy.
  21. Atos 13:21The brief reference to King Saul, son of Kish, picks up the story of Israel’s first king, told in 1 Samuel, which Paul uses as historical background before reaching David and then Jesus.
  22. Atos 13:22After rejecting Saul, the first king, God chooses David, described with the famous phrase “a man after mine own heart,” willing to do His will.
  23. Atos 13:23Paul finally reaches his main point: from David’s descendants, as promised, God raised up Jesus as Savior of Israel.
  24. Atos 13:24Before Jesus’s arrival, John the Baptist had already preached a baptism of repentance to all the people, preparing the way.
  25. Atos 13:25Paul quotes John denying that he was the Messiah himself, and pointing to someone greater who would come after him, so far above him that he would not even be worthy to untie His sandals.
  26. Atos 13:26Paul addresses both the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles present, saying that the message of salvation had been sent specifically to them there.
  27. Atos 13:27Paul explains that the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah, and in condemning Him they unwittingly ended up fulfilling the prophecies read every sabbath in the synagogues.
  28. Atos 13:28Even without finding any real cause for death, these leaders asked Pilate to have Jesus executed anyway.
  29. Atos 13:29After everything written about Him had been fulfilled, they took Jesus down from “the tree” and laid Him in a tomb.
  30. Atos 13:30Paul states the central point of the Christian faith directly and briefly: God raised Him from the dead.
  31. Atos 13:31The resurrection was not a private event: Jesus was seen for many days by the disciples who had come up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are His official witnesses before the people.
  32. Atos 13:32Paul frames all of this as the fulfillment of an ancient promise made to the ancestors, now realized for the present generation through the resurrection of Jesus.
  33. Atos 13:33Paul quotes a psalm the Jews read as referring to the anointed king, the Messiah, applying that phrase to the resurrection of Jesus, not to His birth.
  34. Atos 13:34Paul cites a prophetic promise about the definitive resurrection, one with no return to decay, tied to “the sure mercies of David” promised by God.
  35. Atos 13:35Paul reinforces this with another psalm quotation, saying that God would not allow His “Holy One” to see decay — a verse Peter had already used earlier in chapter 2 with the same logic.
  36. Atos 13:36Paul argues that this promise cannot be about David himself, since he died, was buried with his ancestors, and his body truly decayed.
  37. Atos 13:37By contrast, the One God raised up — Jesus — saw no decay at all, showing that the prophetic promise is fulfilled only in Him.
  38. Atos 13:38Paul arrives at the practical application of his speech: it is through Jesus that forgiveness of sins is now proclaimed to the listeners gathered there.
  39. Atos 13:39Paul teaches that the law of Moses could never fully justify anyone, but whoever believes in Jesus receives the justification the law was unable to give.
  40. Atos 13:40Paul closes with a warning, urging his listeners to take care not to fall under the harsh warning the prophets themselves had already written.
  41. Atos 13:41Paul quotes the prophet Habakkuk, warning those who scoff at the message: God was doing a work so astonishing that no one would believe it even if warned beforehand.
  42. Atos 13:42As they leave the synagogue, the initial reaction is positive: people ask Paul and Barnabas to come back and speak on the same subject the following sabbath.
  43. Atos 13:43Many Jews and Gentile converts to Judaism (proselytes) follow Paul and Barnabas after the service, receiving encouragement to continue faithful to the grace of God.
  44. Atos 13:44On the following sabbath, almost the whole city gathers to hear the preaching, an enormous increase in audience compared to the first time.
  45. Atos 13:45This success stirs up envy among the local Jewish leaders, who begin publicly contradicting and insulting what Paul was saying.
  46. Atos 13:46Paul and Barnabas respond firmly: since the Jews rejected the message first offered to them, the two decide to turn their preaching specifically to the Gentiles.
  47. Atos 13:47Paul justifies this turn by quoting a prophetic command that the Messiah would be a light for the Gentiles, bringing salvation to the ends of the earth.
  48. Atos 13:48The Gentiles’ reaction is one of genuine joy, and the text records that “as many as were ordained to eternal life” believed, a theological detail much debated among scholars.
  49. Atos 13:49With this initial momentum, the Christian message begins to spread throughout that whole region of Asia Minor, not just in the city of Antioch in Pisidia.
  50. Atos 13:50The Jewish opponents manage to mobilize influential women of the city and local authorities to officially expel Paul and Barnabas from the territory.
  51. Atos 13:51As they are expelled, the two shake the dust off their feet against the city, the same symbolic gesture of protest used later in other places, and go on to Iconium.
  52. Atos 13:52Despite the expulsion, the new disciples left behind remain full of joy and of the Holy Spirit, showing that the persecution did not snuff out their newly formed faith.

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