Sergius Paulus

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

Lucius Sergius Paulus or Paullus was a Proconsul of Cyprus under Claudius (1st century AD). He appears in Acts 13:6-13, where in Paphos Paul, accompanied by Barnabas and John Mark, overcame the attempts of Bar-Jesus (Elymas) "to turn the proconsul away from the faith" and converted Sergius to Christianity.

A boundary stone of Claudius mentioning Sergius was discovered at Rome in 1887.[1] It records the appointment (AD 47) of the Curators of the banks and the channel of the river Tiber, one of whom was Sergius. Since Paul's journey to Cyprus is usually dated to the first half of the 40s (and some scholars date his visit even earlier), it is thought Sergius may have first served three years as Proconsul at Cyprus, then returned to Rome, where he was appointed curator.[2] As he is not greeted in Paul's Epistle to the Romans, it is possible he died before it was written.[3]

Some medieval legends have anachronistically identified Sergius Paulus with Paul of Narbonne.

Sergius Paulus may have been the first of six successive senators named Lucius Sergius Paullus, of Antioch, Pisidia, including one Consul Suffect in 94 and another Consul in 168, the last of whom was Lucius Sergius Paullus, Senator, father of Sergia Paulla, who married Quintus Anicius Faustus, Legate of Numidia and Consul in 198, and had Quintus Anicius Faustus Paulinus, Legate of Moesia Inferior between 229 and 230 or c. 230 to 232.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Sergius Paulus," Easton's Bible Dictionary.
  2. ↑ However, Jack P. Lewis, Historical Backgrounds of Bible History (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1971), 153, suggests that Sergius held the curatorship of the Tiber before going to Cyprus.
  3. ↑ "Sergius Paulus," Easton's Bible Dictionary.
  4. ↑ Anthony Wagner, Pedigree and Progress, Essays in the Genealogical Interpretation of History, London, Philmore, 1975. Rutgers Alex CS4.W33., p. 59

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