the Week of Proper 21 / Ordinary 26
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The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible
Acts 8:9
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Now there was a guy named Simon who had been practicing voodoo around there and had amazed many people with his feats. He never neglected to tell people how great he was.
Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great;
Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astounding the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great;
But there was a certain man named Simon, who in the past had been a wonder-worker and a cause of surprise to the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was a great man:
But a certain man, by name Simon, had been before in the city, using magic arts, and astonishing the nation of Samaria, saying that himself was some great one.
But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great,
A man named Simon had previously practiced sorcery in that city and astounded the Samaritan people, while claiming to be somebody great.
But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who had used sorcery in the city before, and amazed the people of Samaria, making himself out to be some great one,
But a certain man, named Simon, had been before in the city, using magic, and astonishing the Samaritans, saying, that he was some great one.
Now for some time past there had been a man named Simon living there, who had been practising magic and astonishing the Samaritans, pretending that he was more than human.
But there was a certaine man called Simon, which before time in the same citie vsed sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giuing out that himselfe was some great one.
But a certain man named Simon had long been conjuring in the city and amazing the nation of Samaria, claiming himself to be some great one.
But afore there was in ye same cite a certayne ma, called Simon, which vsed witche craft, and bewitched ye people of Samaria, sayenge, that he was a man which coulde do greate thinges.
One Simon was then resident in that place, who pretended to be something extra-ordinary, and by his magical practices had so enchanted the people of Samaria,
Previous to Philip's arrival, a certain Simon had practiced magic in the city, posing as a famous man and dazzling all the Samaritans with his wizardry. He had them all, from little children to old men, eating out of his hand. They all thought he had supernatural powers, and called him "the Great Wizard." He had been around a long time and everyone was more or less in awe of him.
Now there was a man named Simon, who previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great.
But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who beforetime in the city used sorcery, and amazed the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
But there was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the nation of Sama'ria, saying that he himself was somebody great.
And ther was a certayne man called Simon which before tyme in the same cite vsed witche crafte and bewitched the people of Samarie sayinge that he was a man yt coulde do greate thinges
But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who formerly in the city used sorcery, and amazed the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
But there was a certain man called Simon, who before in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
And a certain man, by name Simon, was before in the city using magic, and amazing the nation of Samaria, saying himself to be a certain great one,
But there was a man named Simon in that city. Before Philip came there, Simon had practiced magic and amazed all the people of Samaria. He bragged and called himself a great man.
Now in that city was a man named Simon, who had been practicing magic and amazing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great.
For some time a man named Simon had lived in the city of Samaria and had amazed the people. He practiced witchcraft and claimed to be somebody great.
But there was a man named Shim‘on in the city who for some time had been practicing magic and astonishing the nation of Shomron, claiming to be somebody great.
But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great.
And there was before in the citie a certaine man called Simon, which vsed witchcraft, and bewitched the people of Samaria, saying that he himselfe was some great man.
Now there was there a man called Semon, who had lived in that city a long time, and who had deceived the Samaritan people by his magic, boasting of himself and saying, I am the greatest one.
But there was a certain man, Shim`on by name, who had used sorcery in the city before, and amazed the people of Shomron, making himself out to be some great one,
Now in that city there was a man named Simon. He was practicing occult arts and thrilling the people of Samaria, claiming to be a great man.Acts 5:36; 13:6;">[xr]
But a certain man was there whose name was Simon, who had dwelt in that city much time, and with his sorceries had deceived the people of the Shomroyee, magnifying himself, and saying, I am the Great. [fn]
And there was a certain man there, whose name was Simon, who had resided in that city a long time, and who seduced the people of the Samaritans by his sorceries, magnifying himself, and saying, I am a great personage.
A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone great.
A man by the name of Simon had done witchcraft there. The people of Samaria were surprised at the things he did. He pretended that he was a great man.
But there was a certain man, Simon by name, which beforetime in the city used sorcery, and amazed the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
Now a certain man named Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone great.
But, a certain man named Simon, was already in the city, practising magical arts, and astonishing the nation of Samaria, - saying that himself was someone great:
There was therefore great joy in that city. Now there was a certain man named Simon who before had been a magician in that city, seducing the people of Samaria, giving out that he was some great one:
But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
Now a certain man named Simon had been in the city practicing magic and astonishing the people of Samaria, saying he was someone great.
But there was a certayne man called Simon, which beforetyme in the same citie vsed witchcraft, and bewitched the people of Samaria, saying that he was a man that coulde do great thynges:
Now there was a man named Simon who lived in that city. Before Philip came there, Simon had been doing magic and amazing all the people of Samaria. He bragged and called himself a great man.
Now a man named Simon had previously been practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great;
A man named Simon lived there, who for some time had astounded the Samaritans with his magic. He claimed that he was someone great,
Therfor greet ioye was maad in that citee. But there was a man in that citee, whos name was Symount, a witche, that hadde disseyued the folc of Samarie, seiynge, that him silf was sum greet man.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
used: Acts 13:6, Acts 16:16-18, Acts 19:18-20, Exodus 7:11, Exodus 7:22, Exodus 8:18, Exodus 8:19, Exodus 9:11, Leviticus 20:6, Deuteronomy 18:10-12, 2 Timothy 3:8, 2 Timothy 3:9, Revelation 13:13, Revelation 13:14, Revelation 22:15
giving: Acts 5:36, John 7:18, 2 Thessalonians 2:4, 2 Timothy 3:2, 2 Timothy 3:5, 2 Peter 2:18
Reciprocal: Exodus 7:12 - but Aaron's Exodus 22:18 - General Numbers 22:6 - I wot 1 Chronicles 10:13 - a familiar Proverbs 22:12 - he Matthew 24:5 - in Luke 21:8 - for Acts 8:19 - General Acts 19:19 - used 2 Corinthians 4:5 - we Galatians 3:1 - who Galatians 5:20 - witchcraft 2 Thessalonians 2:9 - is 1 Timothy 6:4 - He
Cross-References
Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.
Return to your rest, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.
Who are these who fly like clouds, like doves to their shelters?
The survivors will escape and live in the mountains, all moaning like doves of the valley, each for his own iniquity.
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!"
Gill's Notes on the Bible
But there was a certain man called Simon,.... Who, as Justin Martyr f says, was a Samaritan, and of a village called Gitton; and so a Jewish writer g calls him Simeon, השמרוני, "the Samaritan", a wizard: here is a
but upon this new church, the success of the Gospel in this place, and the joy that was there; a man of great wickedness and sophistry plays the hypocrite, feigns himself a believer, and gets in among them; :-,
which beforetime in the same city used sorcery; who before Philip came thither, practised magic arts; wherefore he is commonly called "Simon Magus", for he was a magician, who had learned diabolical arts, and used enchantments and divinations, as Balaam and the magicians of Egypt did:
and bewitched the people of Samaria; or rather astonished them, with the strange feats he performed; which were so unheard of and unaccountable, that they were thrown into an ecstasy and rapture; and were as it were out of themselves, through wonder and admiration, at the amazing things that were done by him:
giving out that himself was some great one; a divine person, or an extraordinary prophet, and it may be the Messiah; since the Samaritans expected the Messiah, as appears from John 4:25 and which the Syriac version seems to incline to, which renders the words thus, "and he said, I am that great one"; that great person, whom Moses spake of as the seed of the "woman", under the name of Shiloh, and the character of a prophet.
f Apolog. 2. p. 69. g Juchasin, fol. 242. 2.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
But there was a certain man called Simon - The fathers have written much respecting this man, and have given strange accounts of him; but nothing more is certainly known of him than is stated in this place. Rosenmuller and Kuinoel suppose him to have been a Simon mentioned by Josephus (Antiq., book 20, chapter 7, section 2), who was born in Cyprus. He was a magician, and was employed by Felix to persuade Drusilla to forsake her husband Azizus, and to marry Felix. But it is not very probable that this was the same person. (See the note in Whiston’s Josephus.) Simon Magus was probably a “Jew” or a “Samaritan,” who had addicted himself to the arts of magic, and who was much celebrated for it. He had studied philosophy in Alexandria in Egypt (Mosheim, vol. i., pp. 113, 114, Murdock’s translation), and then lived in Samaria. After he was cut off from the hope of adding to his other powers the power of working miracles, the “fathers” say that he fell into many errors, and became the founder of the sect of the Simonians. They accused him of affirming that he came down as the “Father” in respect to the Samaritans, the “Son” in respect to the Jews, and the “Holy Spirit” in respect to the Gentiles. He did not acknowledge Christ to be the Son of God, but a rival, and pretended himself to be Christ. He rejected the Law of Moses. Many other things are affirmed of him which rest on doubtful authority. He seems to have become an enemy to Christianity, though he was willing “then” to avail himself of some of its doctrines in order to advance his own interests. The account that he came to a tragical death in Rome; that he was honored as a deity by the Roman senate; and that a statue was erected to his memory in the isle of Tiber, is now generally rejected. His end is not known. (See Calmet, art. “Simon Magus,” and Mosheim, vol. i., p. 114, note.)
Beforetime - The practice of magic, or sorcery, was common at that time, and in all the ancient nations.
Used sorcery - Greek: μαγεύων mageuōn. Exercising the arts of the “Magi,” or “magicians”; hence, the name Simon “Magus.” See the notes on Matthew 2:1. The ancient “Magi” had their rise in Persia, and were at first addicted to the study of philosophy, astronomy, medicine, etc. This name came afterward to signify those who made use of the knowledge of these arts for the purpose of imposing on mankind - astrologers, soothsayers, necromancers, fortune-tellers, etc. Such persons pretended to predict future events by the positions of the stars, and to cure diseases by incantations, etc. See Isaiah 2:6. See also Daniel 1:20; Daniel 2:2. It was expressly forbidden the Jews to consult such persons on pain of death, Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:6. In these arts Simon had been eminently successful.
And bewitched - This is an unhappy translation. The Greek means merely that he “astonished” or amazed the people, or “confounded” their judgment. The idea of “bewitching” them is not in the original.
Giving out ... - “Saying”; that is, boasting. It was in this way, partly, that he so confounded them. Jugglers generally impose on people just in proportion to the “extravagance” and folly of their pretensions. The same remark may be made of “quack doctors,” and of all persons who attempt to delude and impose on people.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Acts 8:9. A certain man called Simon — In ancient ecclesiastical writers, we have the strangest account of this man; they say that he pretended to be the Father, who gave the law to Moses; that he came in the reign of Tiberius in the person of the Son; that he descended on the apostles on the day of pentecost, in flames of fire, in quality of the Holy Spirit; that he was the Messiah, the Paraclete, and Jupiter; that the woman who accompanied him, called Helena, was Minerva, or the first intelligence; with many other extravagancies which probably never had an existence. All that we know to be certain on this subject is, that he used sorcery, that he bewitched the people, and that he gave out himself to be some great one.
This might be sufficient, were not men prone to be wise above what is written.
Our word sorcerer, from the French sorcier, which, from the Latin sors, a lot, signifies the using of lots to draw presages concerning the future; a custom that prevailed in all countries, and was practised with a great variety of forms. On the word lot see Clarke's note, "Leviticus 16:8; "Leviticus 16:9"; and Joshua 14:2.
The Greek word, μαγευων, signifies practising the rites or science of the Magi, or [Persic] Mughan, the worshippers of fire among the Persians; the same as [Arabic] Majoos, and [Arabic] Majooseean, from which we have our word magician. Matthew 2:1.
And bewitched the people of Samaria — εξιστων, Astonishing, amazing, or confounding the judgment of the people, from εξιστημι to remove out of a place or state, to be transported beyond one's self, to be out of one's wits; a word that expresses precisely the same effect which the tricks or legerdemain of a juggler produce in the minds of the common people who behold his feats. It is very likely that Simon was a man of this cast, for the east has always abounded in persons of this sort. The Persian, Arabian, Hindoo, and Chinese jugglers are notorious to the present day; and even while I write this, (July, 1813,) three Indian jugglers, lately arrived, are astonishing the people of London; and if such persons can now interest and amaze the people of a city so cultivated and enlightened, what might not such do among the grosser people of Sychem or Sebaste, eighteen hundred years ago?
That himself was some great one. — That the feats which he performed sufficiently proved that he possessed a most powerful supernatural agency, and could do whatsoever he pleased.
