John Gill Commentary


John Gill Commentary
"And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand." — Acts 13:11 (ASV)
And now behold the hand of the Lord is upon you
That is, the power of God was just ready to be exerted on him in a way of punishment, by striking him with blindness:
and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a season :
so blind as not to see the sun, when it shined ever so brightly: this punishment seems to be but for a time; and some say that Elymas repented, and had his sight restored to him; and after that he returned to his sorcery, and again greatly opposed Barnabas in the island of Cyprus:
and immediately there fell on him a mist and darkness ;
as soon as ever the apostle had said the above words, a dark mist fell upon his eyes, which began the blindness, and issued in a total one:
he groped about the room, if he could find, and lay hold on some person to lead him: for he was quickly stone blind, so that he could not guide himself, as the men of Sodom were, when smitten with blindness by the angel; wherefore, though they groped about for the door of the house till they were weary, they could not find it, (Genesis 19:11) of which the Jews say, as here, that it was (Mvh tam hkm) , "a stroke from God" F21 . Blind men need one to hold them by the hand, and lead them, as Samson, (Judges 16:26) and Saul, (Acts 9:8) .
The striking this man with blindness is an instance of the power the apostles were endued with, for the punishing of offenders: so Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead for telling a lie: and the incestuous person was delivered to Satan to undergo a corporeal punishment for his incest; as Hymenaeus and Alexander were for their blasphemy, (Acts 5:5Acts 5:10) (1 Corinthians 5:5) (1 Timothy 1:20) .