Bible Dictionary
Sergius Paulus
Sergius Paulus was the Roman proconsul of Cyprus when Paul and Barnabas preached there. After hearing the gospel and witnessing God’s power, he believed.
Definition
Sergius Paulus was the Roman proconsul of Cyprus during Paul and Barnabas’s first missionary journey. He was described as an intelligent and prudent man who sought information and became convinced by the gospel.
Biblical Usage
After hearing Paul’s message and observing the judgment upon Elymas, Sergius Paulus believed. His conversion is recorded in the account of the mission to Cyprus.
Historical Background
A boundary stone discovered at Rome names a Sergius Paulus as a curator of the banks and channel of the Tiber, appointed under Claudius. The sources connect this with the proconsul after his service in Cyprus.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
A “prudent man” (R.V., “man of understanding”), the deputy (R.V., “proconsul”) of Cyprus (Acts 13:6-13). He became a convert to Christianity under Paul, who visited this island on his first mission to the heathen. A remarkable memorial of this proconsul was recently (1887) discovered at Rome. On a boundary stone of Claudius his name is found, among others, as having been appointed (A.D. 47) one of the curators of the banks and the channel of the river Tiber. After serving his three years as proconsul at Cyprus, he returned to Rome, where he held the office referred to. As he is not saluted in Paul’s letter to the Romans, he probably died before it was written.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
was the proconsul of Cyprus when the apostle Paul visited that island with Barnabas on his first missionary tour. (Acts 13:7) seq. (A.D. 44.) He is described as an intelligent man, truth-seeking, eager for information from all sources within his reach. Though at first admitting to his society Elymas the magician, he afterward, on becoming acquainted with the claims of the gospel, yielded his mind to the evidence of its truth.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>sur'-ji-us po'-lus.</p><p>See PAULUS, SERGIUS.</p>