What is the meaning of Acts 13:10?

O child of the devil

• Paul addresses Elymas the sorcerer (Acts 13:8) with language paralleling Jesus’ words to hostile leaders: “You belong to your father, the devil” (John 8:44).

• Scripture teaches that those who oppose God’s truth place themselves under Satan’s influence (1 John 3:8–10; Ephesians 2:2).

• By calling Elymas a “child,” Paul exposes the sorcerer’s spiritual lineage, contrasting sharply with believers who are “children of God” (John 1:12).

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Enemy of all righteousness

• Righteousness is whatever lines up with God’s character (Psalm 11:7). To fight it is to fight God Himself.

• Isaiah condemned those who “call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20); Paul sees the same reversal here.

• Romans 1:32 shows that approving wickedness makes one an active adversary of what is right. Elymas isn’t neutral; he is at war with truth.

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Full of all kinds of deceit and trickery

• “Full” indicates a settled habit, not a momentary lapse (Matthew 15:19).

• Deceit marks false teachers (2 Corinthians 11:13–15); trickery characterizes sorcery (Revelation 21:8).

• Like Simon the magician earlier (Acts 8:9–23), Elymas traffics in lies that blur the gospel’s clarity.

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Will you never stop

• The question underscores persistent rebellion, echoing Stephen’s charge, “You stiff-necked people” (Acts 7:51).

• Continuous resistance hardens the heart (Hebrews 3:13). Paul presses Elymas to recognize the peril of ongoing unbelief (Hebrews 10:26–27).

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Perverting the straight ways of the Lord

• God’s ways are “straight” (Proverbs 3:6; Isaiah 40:3; Luke 3:4–5): direct, life-giving, and truthful.

• To “pervert” is to twist, distort, or redirect (Micah 3:9). Elymas obstructs the proconsul’s path to salvation (Acts 13:7).

• Paul’s rebuke warns that bending God’s clear road leads others astray and invites swift judgment (2 Peter 2:1–3).

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summary

Acts 13:10 records Paul’s Spirit-filled confrontation of a man who actively opposed the gospel. Each phrase unmasks Elymas as a willing agent of Satan, hostile to all that is right, saturated with deceit, stubborn in resistance, and committed to twisting God’s straight path. The verse calls believers to recognize spiritual opposition, stand firm for truth, and guard the clarity of the gospel’s way.