SPECIAL TOPIC: SILAS/SILVANUS

Silas, or Silvanus, was the man Paul chose to go with him on the second missionary journey (i.e., Acts 15:40-18:5) after Barnabas and John Mark went back to Cyprus (i.e., argument over Mark, cf. Acts 15:36-39).

  1. He is first mentioned in the Bible in Acts 15:22 where he is called a chief man among the brethren of the Jerusalem Church.
  2. He was also a prophet who replaced Barnabas as Paul's missionary co-worker (cf. Acts 15:22,32,36-41).
  3. He was a Roman citizen like Paul (cf. Acts 16:37).
  4. Silas and Paul were both imprisoned at Philippi (Acts 16:16-26).
  5. Paul always called him Silvanus (cf. 2: Cor. 1:19; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1).
  6. It is possible that Silas later became a companion of Peter, as John Mark did (cf. 1 Pet. 5:12).
  7. He and Judas Barsabbas were sent to Antioch by the Jerusalem Church to inspect the situation (cf. Acts 15:22,30-35).
  8. Paul mentions him in 2 Cor. 1:19 as a fellow gospel preacher.
  9. Later he is identified with Peter in writing 1 Peter. (cf. 1 Pet. 5:12; perhaps this is why Peter sounds so much like Paul).
  10. Both Paul and Peter call him Silvanus, while Luke calls him Silas (the Aramaic form of Saul).  It is possible that Silas was his Jewish name and Silvanus his Latin name (cf. F. F. Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free, p. 213).

 

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