Who Was Bar Jesus (Acts 13,6-12)? 73 rJa/diourgiva, used by Luke in Acts 13,10, refers to deceit and chicanery, and unscrupulous fraud (23), and is indicative of an insider rather than of an outsider. It is his teaching about the way of the Lord that is delusional, not his magical powers or pagan syncretism. Some of the Septuagintal terms used in this condemnation of Bar Jesus are worth further comment. To pervert (diastrevfein) the right ways is a feature of false prophets and of false behavior in general (compare Mic 3,9; Ezek 13,18; Prov 10,9; Ps. Sol. 10,3; Philo, Sob. 10), and this is what Bar Jesus is charged with doing. Scholars often point to Hos 14,9 (LXX 14,10) and see it as paralleling Paul’s charge (24). Barrett also notes the parallel but thinks “it is unlikely that the passage is specifically referred to, since Hosea says that the transgressors shall stumble … in them (sc. the paths), not that they will pervert them” (25). But that is an unnecessary distinction. From Luke’s perspective, Bar Jesus perverts the straight paths of Yahweh; he does not walk in Yahweh’s straight paths. This causes him to stumble and so to grope for someone to lead him by the hand (13,11). The Hosea 14 passage is worth citing in full, Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning (sunetov"), let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right (eujqei'ai aiJ oJdoi; tou' kuriou), and the upright (divkaioi) walk in v them, but transgressors stumble in them. According to Hosea, the righteous (divkaioi) walk the straight paths. Bar Jesus, however, is an ‘enemy of all righteousness’ (ecqro;" j pash" dikaiosunh") because he has made those straight paths crooked v v (diastrevfwn ta;" oJdou;" tou' kurivou ta;" eujqeiva"). He belongs to the sinners and so stumbles. On the other hand, Luke says that the proconsul Sergius was sunetov", precisely the adjective used by Hosea of the wise man who follows the straight paths of the Lord. Sergius Paulus recognised the straight path of the word of God brought by Paul and Barnabas, and believed (13,12) (26). One might also note the (23) See BDAG, 902. (24) For example, G. SCHNEIDER, Die Apostelgeschichte (Freiburg et al 1982) 123, n. 48. (25) BARRETT, Acts, I, 617. (26) It is possible to read Sergius Paulus as similar to Cornelius, that is, as a god-fearer who already belonged to the faith (compare 13,8). In any case, Luke seems to be following the usual pattern: Paul goes first to the synagogues (13,5), he meets opposition from Jews, but some god-fearers believe. Jervell thinks the proconsul belongs to the god fearers (Apostelgeschichte, 346).