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Being sent forth by the Holy Ghost - By his influence, authority, and under his continual direction. Without the first, they were not qualified to go; without the second, they had no authority to go; and without the third, they could not know where to go.

Departed, unto Seleucia - This is generally understood to be Seleucia of Pieria, the first city on the coast of Syria, coming from Cilicia; near the place where the river Orontes pours itself into the sea.

They sailed to Cyprus - A well known island in the Mediterranean Sea. See on Acts 4:36; (note).

Being sent forth by the Holy Ghost - Having been called to this world by the Holy Spirit, and being under his direction.

Departed unto Seleucia - This city was situated at the mouth of the river Orontes, where it fails into the Mediterranean. Antioch was connected with the sea by the Orontes River. Strabo says that in his time they sailed up the river in one day. The distance from Antioch to Seleucia by water is about 41 miles, while the journey by land is only 16 12 miles (Life and Epistles of Paul, vol. 1, p. 185. “Seleucia united the two characters of a fortress and a seaport. It was situated on a rocky eminence, which is the southern extremity of an elevated range of hills projecting from Mount Aranus. From the southeast, where the ruins of the Antioch gate are still conspicuous, the ground rose toward the northeast into high and craggy summits; and round the greater part of the circumference of 4 miles the city was protected by its natural position. The harbor and mercantile suburb were on level ground toward the west; but here, as on the only weak point at Gibraltar, strong artificial defenses had made compensation for the weakness of nature. Seleucus, who had named his metropolis in his father‘s honor (p. 122), gave his own name to this maritime fortress; and here, around his tomb, his successors contended for the key of Syria. ‹Seleucia by the sea‘ was a place of great importance under the Seleucidae and the Ptolemies, and so it remained under the sway of the Romans. In consequence of its bold resistance to Tigranes when he was in possession of all the neighboring country, Pompey gave it the privileges of a ‹free city;‘ and a contemporary of Paul speaks of it as having those privileges still.

Here, in the midst of unsympathizing sailors, the two missionary apostles, with their younger companion, stepped on board the vessel which was to convey them to Salamis. As they cleared the port, the whole sweep of the bay of Antioch opened on their left - the low ground by the mouth of the Orontes; the wild and woody country beyond it; and then the peak of Mount Casius, rising symmetrically from the very edge of the sea to a height of 5000 feet. On the right, in the southwest horizon, if the day was clear, they saw the island of Cyprus from the first. The current sets northerly and northeast between the island and the Syrian coast. But with a fair wind, a few hours would enable them to run down from Seleucia to Salamis, and the land would rapidly rise in forms well known and familiar to Barnabas and Mark” (Life and Epistles of Paul, vol. 1, pp. 135,138).

They sailed to Cyprus - An island in the Mediterranean, not far from Seleucia. See the notes on Acts 4:36.

Satan is in a special manner busy with great men and men in power, to keep them from being religious, for their example will influence many. Saul is here for the first time called Paul, and never after Saul. Saul was his name as he was a Hebrew; Paul was his name as he was a citizen of Rome. Under the direct influence of the Holy Ghost, he gave Elymas his true character, but not in passion. A fulness of deceit and mischief together, make a man indeed a child of the devil. And those who are enemies to the doctrine of Jesus, are enemies to all righteousness; for in it all righteousness is fulfilled. The ways of the Lord Jesus are the only right ways to heaven and happiness. There are many who not only wander from these ways themselves, but set others against these ways. They commonly are so hardened, that they will not cease to do evil. The proconsul was astonished at the force of the doctrine upon his own heart and conscience, and at the power of God by which it was confirmed. The doctrine of Christ astonishes; and the more we know of it, the more reason we shall see to wonder at it. Those who put their hand to the plough and look back, are not fit for the kingdom of God. Those who are not prepared to face opposition, and to endure hardship, are not fitted for the work of the ministry.

This chapter is based on Acts 13:4-52.

“Sent forth by the Holy Ghost,” Paul and Barnabas, after their ordination by the brethren in Antioch, “departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.” Thus the apostles began their first missionary journey. AA 166.1

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