Acts 13:11

Now look, the hand of the Lord is against you, and for a time you will be blind and unable to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Paul pronounces judgment on the sorcerer Elymas while the proconsul Sergius Paulus observes.

The words — χεὶρ (cheir) means "hand" and κυρίου (kuriou) means "of the Lord," forming the phrase "the hand of the Lord" to denote direct divine action.

The thread — The motif of God's hand executing judgment appears in Exodus 9:3 against Pharaoh’s livestock, Psalm 32:4 describing God’s heavy hand, and 1 Samuel 5:11 where the Philistines flee the ark.

Why it lands — The text records immediate blindness and groping as the direct result of opposing a prophet, requiring the reader to acknowledge the tangible weight of divine authority.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

Cross-references

Exodus 9:3 then the hand of the LORD will bring a severe plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks.
Psalms 32:4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was drained as in the summer heat. Selah
1 Samuel 5:11 Then the Ekronites called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel. It must return to its place, so that it will not kill us and our people!” For a deadly confusion had pervaded the city; the hand of God was very heavy upon it.
Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Job 19:21 Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.
John 9:39 Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.”
2 Peter 2:17 These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.
Genesis 19:11 And they struck the men at the entrance, young and old, with blindness, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the door.
1 Samuel 5:6 Now the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity, ravaging them and afflicting them with tumors.
1 Samuel 5:9 But after they had moved the ark to Gath, the LORD’s hand was also against that city, throwing it into great confusion and afflicting the men of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors.