Elymas, also known as
Bar-Jesus (
gr.
Bar-iesou,
arc.
Bar-Shuma,
lat.
Bariesu), is a
Jew in the
Acts of the Apostles, chapter 13, in the
New Testament.
Acts of the Apostles calls him a
magus, which the
King James Bible here translates as "
sorcerer". He is represented as opposing the disciple
Paul of Tarsus, who is called at this point for the first time with his
Roman name, and
Barnabas in the city of
Paphos on
Cyprus, when
Sergius Paulus, the
Roman Proconsul, wishes to hear Paul and Barnabas speak about
Jesus. Because of this opposition, Paul claims that
God had decided to make him temporarily
blind. A cloud of darkness immediately begins blocking his sight; after this Sergius Paulus is converted to
Christianity.