Instruction on Natural Magic and its Medical Use

impulse into the Holy Land. Conversely, Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 8, verses 9 and 11, cites the wickedness of Simon, who in Samaria bewitched many with his sorcery: And in the 13th chapter, verse 8, he recounts the stubbornness of Elymas, the sorcerer; although it appears as if the word μεθερμηνεύεσθαι to be interpreted added in this place refers to the simple translation of one language by another, and ὁ μάγος the magus denotes a knowledgeable or wise person. For, that the word Elim (b)

meaning is not taken for those who exercise the black and devilish magical art, but it corresponds with the Hebrew word אשפים enchanters/magi, from which the Greek Sophi the wise originates. For in ancient times, as Grotius reminds us, Arabia had its wise men who studied the whole of nature as well as astronomy in particular, as the conversations of Job and his friends teach us.

(b) Regarding this word, interpreters have various opinions. Vatablus maintains that according to its origin it is a Greek word, and means as much as a juggler, sorcerer, and deceiver. Zegerus, who applies the word τὸ μεθερμηνεύεσθαι the interpretation to Barjesus, believes that Elimas was the proper name of that same magus, because it is translated by Jerome as transgression, and that which causes one to transgress, but by Lyra as the goodness or treasure of my GOD. The truth