silas Summary and Overview

wood, a prominent member of the church at Jerusalem; also called Silvanus. He and Judas, surnamed Barsabas, were chosen by the church there to accompany Paul and Barnabas on their return to Antioch from the council of the apostles and elders (Acts 15:22), as bearers of the decree adopted by the council. He assisted Paul there in his evangelistic labors, and was also chosen by him to be his companion on his second missionary tour (Acts 16:19-24). He is referred to in the epistles under the name of Silvanus (2 Cor. 1:19; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1; 1 Pet. 5:12). There is no record of the time or place of his death.

(contracted form of Silvanus, woody), an eminent member of the early Christian Church, described under that name in the Acts but as Silvanus in St. Paul's epistles. He first appears as one of the leaders of the church at Jerusalem #Ac 15:22| holding the office of an inspired teacher. #Ac 15:32| His name, derived from the Latin silva, "wood," betokens him a Hellenistic Jew, and he appears to have been a Roman citizen. #Ac 16:37| He was appointed as a delegate to accompany Paul and Barnabas on their return to Antioch with the decree of the Council of Jerusalem. #Ac 15:22,32| Having accomplished this mission, he returned to Jerusalem. #Ac 15:33| He must, however, have immediately revisited Antioch, for we find him selected by St. Paul as the companion of his second missionary journey. #Ac 15:40 ... 17:10| At Berea he was left behind with Timothy while St. Paul proceeded to Athens, #Ac 17:14| and we hear nothing more of his movements until he rejoined the apostle at Corinth. #Ac 18:5| His presence at Corinth is several times noticed. #2Co 1:19; 1Th 1:1; 2Th 1:1| Whether he was the Silvanus who conveyed St. Peter's first epistle to Asia Minor, #1Pe 5:12| is doubtful the probabilities are in favor of the identity. A tradition of very slight authority represents Silas to have become bishop of Corinth.

SI'LAS , Acts 15:40. contracted from SILVA'NUS (woody), 2 Cor 1:19, is called one of the chief of the brethren. Acts 15:22, and a faithful brother. 1 Pet 5:12. He is supposed to have been a native of Antioch, and a member of the Christian church there. Acts 15:37-41. He was the associate of Paul in several of his missionary tours, and his fellow-prisoner at Philippi. Acts 15:40; Acts 16:25, Acts 16:29; Acts 17:4, John 17:10, Lev 17:15. He is called a prophet, Acts 15:32, but what was the precise nature of this office in the days of the apostles is not clear.

Contracted form of SILVANUS. A chief (Greek "leading") man of the church at Jerusalem, a prophet (Acts 15:22-32). His name from the Latin sylva, "a wood," implies he was a Hellenistic Jew. He was (Acts 16:37) a Roman citizen. Delegated by the Jerusalem council to accompany Paul and Barnabas with the decree for Antioch. Then he returned to Jerusalem (Acts 15:33), for (Acts 15:34) "notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there still" is an interpolation to account for Acts 15:40 (the Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, and Alexandrinus manuscripts omit Acts 15:34). He doubtless revisited Antioch soon after his return to Jerusalem, so he was there chosen by Paul to be companion of his second missionary tour (Acts 15:40-17;Acts 15:14). He stayed behind with Timothy at Berea when Paul went on to Athens, but was charged to join him there with all speed (Acts 17:15). Silas, when he and Timothy (apparently together) came from Macedonia, found Paul at Corinth (Acts 18:5). Whether in the meantime he had joined Paul at Athens, and been sent thence to Thessalonica with Timothy (1 Thessalonians 3:2), and joined him again at Corinth, is not recorded. Paul notices his preaching at Corinth and associates his name with his own in the heading of the two epistles to the Thessalonians (2 Corinthians 1:19; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1). Silas was the bearer of the first epistle of Peter (1 Peter 5:12) who designates him "a faithful brother unto you as I suppose." The uncertainty is not as to Silas's faithfulness to them (which is strongly marked by the article in the Sinaiticus and Alexandrinus manuscripts), but as to whether he or some other would prove to be the bearer of the epistle, addressed as it was to five provinces, all of which Silas might not reach. "By Silas that faithful brother, as I expect, I have written to you." Silas probably stood in a close relation to the churches of Asia, having taken the oversight after Paul's departure, and afterward went to Peter. Silas was a suitable messenger by whom to confirm Paul's doctrine of "the true grace of God" in the stone churches (2 Peter 3:16). After Paul's last journey to Jerusalem Silas no more appears as his companion. His connection with Peter began after that. "Exhorting and confirming the brethren" seems to have been Silas' forte (Acts 15:32). In the public witness for Christ confirmed by the Pythoness at Philippi, and in the scourging for His name's sake, and the prayers and praises sung in the prison to God, and in the jailer's conversion, Silas bore a part second only to Paul (Acts 16:19; Acts 16:25; Acts 16:29). So also at Thessalonica and Berea (Acts 17:4; Acts 17:10).