Silas

Biblical Record

Silas first appears in Acts 15. The Jerusalem church held a council to decide whether Gentile believers should be required to be circumcised. After the council, the church chose Judas surnamed Barsabas and Silas and sent them with Paul and Barnabas to deliver a letter announcing the decision to the church at Antioch (Acts 15:22–27). The text introduces the two men as "chief men among the brethren" and as prophets, that is, men who proclaimed the word of God (15:22, 15:32).

After Paul parted ways with Barnabas over whether to take Mark along, he chose Silas and set out on his second missionary journey (15:36–41). In Philippi the two were beaten and imprisoned after casting a spirit of divination out of a slave girl. At midnight, as they were praying and singing hymns, an earthquake opened the prison doors, and the jailer and his household believed and were baptized (16:16–34). The next day Paul disclosed that they were Roman citizens (16:37).

The two then preached the gospel together in Thessalonica and Berea (17:1–14). Silas remained in Berea with Timothy and later rejoined Paul in Corinth (18:5). This is the last time Acts mentions Silas by name.

Significance Within Scripture

The name Silvanus appears in the Pauline epistles. 1 Thessalonians 1:1 and 2 Thessalonians 1:1 list Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy together as the senders. 2 Corinthians 1:19 states that these three preached Jesus Christ in Corinth. In 1 Peter 5:12, Peter says he has written "By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose." Taken together, these records portray Silas as a coworker who linked the Jerusalem church with the Gentile mission and who worked alongside both Paul and Peter.

Interpretation and Debated Issues

• The same person? Silas and Silvanus are regarded as different forms of the same name, and most commentators take both names to refer to the same man. Some, however, hold that the text provides no firm basis for concluding that the Silvanus of 1 Peter is the same individual as well.
• The role described in 1 Peter 5:12: Interpretations differ over the meaning of "by." One view takes Silvanus to be the person who delivered the letter. Another sees him as an amanuensis who took dictation or polished the wording; this view is sometimes cited to explain the refined Greek style of 1 Peter.
• The baptism of the jailer's household: Denominations interpret the baptism of the jailer "and all his" in 16:33 differently. Denominations that practice infant baptism, such as Presbyterians and Methodists, cite it as an example of household baptism. Baptists and others point to 16:34, which says he was "believing in God with all his house," and understand it as the baptism of those who had professed faith (see infant baptism debate).
• Traditions outside Scripture: According to tradition, Silas later became bishop of Corinth. The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates him as one of the Seventy sent out in Luke 10. These accounts are later traditions and do not appear in the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

The episode most often treated in the Korean church is the account of the Philippian jail. Sermons frequently cite it as an example of praying and singing hymns even in the midst of suffering. In Sunday school lesson materials and Bible storybooks, it is widely used as the story of "Paul and Silas." The words the two spoke to the jailer, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16:31), are often quoted in sermons and prayers on evangelism and the evangelization of families. Silas is also presented as a model of the coworker who served faithfully alongside others rather than stepping into the spotlight.