And now behold the hand of the Lord is upon thee
That is, the power of God was just ready to be exerted on him in a way of punishment, by striking him with blindness:
and thou shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a season:
so blind as not to see the sun, when it shined ever so brightly: this punishment seems to be but for a time; and some say that Elymas repented, and had his sight restored to him; and after that he returned to his sorcery, and again greatly opposed Barnabas in the island of Cyprus:
and immediately there fell on him a mist and darkness;
as soon as ever the apostle had said the above words, a dark mist fell upon his eyes, which began the blindness, and issued in a total one:
and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand;
he groped about the room, if he could find, and lay hold on some person to lead him: for he was quickly stone blind, so that he could not guide himself, as the men of Sodom were, when smitten with blindness by the angel; wherefore, though they groped about for the door of the house till they were weary, they could not find it, ( Genesis 19:11 ) of which the Jews say, as here, that it was (Mvh tam hkm) , "a stroke from God" F21. Blind men need one to hold them by the hand, and lead them, as Samson, ( Judges 16:26 ) and Saul, ( Acts 9:8 ) . The striking this man with blindness is an instance of the power the apostles were endued with, for the punishing of offenders: so Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead for telling a lie: and the incestuous person was delivered to Satan to undergo a corporeal punishment for his incest; as Hymenaeus and Alexander were for their blasphemy, ( Acts 5:5 Acts 5:10 ) ( 1 Corinthians 5:5 ) ( 1 Timothy 1:20 ) .