When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord — Sergius Paulus's belief (episteusen) follows witnessing the judgment upon Elymas, demonstrating that apostolic sign-working serves to authenticate the message. His amazement (existēmi, to be astonished) at the teaching (didachē) indicates that the doctrine itself, now confirmed by divine action, persuades him. This is Luke's first recorded conversion of a Roman official, foreshadowing the eventual reach of the gospel into the empire's governing structures.

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