1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Silas

SILAS (fl. A.D. 50), early Christian prophet and missionary, was the companion of St Paul on the second journey, when he took the place formerly held by Barnabas. The tour included S. Galatia, Troas, Philippi (where he was imprisoned), Thessalonicaand Beroea, where Silas was left with Timothy, though he afterwards rejoined Paul at Corinth. He is in all probability the Silvanus^[1] who is associated with Paul in the letters to the Thessalonians, mentioned again in 2 Cor. i. 19, and the bearer and amanuensis of 1 Peter (see v. 12). It is possible, indeed, that he has an even closer connexion with this letter, and some scholars (e.g. R. Scott in The Pauline Epistles, 1909) are inclined to give him a prominent place among the writers of the New Testament. He was of Jewish birth and probably also a Roman citizen.

1. For the abbreviation, cf. Lucas, Prisca (= Priscilla), Sopater (= Sosipater).