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), Thessalonica and Beroea, where Silas was left with Timothy, though89 he afterwards rejoined Paul at Corinth . He is in all probability the Silvanus ' 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 .