Acts 19

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the inland regions and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples.

1And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,

Note"Coasts" in 1611 did not mean a shoreline. It meant borders or districts, and "the upper coasts" is the higher inland country: Paul crossed the interior of what is now Turkey rather than sailing around it. Apollos is the Alexandrian Jewish teacher introduced at the end of Acts 18, and Corinth is across the Aegean Sea from Ephesus. Ephesus was the largest city of the Roman province of Asia and its main port.

2He asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They said to him, "We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."

2He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

Note"Ghost" in 1611 simply meant spirit, with none of today's sense of a haunting; "Holy Ghost" and "Holy Spirit" translate the same words. The men's answer is ambiguous in the Greek and can be read either as "we never heard there is a Holy Spirit" or as "we never heard that the Holy Spirit has been given."

3He said to them, "Then what baptism did you receive?" They said, "John's baptism."

3And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism.

NoteJohn is John the Baptist, who dipped people in the Jordan River as a sign that they were turning back to God before the one he announced arrived. These men had attached themselves to that movement and had not heard what followed it. "Unto what then were ye baptized?" asks whose name or message their washing committed them to.

4Paul said, "John baptized people who were turning away from their sins. He told the people to believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus."

4Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

Note"Repentance" translates a word meaning a change of mind that turns a person's whole direction around, not sorrow by itself.

5When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

5When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

6When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them. They spoke in other languages and spoke messages from God.

6And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

NotePlacing hands on someone was a standard gesture for passing on a blessing, a commission or an office; it is not a medical act. "Spake with tongues" means speaking in languages the speaker had not learned. "Prophesied" means speaking a message understood to come from God, which may concern the present as much as the future.

7There were about twelve men in all.

7And all the men were about twelve.

8Paul went into the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months. He argued his case and tried to convince people about the kingdom of God.

8And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.

NoteA synagogue was the local Jewish meeting house for prayer, reading and discussion. A visiting teacher was normally invited to speak, which is why Paul regularly begins in one; three months is an unusually long welcome.

9But some of them grew stubborn and refused to believe, and they said evil things about the Way in front of the crowd. So Paul left them and took the disciples with him. He talked with people every day in the lecture hall of a man named Tyrannus.

9But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.

Note"Divers" is the old spelling of "diverse" and here means several or various; it has nothing to do with diving. "That way" is a title: the earliest followers of Jesus were known as people of "the Way," before the word Christian was in general use. "The school of one Tyrannus" is not a boys' school but a hired lecture hall belonging to a man named Tyrannus, the sort of room a traveling philosopher rented by the hour. Some early manuscripts add that Paul used it from the fifth to the tenth hour, roughly eleven in the morning until four in the afternoon, the midday break when the hall and its listeners were free.

10This went on for two years, so that everyone living in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

10And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

Note"Asia" here is the Roman province of Asia, the western end of modern Turkey, with Ephesus as its chief city. It is not the continent.

11God did unusual miracles through Paul's hands.

11And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:

Note"Special" in 1611 meant out of the ordinary or exceptional, not "reserved for a particular purpose."

12People even carried away handkerchiefs and work aprons that had touched his body and brought them to the sick. The diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.

12So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

NoteThe two items are a workman's gear: the first is the sweat cloth a laborer tied around his head or neck, the second the apron tied around his waist. Paul supported himself with his hands as a leatherworker, so these were the cloths he worked in.

13Some traveling Jewish men who made a business of driving out evil spirits tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus. They would say to the spirits, "I order you by the Jesus that Paul preaches."

13Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the LORD Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.

Note"Vagabond" in 1611 meant simply wandering or itinerant, with none of today's suggestion of a tramp. Exorcists were recognized professionals who drove out spirits by naming a power greater than the spirit, and collecting effective names was the trade; "we adjure you" means "we put you under oath by," that is, we bind you by the power just named. Their formula quotes Paul because they treat "Jesus" as one more name to add to the list.

14Seven sons of a Jewish chief priest named Sceva were doing this.

14And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.

Note"Chief of the priests" renders a title used of the senior priestly families in Jerusalem. No Jewish high priest named Sceva is known from any other source, so the title may be a family connection, a local office, or simply advertising by men trading on priestly prestige.

15But the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?"

15And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?

16Then the man with the evil spirit in him jumped on them, overpowered them, and beat them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded.

16And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

Note"Naked" here means stripped: their clothes were torn off them in the struggle. The Greek word also covers being left in an undergarment rather than entirely bare.

17All the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus heard about this. Fear came over all of them, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in great honor.

17And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

18Many who had believed came and confessed, telling openly what they had done.

18And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.

Note"Shewed" is the old spelling of "showed." Disclosing what they had done was a costly act, because a spell or formula was believed to work only while it stayed secret; saying it aloud in public destroyed its value.

19Also, many who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in front of everyone. They added up the value of the books and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.

19Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

Note"Curious arts" means magic, from an older sense of "curious" as elaborate or meddling with hidden things. Ephesus was famous for written charms, known across the Greek world as "Ephesian letters," sold as scrolls and worn as amulets. "Fifty thousand pieces of silver" is fifty thousand drachmas, and one drachma was about a day's wage for a laborer, so the pile burned represented roughly a hundred and forty years of ordinary earnings.

20In this way the word of God kept spreading with great power and winning out.

20So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.

21After all this had happened, Paul made up his mind to travel through Macedonia and Achaia and then go to Jerusalem. He said, "After I have been there, I must see Rome too."

21After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.

Note"Purposed in the spirit" is genuinely ambiguous in the Greek: it may mean Paul resolved in his own mind, or that he was moved to the decision by the Holy Spirit. Macedonia and Achaia are the two Roman provinces covering northern and southern Greece, and Achaia contained Corinth and Athens.

22So he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself stayed on for a while in the province of Asia.

22So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.

Note"Timotheus" is the full Greek form of the name usually given as Timothy. Erastus appears again in Romans 16 as a city treasurer, and an inscription found at Corinth names a man of that name who paid for a pavement.

23About that time a serious disturbance broke out about the Way.

23And the same time there arose no small stir about that way.

Note"No small stir" is deliberate understatement, a common device in this book: it means a very large disturbance indeed. The same trick is used of Demetrius's profits in the next verse.

24A silversmith named Demetrius made silver shrines of Diana, and he brought a great deal of business to the craftsmen.

24For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen;

NoteDiana is the Roman name the King James translators used for the Greek goddess Artemis, who is what the Greek text says. The Artemis worshiped at Ephesus was not the huntress of classical myth but an ancient mother goddess of the region, shown in statues covered with rows of rounded objects. The "silver shrines" were small models of the goddess in her niche or temple, bought by pilgrims as souvenirs and left as offerings, and a whole trade depended on visitors coming to the temple.

25He called them together, along with the workers in similar trades, and said, "Men, you know that this trade is what makes us prosperous.

25Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth.

Note"Sirs" translates simply "Men," the ordinary opening of a public speech in Greek.

26And you can see and hear that this Paul has convinced large numbers of people to turn away, not only in Ephesus but in almost the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are not gods at all.

26Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:

27So there is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana will be treated as worthless. Her greatness would be torn down, though all Asia and the whole world worship her."

27So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.

Note"Set at nought" means counted as worth nothing. The temple of Artemis at Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, four times the size of the Parthenon; it also served as a bank and a place of asylum, and the pilgrim traffic it drew was the city's main industry. "All Asia and the world" is the speaker's own claim, the language of civic pride, though her worship was in fact spread widely around the Mediterranean.

28When they heard this, they were filled with rage and shouted, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!"

28And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

29The whole city was thrown into confusion. The people grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, two men from Macedonia who traveled with Paul, and rushed together into the theater.

29And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.

NoteThe theater was the great open-air bowl cut into the hillside above the harbor road, seating something like twenty four thousand people. It was the normal place for the city's public meetings as well as for plays, so a crowd that wanted to be heard went there by instinct.

30Paul wanted to go in and face the crowd, but the disciples would not let him.

30And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.

Note"Suffered him not" means would not allow him; "suffer" in 1611 often means permit.

31Some officials of the province of Asia who were his friends also sent him a message, begging him not to risk going into the theater.

31And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre.

Note"The chief of Asia" translates "Asiarchs," the wealthy leading men of the province who held honorary office, presided over festivals and games, and paid for them out of their own pockets. That men of this rank counted Paul as a friend says something about the social range of his contacts in the city.

32Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, because the gathering was in confusion. Most of them did not even know why they had come together.

32Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.

NoteThe word translated "assembly" is ekklesia, ordinary Greek for the summoned meeting of a city's citizens. It is the same word translated "church" elsewhere in the New Testament, and here it is applied to a mob that does not know why it has met.

33Some in the crowd pulled Alexander to the front, and the Jews pushed him forward. Alexander motioned with his hand, wanting to make a defense to the people.

33And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people.

NoteWho Alexander was and why he is pushed forward are both unclear in the Greek. The likeliest reading is that the Jewish community in the city, who also refused to worship images and so risked being blamed along with Paul, put forward a spokesman to separate themselves from him. "Beckoned with the hand" is the standard gesture of a speaker calling for silence before addressing a crowd. "Defence" is the word for a formal reply to a charge.

34But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted with one voice for about two hours, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!"

34But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

35Then the city clerk quieted the crowd. He said, "Men of Ephesus, is there anyone who does not know that the city of Ephesus guards the temple of the great goddess Diana and her image, which fell from the sky?

35And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?

NoteThe "townclerk" was no minor filing officer but the city's senior executive, who drafted the decrees, kept the public records and presided over the citizen assembly, and who answered to the Roman authorities for public order. "A worshipper of the great goddess" translates neokoros, literally temple keeper or temple warden, an official civic title that Ephesus held and boasted of on its coins. The King James adds "Jupiter," the Roman equivalent of Zeus; the Greek says only that the image fell "from the sky," a claim made about several sacred objects in the ancient world and often understood to mean a meteorite.

36Since no one can deny these things, you ought to stay calm and not do anything reckless.

36Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.

37You have brought these men here, but they have not robbed temples, and they have not spoken against your goddess.

37For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.

Note"Robbers of churches" means temple robbers. No Christian buildings existed yet; "church" here is simply the translators' word for a place of worship, and stealing from a temple treasury was a serious crime with heavy penalties. "Blasphemers" means men who had spoken abusively of the goddess, a charge the clerk is publicly dismissing.

38So if Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open and there are governors. Let them bring their charges against each other there.

38Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another.

Note"The law is open" means the courts are in session and open for business. "Deputies" translates "proconsuls," the Roman governors of the province, who heard cases on circuit. "Implead" means to bring a formal legal charge against someone. The clerk is telling the craftsmen to sue rather than riot.

39But if you want to settle anything beyond that, it must be handled in a legal assembly.

39But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly.

Note"A lawful assembly" is the regular meeting of the citizen body, held on fixed days a set number of times each month. The point is that the present gathering, however large, has no legal standing and can decide nothing.

40As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of today's uproar. We have no reason we can give to explain this disorderly crowd."

40For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse.

NoteA Greek city under Rome kept its self government only so long as it kept order. A riot reported to the governor could cost Ephesus its privileges, and the clerk, who would personally answer for it, knows this. "Concourse" simply means the crowd that has run together.

41When he had said this, he sent the assembly away.

41And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.