19 19:1And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 19:2And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 19:3And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 19:4And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 19:5On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 19:6And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7 19:7There were about twelve men in all.
8 19:8And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 19:9But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 19:10This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
11 19:11And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 19:12so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. 13 19:13Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 19:14Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 19:15But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 19:16And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 19:17And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 19:18Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 19:19And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 19:20So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
21 19:21Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” 22 19:22And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
23 19:23About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24 19:24For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 19:25These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26 19:26And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. 27 19:27And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”
28 19:28When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 19:29So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s companions in travel. 30 19:30But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. 31 19:31And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. 32 19:32Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 19:33Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. 34 19:34But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 19:35And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? 36 19:36Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. 37 19:37For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 19:38If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 19:39But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. 40 19:40For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” 41 19:41And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.
Of all the cities Paul visits in his journeys, he stays the longest in Ephesus. Luke focuses on two main events during Paul’s nearly three years there. The first is an encounter with the seven sons of Sceva, Jewish exorcists using the name of the Lord Jesus to drive out demons. They find out in short order that at least one evil spirit is not impressed with their authority or power. In one of the stranger episodes recorded by Luke, the evil spirit testifies to the authority of Jesus and Paul, and as a result the name of Jesus is praised and a revival of sorts breaks out among believers involved in different kinds of magic.
Readers find this narrative to be one of the more confusing episodes in Acts. These people are called “disciples,” and Paul asks if they received the Spirit “when you believed” (19:1–2). The text makes it clear that they are disciples of John the Baptist, but what do we make of the other issues? We should perhaps not assume that the phrase “when you believed” is an assertion that they are in fact already believers in Jesus—Paul’s question is a legitimate inquiry. If one wants to discern if someone else is a believer, the best place to begin is probably to ask. Paul is getting to the bottom of the issue, beginning with the most basic question. As the conversation progresses, Paul learns that they have never even heard of the Spirit. That he goes on to proclaim Jesus specifically as the goal of John’s ministry shows that he discerned that these “disciples,” unlike Apollos, were not yet full disciples of, or believers in, Jesus.
Nowhere in Acts is the overlap between covenantal ages more clear than here. These disciples of John the Baptist are old covenant believers. Just as John was the last of the messianic prophets and was himself a turning point from the old to the new covenant, so these disciples of his are living in a time of overlap between the old and the new. Jesus ushered in the new covenant through his death and resurrection, but it is the coming of the Spirit after his ascension that establishes or applies the covenant to believers. If we imagine the covenants only as operating along a perfectly straight horizontal line, clearly divided by a single vertical line of the cross, then the story in Acts 19 is hard to grasp. The NT makes clear, in both proposition and narrative, the definitive break between the covenants but equally shows the practical outworking taking time. These followers of John are believers just like John himself was, or any other OT saint—Abraham, Moses, Rahab, David, and down through the prophets. They believe that God is keeping his promise of salvation and, without seeing its fulfillment (see Hebrews 11), continue waiting in faith. They are the last of the old covenant faithful remnant, living in an absolutely unique, never-to-be-seen-again time when the old is fading and the new dawning.
Luke mentions that “there were about twelve men in all” (Acts 19:7). Although the number twelve may catch the reader’s eye—there were twelve tribes of Israel and twelve disciples of Jesus—usually a number is just a number. There is nothing numerically significant here. Luke gives no clue that the number should be read as anything more than a number. He does not say “twelve” like the way he reports Jesus’ being in the wilderness “forty days” (Luke 4:2) in order to draw a parallel with Israel’s wandering in the wilderness forty years (there are many significant groups of forty in the story of Israel). This reference in Acts 19, as much as it may entice our imaginations, is different and does not point to anything beyond itself. The biblical parallel between the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve disciples is a clear referent, but in Ephesus there just happened to be somewhere around twelve followers of John the Baptist who became followers of Jesus.
Luke refers explicitly to the “kingdom of God” only a few times, and the narrative of Paul in the Ephesian synagogue is one such time (v. 8; cf. 1:3; 8:12; 28:23, 31). The relatively small number of explicit references to the kingdom, as in Paul’s epistles, does not indicate small interest. After the ascension, Jesus is the ruling and reigning King (2:24–36; 13:30–37), and the kingdom of God is established. So, just as in Paul’s epistles, where the apostle refers to Jesus’ fulfillment of the Davidic promise (Rom. 1:3; 2 Tim. 2:8), his exaltation as Lord (Phil. 2:9), and his rule at the right hand of God (Rom. 8:34; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1), so in Acts the kingdom of God is a central theme even though the explicit term is not as frequent as it is in the Gospels. The kingdom is the biblical and theological backdrop for reading Acts and the rest of the NT. Luke does use the explicit phrase at the beginning of the book, in reference to Jesus’ teaching the disciples (1:3); when the gospel first goes beyond strictly Jewish boundaries to the Samaritans (8:12); at the end, as Paul preaches under house arrest in Rome, effectively bringing the message “to the end of the earth” (1:8); and here, at the beginning of Paul’s longest ministry in a single place. Four references is not many by counting but is significant when considering their placement.
Paul again begins in the synagogue, but after three months he meets enough resistance to the gospel among the Jews that he moves on with his followers to a Gentile location, the “hall of Tyrannus” (v. 9). Luke highlights another irony in Paul’s ministry: just as Paul tracked down and persecuted those “belonging to the Way” (9:2), so now he, the leading missionary of the faith he tried to destroy, leaves the synagogue where he has taught for three months because unbelieving Jews are maligning “the Way” (19:9).
19:11–20 The Power of God and the Sons of Sceva. Paul’s ministry in Ephesus calls to mind the early ministry of the other apostles. Just as the apostles preached with power and performed signs and wonders (3:6–8; 4:33; 5:12, 15–16), so God works miraculous signs to accompany Paul’s ministry. Luke makes it clear that God, not Paul, is the source of the power. Just as people hoped for the shadow of Peter to pass over them (5:15), so people in Ephesus touch Paul with cloth and bits of clothing that are then taken to sick and possessed people for healing and exorcism. As with Peter and the others, these are not magic tricks or shows of power for the sake of impressing audiences but are signs of God’s working through the apostolic preaching and ministry.
The incident with the sons of Sceva is another in a series of confrontations between the power of God and the powers of evil (8:9–10, 18–24; 13:6–11; 16:16–19). In Samaria, Simon Magus sought the power he thought rested in the apostles, and apparently the sons of Sceva know of Paul’s works in the name of Jesus. Guessing that the power is in the name used as in a magic spell or incantation, they presume to use that power to exorcise demons. These men are traveling exorcists, which apparently must have been a viable line of work. In his Gospel, Luke does not record shock or surprise about either demon possession or that Jesus would drive them out. What does surprise the demons, of course, is that he has the authority to cast them out. So exorcism is not unknown. What Luke does note is that the demons (in contrast to their reaction to other exorcists) listen to and obey Jesus (Luke 4:36). Likewise, exorcism accompanies the apostles’ own ministry (Acts 5:16; 8:7). The important point is that these seven men who do not believe in Jesus attempt to use his name to drive out demons.
There is nothing funny about demons or demon possession; the modern West does not take demons seriously enough, with most in the West not even believing in demons at all. This is in stark contrast to believers in other parts of the world, where skepticism or belief based only on empirical evidence are not the only ways of looking at the world. There is, nevertheless, something humorous in the sons of Sceva story. When the sons attempt to use the name of Jesus, the evil spirit retorts, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” (19:15), and the possessed man proceeds to beat them to the point that they escape literally with not even the shirts on their backs.
The last remark in this section is also the last time Luke provides a summary statement of the ongoing triumph of the gospel in the face of constant opposition (v. 20; cf. 6:7; 12:24). This comment also sets up the final recorded conflict that Paul and his companions face in a Gentile setting.
19:21–41 Money and Idolatry: A Riot in Ephesus. Verses 21–22 provide another geographical and chronological marker for the narrative, laying out the general path Paul will take until he arrives at Rome at the end of Acts. He plans to revisit Macedonia—where Berea, Philippi, and Thessalonica are located—and Achaia, the province containing Corinth. He then intends to visit Jerusalem before moving on to Rome. Prior to all of this, however, a climactic event of the gospel confronting pagan idolatry takes place in Ephesus.
In this narrative Luke shows many forces at work simultaneously against the gospel. This is not simply a matter of God versus the gods of pagan idolatry, for there are also financial, social, and cultural forces at work here. Luke remarks, “There arose no little disturbance concerning the Way” (v. 23), as those who followed Christ were known (19:9; 22:4; 24:14). Whatever else might be involved, the believers in Ephesus who have turned away from idols pose a financial threat to the commerce surrounding the worship of Artemis. If people do not buy idols, the idol-makers’ income will disappear.
The spark that starts the riot in Ephesus is similar to the event in Philippi in which the owners of a slave girl with the power of divination become greatly upset after Paul drives the demon from her and so eliminates their source of income (16:16–24). Demetrius and other craftsmen who make their living selling home shrines to Artemis take action to protect their business. News of Paul’s preaching against idols has previously reached Ephesus, and they are duly concerned for what it means for them personally. The issue is not just money; there is real concern for what the Way might mean for their beloved temple and goddess Artemis. It might “be counted as nothing, and . . . she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship” (19:27). The Ephesians are concerned for the preservation of their culture and religious worship. The gospel faces such opposition today in many parts of the world where the dominant religion in a country or region is rooted in culture and history. Converting to Christianity is often not only a switch of religious worship but often also a total shift in cultural identity.
Parallels can be seen between the conflict surrounding the Way and the Artemis temple and the conflict over views regarding the temple in Jerusalem and temples in Greece. Demetrius is well aware of Paul’s message that “gods made with hands are not gods” (v. 26). This obviously applies to Artemis and her temple. Stephen reminded his persecutors that God “does not dwell in houses made by hands,” supporting his statement with Scripture (7:48–50). Paul has made the same point with the philosophers in Athens (17:24–25). The early Christian message is unequivocal: God is no longer known or worshiped in temples, whether Jewish or Gentile. Biblically, the impact of this idea bears the most weight in regard to the Jerusalem temple. With the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus, as well as the gift of the Spirit that localizes the dwelling place of God anywhere believers are present, the time and place of the old covenant temple—past, present, or future—is eclipsed. Any thought of maintaining or returning to the Jerusalem temple is on par with turning to a pagan temple. Either way, there is no god there.
It takes no time for the irritated crowd to form a mob caught up in the emotion and outrage, even if most are not even sure of the reason for the riot (v. 32). Paul is kept out of the melee by some of the disciples (v. 30), but two of his companions, Gaius and Aristarchus, are not so fortunate (v. 29). Luke mentions a group called the “Asiarchs” and notes that they are friends of Paul who likewise seek to keep him out of danger (v. 31). These men are Roman officials who exercise authority in councils and preside over various civic events and activities and celebrations. Luke does not claim that they are believers; the most we can say is that they are high-ranking Romans who likely want to protect Paul because protecting him means preserving the peace.
A Jew named Alexander is put forward by some in the crowd to speak to the mob. His grounds for potential defense is unclear (v. 33); perhaps he intends to speak against Paul and the Christians and to recount the Jews’ grievances against them and so take advantage of the situation. Or perhaps he wants to make clear that these followers of the “Way,” despite their Jewish origins, should not be confused with the Jews who have synagogues all over the empire. In any case, he probably does not have the best interests of Paul and his companions in mind. But when the crowd sees that he is a Jew, they will have nothing to do with him. (As mentioned earlier in regard to Priscilla and Aquila and the expulsion of Jews from Rome, at this point the typical Roman on the street would not differentiate between Jews and Christians.) The fervor and wild-eyed nature of the mob is clear when they recognize Alexander as a Jew: they shout “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians” for two hours (v. 34).
The town clerk, mediating between the city and the Roman officials, understands the danger involved and finally wins the crowd’s attention. His argument is simple: everyone knows Ephesus to be the center of Artemis worship, and there is nothing or no one that could threaten that fact. He urges the crowd to calm down, because they have no legal grounds for persecuting these men, who have done nothing wrong (v. 37); if Demetrius and his friends want to pursue the matter, they can take it up with the courts (v. 38). The clerk is concerned that the people not be charged with rioting (v. 40). Like the magistrates in Philippi (16:35–39) and Gallio in Corinth (18:14–17), this clerk is the instrument that provides protection for the disciples. As in the other two instances, he is motivated not by an interest in the message of Paul but in maintaining civic peace and keeping Roman law. Yet it is clear to the reader of Acts that through many providential acts God is superintending the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth.
1 Greek upper (that is, highland)
2 Or into
3 Some manuscripts add from the fifth hour to the tenth (that is, from 11 A.M. to 4 P.M.)
4 Or both
5 That is, high-ranking officers of the province of Asia
6 The meaning of the Greek is uncertain
7 Some manuscripts seek about other matters
1 As for explicit references, there are fourteen occurrences of “kingdom” or “kingdom of God” in Paul’s letters—not a small number given the size of Paul’s letters. See Rom. 14:17; 1 Cor. 4:20; 6:9, 10; 15:24, 50; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5; Col. 1:13; 4:11; 1 Thess. 2:12; 2 Thess. 1:5; 2 Tim. 4:1, 18.
2 As Wormwood told Screwtape, the best thing for demons is people who do not believe in them in the first place; see C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters.
3 Schnabel, Acts, 806.