Bible Study Acts 19
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Acts 19 · WEB

Two Years in Ephesus and the Riot at the Theater

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While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper country, came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples.
2He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They said to him, "No, we haven't even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."
3He said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John's baptism."
4Paul said, "John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus."
5When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with other languages and prophesied.
7They were about twelve men in all.
8He entered into the synagogue, and spoke boldly for a period of three months, reasoning and persuading about the things concerning God's Kingdom.
9But when some were hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.
10This continued for two years, so that all those who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
11God worked special miracles by the hands of Paul,
12so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out.
13But some of the itinerant Jews, exorcists, took on themselves to invoke over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches."
14There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did this.
15The evil spirit answered, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?"
16The man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
17This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived at Ephesus. Fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
18Many also of those who had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds.
19Many of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. They counted their price, and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.
20So the word of the Lord was growing and becoming mighty.
21Now after these things had ended, Paul determined 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."
22Having sent into Macedonia two of those who served him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
23About that time there arose no small stir concerning the Way.
24For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen,
25whom he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, "Sirs, you know that by this business we have our wealth.
26You see and hear, that not at Ephesus alone, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are no gods, that are made with hands.
27Not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be counted as nothing, and her majesty destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worships."
28When they heard this they were filled with anger, and cried out, saying, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"
29The whole city was filled with confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel.
30When Paul wanted to enter in to the people, the disciples didn't allow him.
31Certain also of the Asiarchs, being his friends, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater.
32Some therefore cried one thing, and some another, for the assembly was in confusion. Most of them didn't know why they had come together.
33They brought Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. Alexander beckoned with his hand, and would have made a defense to the people.
34But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice for a time of about two hours cried out, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"
35When the town clerk had quieted the multitude, he said, "You men of Ephesus, what man is there who doesn't know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great goddess Artemis, and of the image which fell down from Zeus?
36Seeing then that these things can't be denied, you ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash.
37For you have brought these men here, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess.
38If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a matter against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them press charges against one another.
39But if you seek anything about other matters, it will be settled in the regular assembly.
40For indeed we are in danger of being accused concerning today's riot, there being no cause. Concerning it, we wouldn't be able to give an account of this commotion."
41When he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.
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Summary

In Ephesus Paul completes the partial discipleship of about a dozen John-baptized disciples, then ministers for three months in the synagogue and two more years in the lecture hall of Tyrannus, until all of Asia has heard the word. God works such notable miracles that even cloths Paul has touched bring healing — and the fraud of the seven sons of Sceva, who try to use Jesus' name without knowing him, is exposed when a demon-possessed man overpowers them. Many believers burn their occult libraries in repentance, worth an enormous sum. As Paul plans to return to Jerusalem and on to Rome, the silversmith Demetrius incites a riot — the gospel is hurting the idol trade — and the whole city shouts "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" for two hours in the theater until the town clerk dismisses the crowd, warning that the riot itself is the only crime in evidence.

Themes

  • Completing partial discipleship
  • The Spirit's power vs. religious imitation
  • Genuine repentance with public cost
  • The gospel's economic and cultural disruption
  • God's people protected through providence

Key verses

  • Acts 19:10 — “All those who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.”
  • Acts 19:15 — “The evil spirit answered, 'Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?'”
  • Acts 19:20 — “So the word of the Lord was growing and becoming mighty.”
  • Acts 19:26 — “This Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are no gods, that are made with hands.”

Context & background

C. AD 52-55. Ephesus (modern Selçuk, Turkey) was the leading city of the Roman province of Asia, capital of imperial cult worship, port at the mouth of the Cayster River, and home to the Temple of Artemis — one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Artemis of Ephesus (Latin Diana) was a fertility-mother-goddess hybrid quite distinct from the Greek Artemis the huntress; her image, with multiple ovoid protuberances, was claimed to have fallen from the sky (v. 35). The "school of Tyrannus" (v. 9) likely operated mornings; some manuscripts add "from the eleventh hour" — Paul rented the hall during the post-lunch siesta when serious students rested but business people might come. The book-burning (v. 19) had real economic teeth: 50,000 silver drachmas equals about 50,000 days' wages — many millions in modern currency. "Asiarchs" (v. 31) were leading citizens who presided over the imperial cult and provincial assembly — that some were Paul's friends shows the gospel's reach into the elite. The riot at the theater (one of the largest in the ancient world, seating about 25,000) is a window into how disruptive the gospel was to civic-religious-economic structures.

Cross-references

  • 1 Corinthians 16:8-9 — "A great door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries" — written from Ephesus.
  • 2 Corinthians 1:8-10 — "I despaired even of life" — possibly referring to events in or around the Ephesus period.
  • Ephesians 6:10-12 — Paul's later letter from prison to this church speaks of struggle with "spiritual hosts of wickedness" — written from inside the experience of Ephesus.
  • Mark 9:38-39 / Luke 9:49-50 — Using Jesus' name without union with him.
  • Revelation 2:1-7 — The risen Christ's letter to the Ephesian church a generation later.

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    What did the demon say when the seven sons of Sceva tried to cast it out in Jesus' name?

  2. Observe

    What was the value of the magical books that Ephesian believers burned publicly after the incident with the sons of Sceva?

  3. Interpret

    The demon recognized Jesus and Paul but rejected the sons of Sceva's invocation of Jesus' name. What is the theological difference between using Jesus' name and actually knowing him?

  4. Interpret

    Luke notes that the burned magical books were worth fifty thousand pieces of silver (v. 19). Why does he record this financial detail when describing repentance?

  5. Apply

    The Ephesian believers burned their magic books publicly, at great personal cost. What in your own life might still belong to your "old library" — things incompatible with following Jesus that you have not yet burned?

  6. Apply

    Demetrius the silversmith incited the Ephesian riot because the gospel was destroying his idol-making business (vv. 24-27). Where might the gospel of Jesus run up against economic or cultural systems in your community, and how should you respond?

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