{"id":1882,"date":"2012-01-03T05:00:50","date_gmt":"2012-01-03T11:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=1882"},"modified":"2022-02-22T10:24:21","modified_gmt":"2022-02-22T16:24:21","slug":"acts-1929-41","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=1882","title":{"rendered":"Acts 19:29-41"},"content":{"rendered":"

29<\/sup> So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul\u2019s travel companions.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

30<\/sup> And when Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not allow him.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

31<\/sup> Then some of the officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent to him pleading that he would not venture into the theater.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

32<\/sup> Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

33<\/sup> And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander motioned with his hand, and wanted to make his defense to the people.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

34<\/sup> But when they found out that he was a Jew, all with one voice cried out for about two hours, \u201cGreat is Diana of the Ephesians!\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

35<\/sup> And when the city clerk had quieted the crowd, he said: \u201cMen of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple guardian of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Zeus?<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

36<\/sup> Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

37<\/sup> For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

38<\/sup> Therefore, if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a case against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

39<\/sup> But if you have any other inquiry to make, it shall be determined in the lawful assembly.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

40<\/sup> For we are in danger of being called in question for today\u2019s uproar, there being no reason which we may give to account for this disorderly gathering.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

41<\/sup> And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

theater (v.29) \u2014 a circular arena, 495 feet in diameter, cut out of the side of a hill. It say about 25,000 people.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Gaius (v.29) \u2014 the only place he is mentioned<\/span><\/h3>\n

Aristarchus (v.29) \u2014 A native of Thessalonica. Our first notice of him occurs here. He was a converted Jew (Colossians 4:10-11<\/span><\/a>). He is found in Paul’s company on the return journey from his third missionary tour (Acts 20:4<\/span><\/a>), and seems to have accompanied him to Jerusalem, since we find him going with the apostle to Caesarea to Rome (Acts 27:2<\/span><\/a>). He remained with him during part or the whole of his first Roman imprisonment, possibly sharing his bonds (Colossians 4:10<\/span><\/a>; Philemon 1:24). \u2014 Walker, page 423.<\/span><\/h3>\n

__________<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

chief of Asia (v.31) \u2014 Each province had an association for promoting the worship of Rome and the emperors, and the chief officers of such associations were styled after the name of their province, “Syriarch,” “Galatarch,” “Asiarch,” (here) etc. They probably acted as high priests of the temples erected for emperor worship, and they certainly presided over the public games which were held in connection with provincial festivals. \u2014 Walker, page 424.<\/span><\/h3>\n

friends (v.31) \u2014 these men had no quarrel with Paul, especially as he was a Roman citizen<\/span><\/h3>\n

venture (v.31) = lit. “give himself (up)”<\/span><\/h3>\n

Alexander (v.33) \u2014 He was probably sent forward to protest that the Jews had nothing to do with Paul and his teaching. He may have been the Alexander Paul warned Timothy about in 2 Timothy 4:14<\/span><\/a>. If so, he may have been chosen on this occasion because, as a coppersmith, he was known to the silversmiths who began the commotion.<\/span><\/h3>\n

town clerk (v.35) \u2014 Ephesus under the Romans, was allowed the rights of a “free city,” i.e. to retain its own democratic municipal constitution, with its popular assembly (ecclesia<\/em>), which had a senate of leading citizens for ordinary executive purposes. While the Asiarchs were provincial<\/em> officials, with special functions, these senators, acting for the people, dealt with municipal<\/em> affairs. The town clerk or recorder was secretary of the ecclesia (and its senate), and was responsible for drafting its decrees and for sealing them with the public seal. He was the most important local<\/em> official in Ephesus, and was in constant contact, on the behalf of the municipal government, with the court of the proconsul, the Roman governor who represented the suzerain power. He would be held responsible by the governor for the peace of the city. \u2014 Walker, page 426.<\/span><\/h3>\n

worshiper (v35) = lit. “temple-sweeper” \u2014 an unofficial title that personalized the city as the keeper of the temple<\/span><\/h3>\n

robbers\/blasphemers (v.37) \u2014 referring to deeds and words insulting to the pagan religion<\/span><\/h3>\n

The clerk told the crowd (vs.38-39) that, if they had a legal issue, to present it to the deputies (proconsuls) in the court; if they had an issue relating to city procedures, to bring it to the assembly (of Ephesian citizens) that met on certain days. But whatever the case, they needed to stop their disorderly mob action.<\/span><\/h3>\n

called in question (v.40) \u2014 The Romans were suspicious of unauthorized assemblies that might be political in nature because they might be the beginnings of insurrections.<\/span><\/h3>\n

concourse (v.40) \u2014 conspiracy<\/span><\/h3>\n

assembly (v.41) \u2014 ecclesia<\/em> (lit. “called-out ones”) \u2014 the same word translated “church” throughout the New Testament. This is evidence that “church” (as in Acts 2:47<\/span><\/a>) does not always refer to the Body of Christ.<\/span><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

29 So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul\u2019s travel companions. 30 And when Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-verse-study-acts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1882"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6150,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1882\/revisions\/6150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}