Comments on Acts 19 v1-7 Paul travels through Ephesus and meets up with disciples there who apparently became disconnected from the movement prior to Jesus' baptism. They acknowledge Christ and so on, but their knowledge of his ministry is limited to what John taught. Perhaps they were early disciples of John Baptist who traveled out to Ephesus and stayed. Or, more likely, they were Jews who had met up with John at Jerusalem during one of the Feasts of Ingathering, were converted, but upon returning home became disconnected from the movement. These disciples are easily entreated and are rebaptized. Paul then lays his hands on them and they receive the Holy Spirit. v8-10 Paul teaches the gospel in local synagogue in Ephesus, but after three months he encounters hostility among the Jews. The Jews' opposition forces him and the other disciples to leave the Synagogue and teach privately in school owned by Tyrannus. Nothing is known of this Tyrannus, so commentators typically assume from the Greek name that he was a Greek philosopher and/or rhetorician. v11-12 Paul performs various extraordinary miracles while in Ephesus, healing the sick and casting out evil spirits. v13-20 Paul's notoriety spreads as a result of the miracles so much that local exorcists attempt to emulate him. The result is disastrous and it ends up driving the magicians out of business as they are exposed as frauds. All of those who used to place stock in such things abandon it altogether. v15 show plainly that the authority to perform such acts of exorcism is given and not presumed, cf. Matt. 10:1. v19 My impression of the value of the books being given is that it is done more to indicate how pervasive and well developed such practices were among the people than to emphasize their zeal in destroying things of perceived value (i.e., lots of books which add up to lots of monetary value as opposed to a few book of high monetary value symbolizing the rejection of mammon). The population was formerly heavily indoctrinated in these practices, and the resulting conversion is so complete they altogether eliminate these things from their society with a voluntary book burning. Also, the translation "books" would be more accurately translated to "scrolls". v21-22 Paul is led by the Spirit to plan out his missionary journeys. He intends to go to Macedonia [i.e., Philippi, Thessalonika], then Achaia [i.e., Athens, Corinth], then Jerusalem, then Rome. He sends two of his traveling partners into Macedonia, presumably with the intention of paving the way, and then with Timothy and Erastus stays in Asia [i.e., Lycia, Miletus, Ephesus, Pergamum; not the "Asia" we modern Westerners think of] for a while. v23-41 In Ephesus a local idol maker fears business will be bad if all of the people convert to this Christianity Paul preaches. So, the idol maker stirs up the people into a frenzy relying on loyalty and patriotism. After considerable ruckus, the town clerk settles the people down with an appeal to levelheadedness. The idol maker's concerns are probably reactionary to the success Paul is seeing among those who formerly practiced magic, cf. v. 20. v27 His appeal to the greatness of this goddess being sullied by people forgetting her underscores the irony of idol worship. If this goddess were real she would not rely on humans to worship her to establish her greatness. A real life application of Isaiah's taunts at idolatry, cf. Isa. 44, Isa. 46. v40 The town clerk's appeal, while just in its own merit, is probably also mixed with some fear of Roman legions putting down the riot. If the people attract too much attention to themselves and really do riot, the centurions would be sure to settle the matter in a most disagreeable manner. Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.