Acts 19:26

19:26 And you see and hear that this Paul has persuaded ¹  and turned away ²  a large crowd, ³  not only in Ephesus ⁴  but in practically all of the province of Asia, ⁵  by saying ⁶  that gods made by hands are not gods at all. ⁷ 

Acts 19:35

19:35 After the city secretary ⁸  quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, what person ⁹  is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the keeper ¹⁰  of the temple of the great Artemis ¹¹  and of her image that fell from heaven? ¹² 

Acts 22:24

22:24 the commanding officer ¹³  ordered Paul ¹⁴  to be brought back into the barracks. ¹⁵  He told them ¹⁶  to interrogate Paul ¹⁷  by beating him with a lash ¹⁸  so that he could find out the reason the crowd ¹⁹  was shouting at Paul ²⁰  in this way.

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¹ tn Grk “persuading.” The participle πείσας (peisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

² tn Or “misled.”

³ tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 3.a has “of pers. ὄχλος a large crowd…Ac 11:24, 26; 19:26.”

⁴ map For location see JP1-D2; JP2-D2; JP3-D2; JP4-D2.

⁵ tn Grk “Asia”; see the note on this word in v. 22.

⁶ tn The participle λέγων (legwn) has been regarded as indicating instrumentality.

⁷ tn The words “at all” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

sn Gods made by hands are not gods at all. Paul preached against paganism’s idolatry. Here is a one-line summary of a speech like that in Acts 17:22-31.

⁸ tn Or “clerk.” The “scribe” (γραμματεύς, grammateu") was the keeper of the city’s records.

⁹ tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo").

¹⁰ tn See BDAG 670 s.v. νεωκόρος. The city is described as the “warden” or “guardian” of the goddess and her temple.

¹¹ sn Artemis was a Greek goddess worshiped particularly in Asia Minor, whose temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was located just outside the city of Ephesus.

¹² tn Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

sn The expression fell from heaven adds a note of apologetic about the heavenly origin of the goddess. The city’s identity and well-being was wrapped up with this connection, in their view. Many interpreters view her image that fell from heaven as a stone meteorite regarded as a sacred object.

¹³ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). In Greek the term χιλίαρχος (ciliarco") literally described the “commander of a thousand,” but it was used as the standard translation for the Latin tribunus militum or tribunus militare, the military tribune who commanded a cohort of 600 men.

¹⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵ tn Or “the headquarters.” BDAG 775 s.v. παρεμβολή 2 has “barracks/headquarters of the Roman troops in Jerusalem Ac 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32.”

¹⁶ tn Grk “into the barracks, saying.” This is a continuation of the same sentence in Greek using the participle εἴπας (eipas), but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence a new sentence was begun in the translation here. The direct object “them” has been supplied; it is understood in Greek.

¹⁷ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁸ sn To interrogate Paul by beating him with a lash. Under the Roman legal system it was customary to use physical torture to extract confessions or other information from prisoners who were not Roman citizens and who were charged with various crimes, especially treason or sedition. The lashing would be done with a whip of leather thongs with pieces of metal or bone attached to the ends.

¹⁹ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁰ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.