Discovery BoxActs 19:28-31 
Context19:28 When 1 they heard 2 this they became enraged 3 and began to shout, 4 “Great is Artemis 5 of the Ephesians!” 19:29 The 6 city was filled with the uproar, 7 and the crowd 8 rushed to the theater 9 together, 10 dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, the Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions. 19:30 But when Paul wanted to enter the public assembly, 11 the disciples would not let him. 19:31 Even some of the provincial authorities 12 who were his friends sent 13 a message 14 to him, urging him not to venture 15 into the theater.
1 tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
2 tn Grk “And hearing.” The participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally.
3 tn Grk “they became filled with rage” (an idiom). The reaction of the Ephesians here is like that of the Jews earlier, though Luke referred to “zeal” or “jealousy” in the former case (Acts 7:54).
4 tn Grk “and began shouting, saying.” The imperfect verb ἔκραζον (ekrazon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect. The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.
5 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.
6 tn Grk “And the.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
7 tn L&N 39.43 has “‘the uproar spread throughout the whole city’ (literally ‘the city was filled with uproar’) Ac 19:29.” BDAG 954 s.v. σύγχυσις has “confusion, tumult.”
8 tn Grk “they”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 sn To the theater. This location made the event a public spectacle. The Grand Theater in Ephesus (still standing today) stood facing down the main thoroughfare of the city toward the docks. It had a seating capacity of 25,000.
10 tn Grk “to the theater with one accord.”
11 tn Or “enter the crowd.” According to BDAG 223 s.v. δῆμος 2, “in a Hellenistic city, a convocation of citizens called together for the purpose of transacting official business, popular assembly…εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸν δ. go into the assembly 19:30.”
12 tn Grk “Asiarchs” (high-ranking officials of the province of Asia).
13 tn Grk “sending”; the participle πέμψαντες (pemyante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
14 tn The words “a message” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
15 tn BDAG 242-43 s.v. δίδωμι 11 has “to cause (oneself) to go, go, venture somewhere (cp. our older ‘betake oneself’)…Ac 19:31.” The desire of these sympathetic authorities was surely to protect Paul’s life. The detail indicates how dangerous things had become.
