Acts 19:35

After the city secretary ¹  quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, what person ²  is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the keeper ³  of the temple of the great Artemis ⁴  and of her image that fell from heaven? ⁵ 

Ac 14:12,13; Ac 19:26; Eph 2:12; 2Th 2:10,11; 1Ti 4:2

¹ tn Or “clerk.” The “scribe” (γραμματεύς, grammateu") was the keeper of the city’s records.

² tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo").

³ tn See BDAG 670 s.v. νεωκόρος. The city is described as the “warden” or “guardian” of the goddess and her temple.

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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.