Acts 19:35
ContextNETBible | 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 |
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NET © Notes |
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. |