Kisah Para Rasul 19:28-34

19:28 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. 19:32 So then some were shouting one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had met together. ¹⁶  19:33 Some of the crowd concluded ¹⁷  it was about ¹⁸  Alexander because the Jews had pushed him to the front. ¹⁹  Alexander, gesturing ²⁰  with his hand, was wanting to make a defense ²¹  before the public assembly. ²²  19:34 But when they recognized ²³  that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison, ²⁴  “Great is Artemis ²⁵  of the Ephesians!” for about two hours. ²⁶ 

[19:28]  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.

[19:28]  ² tn Grk “And hearing.” The participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally.

[19:28]  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).

[19:28]  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.

[19:28]  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.

[19:29]  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.

[19:29]  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.”

[19:29]  ⁸ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:29]  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.

[19:29]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “to the theater with one accord.”

[19:30]  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.”

[19:31]  ¹² tn Grk “Asiarchs” (high-ranking officials of the province of Asia).

[19:31]  ¹³ tn Grk “sending”; the participle πέμψαντες (pemyante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[19:31]  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.

[19:31]  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.

[19:32]  ¹⁶ tn Or “had assembled.”

[19:33]  ¹⁷ tn Or “Some of the crowd gave instructions to.”

[19:33]  ¹⁸ tn The words “it was about” are not in the Greek text but are implied; ᾿Αλέξανδρον (Alexandron) is taken to be an accusative of general reference.

[19:33]  ¹⁹ tn BDAG 865 s.v. προβάλλω 1 has “to cause to come forward, put forward…τινά someone…push someone forward to speak in the theater…Ac 19:33.”

[19:33]  ²⁰ tn Or “motioning.”

[19:33]  ²¹ sn The nature of Alexander’s defense is not clear. It appears he was going to explain, as a Jew, that the problem was not caused by Jews, but by those of “the Way.” However, he never got a chance to speak.

[19:33]  ²² tn Or “before 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…ἀπολογεῖσθαι τῷ δ. make a defense before the assembly vs. 33.”

[19:34]  ²³ tn Grk “But recognizing.” The participle ἐπιγνόντες (epignonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[19:34]  ²⁴ tn Grk “[they shouted] with one voice from all of them” (an idiom).

[19:34]  ²⁵ 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, 1.25 mi (2 km) northeast of the Grand Theater. Dimensions were 418 ft by 239 ft (125 m by 72 m) for the platform; the temple proper was 377 ft by 180 ft (113 m by 54 m). The roof was supported by 117 columns, each 60 ft (18 m) high by 6 ft (1.8 m) in diameter. The Emperor Justinian of Byzantium later took these columns for use in construction of the Hagia Sophia, where they still exist (in modern day Istanbul).

[19:34]  ²⁶ sn They all shouted…for about two hours. The extent of the tumult shows the racial and social tensions of a cosmopolitan city like Ephesus, indicating what the Christians in such locations had to face.