And the [whole] city was filled with confusion, and they rushed with one accord to the theatre, having seized and carried off with [them] Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, fellow-travellers of Paul.
At Ephesus the gospel spread so far that the trade in silver shrines for the local goddess collapsed. The silversmiths dressed their lost income as religious zeal, and the city poured into the theatre — seizing two of Paul's companions instead of Paul.
The cry that filled Ephesus was about a goddess. The grievance underneath it was money. One writer names the hand behind that mix:
Satan works in this world to weave degrading and destructive superstition into people's present interests and honour. Since that is so, it is no wonder that the testimony of the truth quickly inflames most people. That testimony threatens to undermine both their religion and their property. In principle it is the same today as it was then at Ephesus.
Older translations call the goddess Diana; her Greek name is Artemis. Another writer sees the enemy change tactics:
In the dark arts Satan approaches men with all the cunning of the serpent. Beaten there on this occasion, he turned to action in which he showed himself as the roaring lion. He worked through the greed of men. The success of the gospel had endangered the trade of the silversmiths. It was not hard to try to revive it under cover of zeal for the reputation of their goddess Diana. Would people despise her greatness and destroy her splendour? Here was excellent camouflage for their real concern about their own money-making prospects!
One writer asks a simple question about the shouting crowd: did the people know what it was about?
A crowd picks up a popular cry easily, and that is what happened here. All could shout out "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" But why were they shouting this? What was it all about? Most of that huge crowd could not tell. They had dragged Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's companions, along in their headlong rush to the theatre. Yet they plainly did not know what to do with them. No one touched either man: not a hair of their heads was hurt.
The theatre was the city's public gathering place. The Greek word for it turns up elsewhere too:
A place built for plays and other public entertainments, and for meetings of the people. At the uproar at Ephesus they rushed into the theatre (Acts 19:29, 31). The word is theatron, and it is translated 'spectacle' in 1 Cor. 4:9; angels and men gazed at the apostles.
One writer notes why the crowd picked out Gaius:
During the stirring scenes at Ephesus, when the truth was overthrowing the business of Demetrius, the crowd seized Gaius as a well-known companion of Paul. Acts 19:29 calls him a Macedonian. He seems to have been a Macedonian living at Corinth, as Lydia was a woman of Thyatira living at Philippi.
Commentators differ on whether this Gaius is any of the other men of that name in the New Testament. Another writer will not decide:
We cannot say for certain whether the Gaius of John's third letter is one of the others we read about who bear that name. The Gaius of Acts 19:29 was a man of Macedonia. The Gaius of Acts 20:4 was "of Derbe," a city in Asia Minor. The Gaius of 1 Corinthians 1:14 was a Corinthian.
The riot is the first place Aristarchus appears. One writer lists where he turns up after it:
Aristarchus was a fellow-prisoner with the Apostle at the time of writing. He had been a companion in Paul's travels (Acts 19:29); a fellow-sufferer in the shipwreck (Acts 27:2); a fellow-worker in service (Philemon 24); and at last he is a fellow-prisoner in the Apostle's chains.
Paul's own words about this time show how close to death he came:
Their cry of "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" was a spark that set the whole city alight. Satan had been at work making the material that would burn. Then came the alarming riot. Paul refers to it in his second letter to the Corinthians, when he and his friends "were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself" (2 Cor. 1:8). The excited Ephesians were ready to pass the sentence of death on Paul. But as he goes on to tell us, "we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead" (2 Cor. 1:9).
- Cause: The gospel cut into a trade. Greed then dressed itself as religious zeal — a mix that still inflames crowds today.
- Cover: Beaten in the dark arts, the enemy changed tactics. The goddess's honour became camouflage for lost profits.
- Confusion: The whole city rushed into the theatre. Most could not say why — and that ignorance kept the two captives safe.
- Cost: The crowd seized Gaius and Aristarchus for one reason: they were known as Paul's companions.
- Continuation: Aristarchus went on from this riot to shipwreck, service and prison — a companion in travel who became a companion in chains.
But Paul intending to go in to the people, the disciples suffered him not;
A riot over money and a goddess swept Paul's two travelling companions into the Ephesian theatre. Paul wanted to follow them in, but the believers stopped him — is a servant's courage always the same thing as God's guidance?
The theatre filled with people shouting the name of their goddess — Diana in older translations, Artemis in the ESV.
A popular cry starts easily and spreads, as it did in this case. Everyone could shout "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!" But why were they shouting it? What was it all about? Most of that huge crowd could not have said.
One writer names what actually set the city off:
The reason for their rage against Paul was not that he said gods made with hands are no gods. Many of their own wise men had said the same. It was that he had persuaded and turned away a great crowd, not only in Ephesus but in almost all Asia. Their means of living was now under threat.
Money and religion together make a dangerous mix. Another writer puts it plainly:
Man, who does not know God, will fight for nothing more fiercely than for his wealth and his religion.
Paul's own travelling companions were inside that theatre.
Paul, with the courage that always marked him, was about to go in there to the people, but the disciples held him back.
One writer looks at how the crowd treated the two men it did seize:
They had dragged Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's companions, along with them to the theatre, and they clearly did not know what to do with them. No one touched either of them: not a hair of their heads was hurt. Had Paul appeared it might have been very different.
One writer reads the disciples' refusal as God's own hand over His servant.
The believers restrain Paul and keep him from going there, where his zeal would have carried him. God watches over His servant; there was nothing for him to do there.
Paul's courage would have found no work to do in that theatre. His life, though, still carried something people needed. One writer weighs what hung on that moment:
They little knew that the Judge was at the door, or how thin the thread was that held the sword of justice. Suppose Paul had gone into the theatre, and the blind rage of disappointed greed had killed him. People's souls would then have been cut off from that blessed truth of God. He was revealing that truth through Paul, so that they might have fellowship with Himself.
Paul had the authority to overrule the disciples. He did not use it.
Whatever his own courage or feeling, Paul did not look down on the friends who warned him, despite their position. Scripture shows that he gave way to the protest of his fellow believers. He knew, on the right occasion, how to use heaven's power on earth for the Lord's glory. He wrote with divine authority for the saints here below until Christ comes. Yet he could graciously bend to others, as well as stand alone where that was of God. Only the Holy Spirit can give discernment at the moment, when the eye is fixed on Christ alone.
How do you tell which moment calls for which? One writer draws the lesson from a later journey, when Paul pressed on after clear warnings:
The truest spiritual desire cannot take the place of the guidance of God... Not that spiritual zeal itself is evil — it is not; but if we lean on it, we will find it misleads us, and we will reap the results.
- Zeal. Paul's wish to enter the theatre was real courage. His friends were inside, and courage always marked him.
- Restraint. The disciples' refusal was God watching over His servant. There was nothing for Paul to do in that place.
- Submission. An apostle with divine authority still bent to the protest of ordinary believers. Scripture counts that to his credit.
- Discernment. Only the Spirit shows, at the moment, when to stand alone and when to yield. Zeal is no substitute for God's guidance.
- Stakes. Paul's life carried a message. Had he died in that riot, souls would have been cut off from the truth God was revealing through him.
and some of the Asiarchs also, who were his friends, sent to him and urged him not to throw himself into the theatre.
Paul wanted to walk into a theatre full of a rioting crowd. Some of the men who stopped him ran the city's religious festivals — and the verse calls them his friends.
These were the leading men of the Roman province of Asia. Their job put them on the opposite side of the argument from Paul:
The word is Ἀσιαρχῶν, "chiefs of Asia." They were officers chosen annually by the cities in the Roman province of Asia. They had charge of the public games and religious festivals. Some of the Asiarchs were friends of Paul. They begged him not to put himself in danger in the theatre, since no one could always control a riotous mob.
One more detail explains their weight in the city.
These were elected officials, who, at their own expense, furnished festivals in honour of the gods.
The men with the most reason to resent Paul's preaching were the men God used to shield him.
Still, as we have seen, God was at work behind the scenes through wiser men of high standing among them. The Asiarchs, whose chief or chiefs lived at Ephesus, had the easiest means and the best position in the state. Their very office would make you expect them to resent any dishonour done to their religion more than anyone. But kindness, if not conscience, made them give Paul wise advice: he should not risk himself in the theatre. God used them to shelter His servant. Here zeal and courage would have done no good, and might have put him in danger.
The danger was real. The mob had already dragged in two of Paul's companions. Nobody touched them, though. Its fury had one target.
They had dragged Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's companions, with them in their headlong rush to the theatre. Once there, it was obvious they did not know what to do with them. No one touched either of them: not a hair of their heads was hurt. Had Paul appeared it might have been very different.
Paul said plainly that hand-made gods are no gods at all. His friendship with these officials shows how he said it.
Paul declared faithfully that gods made by hands are not gods at all. Yet these men were his friends. That shows he was not offensive in the way he opposed such idolatry.
Later the town clerk calmed the mob. Even he could clear Paul's team of insulting the city's religion.
It is worth noting what he could say about Paul and his companions: they are "neither temple-plunderers, nor speak injuriously of your goddess" (New Translation). That shows they had carefully avoided anything that might have given offence. Their work was the positive preaching of the Gospel, not the negative work of exposing the follies of idolatry.
Paul wanted to face the crowd. He didn't. Two things stand out: the mark his life left on these officials, and what he did with their advice.
It is very interesting to see the moral effect of Paul's teaching and life on certain of the chief officers of Asia. Scripture sets them apart from the disciples, yet says plainly that they were his friends. What is more, scripture shows that Paul did not despise these friends, despite their position. Whatever his own courage or feeling, he gave way to the protest of his brothers in the faith. At the right moment he knew how to wield on earth the power of heaven for the Lord's glory. He wrote with divine authority for the saints here below until Christ comes. Yet he could bend graciously to others, and he could also stand alone when that was of God. Only the Holy Spirit can give the discernment at the moment, where the eye is single to Christ.
Behind the restraining hands was a simple fact about the moment: the theatre held no work for him.
The brothers restrain Paul, and keep him from going there, where his zeal would have led him. God watches over His servant; there was nothing for him to do there.
- Who — the cities of Asia chose the Asiarchs each year. They ran the public games and religious festivals, and paid for them out of their own pockets.
- Friendship — these officials were friends of the man who said their gods were no gods at all. Plain preaching had not meant offensive preaching.
- Restraint — Paul's zeal pointed him toward the theatre. But there was nothing for him to do there, and the mob would have found its target in him.
- Protection — God sheltered His servant through men of high standing. Courage alone would have achieved nothing there.
- Discernment — the same apostle who could stand alone could also bend to the advice of others. Only the Holy Spirit shows which moment is which.
Different persons therefore cried out some different thing; for the assembly was tumultuous, and the most did not know for what cause they had come together.
Ephesus was in an uproar. The gospel had cut into the trade in silver shrines, and the crowd had rushed into the great theatre shouting for the city's goddess — called Diana in older translations and Artemis in newer ones. Two questions rise out of the scene. Why is this mob called an "assembly"? And what does it mean that most of them could not say why they were there?
The word for "assembly" here is the same word used elsewhere for the church. One writer shows what that word does and does not prove.
Israel was a great assembly or congregation, as nobody can dispute. But that proves nothing about whether it was what God's assembly is now, according to the word. It is "Ecclesia," an assembly, in Acts 7, and the word, being simply an assembled multitude, says just no more than that. Acts 19 uses the identical word when it says that the town clerk "dismissed the assembly." Put "the church" there, and what nice sense you will have!
The same word can carry a far higher meaning. One writer shows what the Spirit of God does with it.
"Assembly" in this verse is exactly the same word the Spirit of God uses for "the assembly, the body of Christ" (Ephesians 1:22-23). It simply means a company of people elected out of the community to represent the city. The Spirit of God takes up that word and gives it a dignified meaning, a glorified meaning. It names ones called out of this world's system. They are to be for God intelligently, to represent God, and to function for God.
The verse says most of them did not know why they had come. One writer shows how such a cry spreads, and what happened to the two men the crowd dragged along.
A popular cry is easily raised and taken up, as it was in this case. All could shout out "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!" But why were they shouting this? What was it all about? The greater part of that vast crowd could not tell. They had carried Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's companions, with them in their headlong rush to the theatre. Yet plainly they did not know what to do with them. No one touched either of them: not a hair of their heads was hurt.
The noise was religious, but the interests underneath it were not. One writer shows how little religion a crowd actually needs.
This outbreak shows us the power of the prince of this world. Worldly interests back him, and they love to shelter under the cover of religion. Men must have a religion; yet how thin a coat of it will do for the crowd, while the crowd in turn will do for the religion... In fact the cry that unites the mob is "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" Yet when they come together, it is hard to turn that cry into anything that makes sense.
The book has already shown religious feeling turning violent among the Jews. One writer explains why this scene was needed too, and who God used to keep Paul safe.
It was fitting that we should have a living picture of a half-religious riot among the Gentiles themselves. And we have it in the largest theatre whose ruins survive to this day. The Gentiles were certainly a little more senseless than the Jews, though their convictions were nowhere near as deep... Whatever the selfish motives underneath, they voiced their anger for the great Artemis, the goddess the Ephesians boasted about. Yet, as we have seen, God worked providentially through wiser men of high station among them... God used them to shelter His servant, where zeal and courage would have been useless, and might have exposed him to danger.
Commentators apply the scene to their own day in two ways. One notes how familiar the pattern remains:
Since that time, men's protest demonstrations have often produced the same senseless confusion.
Another turns it on the popular slogan that the voice of the people is the voice of God:
It is the "People's Party" in politics and in religion. It is the "People's Church." And people tell us confidently, "The voice of the people is the voice of God." God does not tell us so. He tells us the opposite. And where is His voice heard in all the noise and confusion caused "by the voice of the people"? Today it is one thing, and tomorrow something else... All around is confusion, as at Ephesus.
- One word, two assemblies. The word translated "assembly" here is the same word elsewhere translated "church." On its own it means no more than a gathered crowd.
- The crowd is the proof. Most of the shouters could not say why they had come — a cause loud enough to fill a theatre and too empty to explain itself.
- Thin coat. A trade interest was doing the real work; the goddess supplied the slogan, and a slogan was all the religion the crowd required.
- Not a hair harmed. The confusion that made the mob dangerous also made it useless: it seized Paul's companions and then had no idea what to do with them.
- The other calling. The Spirit takes the same ordinary word and lifts it. It names a people called out of the world's system, who know why they are gathered.