Self-interest motivates both ancient men and modern man. The love of profit and property gets between man and God. Compare Acts 1:18; 5:1-11; 8:20-22; 16:16-18.
Verse 28: The speech of Demetrius filled his hearers with anger. They lifted up a coordinated raucous cry, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.”
Verse 29:
The loud cry soon engulfed the city in confusion. Two disciples who traveled
with Paul, Gaius and Aristarchus of Macedonia, were caught and swept along by a
mob that rushed into the theatre. The theatres this period were places of
public assemblies and deliberative meetings.[i] The Ephesus theatre was
located on the slope of Mount Panayir, and had a capacity of about 25,000 seats.
It is a quite well-preserved site and a popular tourist attraction.
Verse 32:
The chaotic scene at the theatre indicates why the disciples and “certain of
the chief of Asia” desired Paul to stay away.
The crowd shouted diverse and contradictory things, “cried one thing,
and some another”. The assembly was so confused that the majority did not even understand
why they were there.
Verses 33-34: Bock suggests that “Paul’s presence seems to have disturbed an uneasy civil tolerance between Jews and Greeks and their religious views.”[ii] While the Jews were philosophically and theologically opposed to idolatry, the Christians were making disciples in the Gentile community. Demetrius recognized that as a threat.
Alexander “beckoned with the hand” to get the attention of the audience. He intended to speak, making a defense to the crowd gathered in the theatre. When it was generally known to the crowd that Alexander was a Jew, they would not give him opportunity to speak, but they united in a two-hour chant (“about the space of two hours) crying out, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” Over and over, loudly, in unison; nothing else could interrupt their frenzied cry.
Verse 35:
They would not allow the Jew Alexander to speak, but eventually one of their
own calmed the commotion enough to address the crowd. The townclerk (γραμματευς)
might be thought of as something like a “city manager” in modern terms in the
United States. He directly addresses the “men of Ephesus,” attempting to return
calm thinking and good sense. He reminds them that Ephesus is specially known
for its devotion to “the great goddess Diana.” It is not unusual that
worshippers of Diana might perceive the image in the temple as fallen down from
Jupiter in the heavens. There is no such surviving direct historical record
concerning Ephesus. However, in a play Euripides writes similarly of Diana of
Tauris: “And then Phoebus cried out a golden voice from the tripod, and sent me
here, to get the image Zeus hurled down, and set it up in Athena’s land.”[iii] These
kinds of superstitions were readily accepted by many.
Verse 36: The
townclerk allowed that the facts concerning Diana were so universally accepted
among the Roman people “that these things cannot be spoken against.” For the
reasons he gives, the disorderly crowd must come to order, be quiet, and make
no rash mistakes they will later regret.
Verse 37: The
men brought into the theatre – Gaius and Aristarchus – the townclerk advised
were not guilty of any assault against religion or blasphemy against Diana.
Verses
38-39: If there is any legitimate complaint, Demetrius and the silversmiths
have legal recourse – according to the law (the law is open), before the proper
authorities (there are deputies), and in the proper manner to bring charges (let
them implead one another). If there are matters not covered by such legal
recourse (any thing concerning other matters), a legal assembly of citizens to
consider such matters can be called out.
[ii] Bock, Acts, p. 611.
[iii] Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris, Robert Potter, Editor. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0112%3Acard%3D939 Accessed 5 May 2024 10:35 pm.
[iv] Brief Notes on the New Testament, J. M. Pendleton, p. 359.
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