Acts 19:27Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Then, to irritate them still more, he says, "Not only will our craft come into disrepute." That is, not to mention the rest, "but also the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be counted as nothing." To show that he is supposedly not speaking from greed. See what he adds: "whom all Asia and the world worship." Do you see how he bears witness to the superiority of Paul's power? Do you see how weak and worthless all the others are, if a man who was persecuted and worked as a tentmaker could do so much? Thus the enemies themselves bore witness in favor of the apostles. There they said, "You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching" (Acts 5:28).

Demetrius knew that he deceived people by building temples for them and making silver images of gods. He was afraid that his dishonesty and fraud might be exposed by Paul's true teaching. It should be noted that the true faith, though not yet spread through the whole world, shone so brightly that Demetrius feared the temple of Artemis in Ephesus might be completely destroyed. He foretold the destruction of the temple, and this indeed came to pass.

"And this threatens us, that not only our craft will come into disrepute," and so forth (Acts 19:27). That is, not only will our works be considered empty and unworthy of payment, but even our faith will be dishonored if Paul's teaching prevails, namely, that idols are not gods. The foolishness of the pagans is astonishing. They are not ashamed to worship those whom, as they know, a man can either build or destroy.

Meanwhile, a strong disturbance arose in Ephesus against the apostle. At the same time, it proved the important consequences of his preaching in Asia Minor. In this city they made silver and gold models of the famous temple of Diana located there. These were sent everywhere and brought the city rich income. A certain Demetrius produced such models on a large scale and kept many workers in his employment. Seeing the mighty successes of the Gospel in Asia Minor, and feeling his income diminish as faith in Diana began to decline, he feared that his trade would lose all its course. He gathered those of like mind and could easily inflame their indignation against people who threatened to destroy Diana's glory and deprive them of income. The people were set in motion.

At this time a disturbance arose in Ephesus, stirred up against him by a certain silversmith named Demetrius. His chief craft was making silver models of the famous Ephesian temple of Artemis. Therefore the cooling of the pagans toward the temple of Artemis of Ephesus, which had occurred through the apostle's preaching, threatened the complete decline of his trade. Yet the popular tumult was soon calmed, and the disorderly crowd dispersed through the persuasion of a civil official. Thus Paul, against whom this popular disturbance had been raised, remained unharmed.

Ephesus was the famous city where East and West, Asia and Europe, met one another. Many merchant ships made constant voyages between it and Corinth. Yet despite the influx of Western ideas, it preserved with extraordinary fidelity the religion of the ancient Asian gods. Its most honored deity was Artemis. She was the well-known Asian Astarte, only under a Greek name. Her cult was based on the deification of the crude generative powers of nature, and was marked by the most unbridled license. The temple of Ephesian Artemis was famous throughout the world and was counted one of the wonders of the world. Burned by Herostratus, it was rebuilt with still greater magnificence. By her fame Artemis overshadowed the other deities of Asia.

The conclusion that the silversmith draws from these two facts before his workers is twofold. First, their craft will come into disrepute. Their products will not be bought, and so their prosperity will be harmed. Second, the temple of Diana will be counted as nothing. It will be abandoned, held in contempt, and the magnificence of the goddess will be destroyed. This again threatens the same undermining of their condition. Self-interest is present in both conclusions, but in the latter it is concealed under pagan piety. "See how idolatry is everywhere sustained by greed. They rise up not because their worship of the gods was in danger, but because they were being deprived of the possibility of profit.

The magnificence of Artemis is put forward by Demetrius as the chief motive, apparently, for rising against the apostle. Yet it is obviously only a cunning cover for a self-interested aim. Saint John Chrysostom noted this, saying: "To show that he is supposedly not speaking from greed, see what he adds: whom all Asia and the world worship. Do you see how he bears witness to the superiority of Paul's power? Do you see how weak and worthless all the others are, if a man who was persecuted and worked as a tentmaker could do so much? Thus the enemies themselves bore witness in favor of the apostles. There they said, 'You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching' (Acts 5:28).