Acts 19:28Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

All hurried to the public square, where they usually gathered. Many shouted, not knowing themselves what the matter was. Two of Paul's companions were seized. The Greek people, who made up the chief population of the city, generally hated the Jews who lived there as enemies of the gods. Popular hatred could easily flare into riot over a slight offense, from which the Jews might suffer greatly. In the present case, many still did not know what exactly caused the people's indignation. The Jews heard only that the people were stirred up because of an insult inflicted by enemies of the gods. They at once attributed the cause of this indignation to themselves. A certain man named Alexander appeared, in order to give the people an explanation and, if necessary, to place the blame on the Christians. But the appearance of such a man, who himself belonged among the enemies of the popular religion, only produced stronger irritation. The shouting increased still more. Yet these hostile dispositions toward the apostle seem to have been cherished only by the mob. The city officials knew Paul's manner of life and action during almost three years in Ephesus. This could not fail to give them a favorable judgment of Paul. Some of the city rulers who in that year managed religious affairs in Asia Minor, the Άσιάρχαι, and supervised the public games, even showed concern for his fate. They begged him not to appear before the people during this disturbance. Finally the city clerk succeeded in calming the riotous crowd. He explained that satisfaction should be sought by lawful procedure. He said it was impossible that anyone would rise against the great goddess of Ephesus, and that responsibility for the disturbance had to be feared.

He began first among the craftsmen under his authority, and then in the street crowd of Ephesus." According to Saint John Chrysostom's explanation, "Such is the character of the common people: they are carried away and irritated by everything that happens. Therefore one must deal with them cautiously in all things. Notice how frivolous they were and ready to incline toward anything. So little did they think of nobility and honor." "They assumed a threatening posture in order, by shouting, to restore some respect for the gods and drown out what had happened. They shouted without ceasing, as though fearing that the worship of the gods might be completely extinguished." "The cry, 'Great is Artemis of the Ephesians,' with which the rioting crowd ceaselessly filled the vaults of the huge Ephesian theater for two hours, was not a phrase that happened to come to the crowd's lips. It was evidently a formula well known to all, like 'hurrah.' In 1887, Messrs. Hogarth, Oroun, and others succeeded in discovering at Diaspolis, where there was a temple in honor of Artemis and her son Apollo, a marble inscription containing the greetings: 'Great is Apollo. ' 'Great is Artemis.' In Wood's collection there is a marble with the following inscription: 'The senate and the people render public honors to those who served as guardians of the temple in the year of Demetrius.' There follows a list of the names of the honored guardians of the temple in this order: from the Ephesian tribe. Demetrius, son of Melophilus, son of Tryphon, of the thousand Boreis; Thoas, son of Drocontavenus, of the thousand Enopeus, and so forth. Thus at the head of the list of temple trustees stands the well-known Demetrius. This monument is dated to the second half of the first century after the Nativity of Christ. Nothing prevents the supposition that Demetrius, the temple trustee, could be the same Demetrius who rose against Paul in the year 57."