Acts 19:38 - Printer Friendly

ESV: If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another.

NIV: If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges.

NASB: So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are in session and proconsuls are available; have them bring charges against one another.

CSB: So if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a case against anyone, the courts are in session, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another.

NLT: If Demetrius and the craftsmen have a case against them, the courts are in session and the officials can hear the case at once. Let them make formal charges.

KJV: Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another.

NKJV: Therefore, if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a case against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another.

It's unclear if Demetrius meant for his movement to go this far. He's concerned that so many people are following Paul and his God that the idol-selling market will dry up. Demetrius brings his concerns to the other craftsmen, and they choose advertising-by-protest: they incite a crowd to affirm their devotion to Artemis and march through the street (Acts 19:23–28).

Two hours of chanting later, a mob fills the theater—most of them with no idea why. They have grabbed Paul's companions Gaius and Aristarchus but don't seem to know what to do with them (Acts 19:29, 32). The theater is also used as the public forum; perhaps the magistrates will arrive and listen to their concerns.

Instead, the city clerk, the liaison between the Ephesian government and the Roman representatives, arrives. Once he gets the crowd quieted, he points out how foolish they're being. Gaius and Aristarchus haven't done anything. That is, they haven't blasphemed Artemis or sacrilegiously attacked her temple, which would have been a capital offense (Acts 19:37). If Demetrius and the other craftsmen want to accuse Paul of breaking the law, they need to do so before the proconsuls in court. As it stands, they are in danger of rioting, which the Romans will not look kindly on (Acts 19:40).

A proconsul—a title literally meaning "for the council"—was a magistrate who governed under the authority of the Roman senate, not the emperor, in a territory that did not quarter a Roman legion. It's possible the city clerk uses the plural because this is the time shortly after proconsul Marcus Junius Silanus was murdered; two other officials would be splitting the responsibilities until his replacement could arrive. Or he could be using the word in general.

The courts handled financial disputes, and the civic meetings addressed insults against the city and its deities. By telling Demetrius that "the courts are open," the city clerk may be showing he knows this is a financial complaint and has little to do with real devotion to Artemis.

Acts 19:35–41 describes one way to deal with unruly mobs; much the same as one might with over-tired toddlers. A crowd has formed in the Ephesian theater to renew their devotion to Artemis. The mob was started by idol makers whose businesses are threatened by the decreasing demand for shrines for Artemis as city residents convert to Christianity. The town clerk of Ephesus needs to disperse the crowd. He lets them wear themselves out, affirms their feelings, shows them they have nothing to fear, reminds them of the proper way to handle disappointment, and tells them the consequences if they don't behave. It works, and the crowd goes home.

Acts 19 recounts Paul's three-year visit in Ephesus. He starts by revealing how Jesus of Nazareth has brought to life the kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit validates Paul's message by healing those struck with physical ailments and demon possession. Amazed by Paul's authority over evil spirits, so many magicians turn to Christ that the craftsmen who make idols fear for their livelihoods. They nearly incite a riot before the town clerk settles them down. Paul realizes his time in Ephesus has ended, and he travels to Macedonia (Acts 20:1).

Acts 19 is the meat of Paul's third missionary voyage. He has already revisited the churches in central modern-day Turkey (Acts 18:23). Now he returns to Ephesus for a three-year stay. After firmly establishing the church there, rescuing many from pagan magic and the worship of Artemis, he returns to Macedonia and Greece. A threat on his life sends him back up to Macedonia and across to Troas. He meets briefly with the Ephesian elders to tell them they will not meet again (Acts 20). When he returns to Jerusalem, he is arrested and, eventually, taken to Rome.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.