Passage

Acts 19.29-34

Book: Acts · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"27. and not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana be made of no account, and that she should even be deposed from her magnificence whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. 28. And when they heard this they were filled with wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesus."

"29. And the city was filled with the confusion: and they rushed with one accord into the theatre, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel. 30. And when Paul was minded to enter in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. 31. And certain also of the Asiarchs, being his friends, sent unto him and besought him not to adventure himself into the theatre. 32. Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was in confusion; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. 33. And they brought Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made a defense unto the people. 34. But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians."

"35. And when the townclerk had quieted the multitude, he saith, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there who knoweth not that the city of the Ephesians is temple-keeper of the great Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter? 36. Seeing then that these things cannot be gainsaid, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash." (Acts 19:27-36, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"27. Not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be counted as nothing, and her majesty destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worships.” 28. When they heard this they were filled with anger, and cried out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”"

"29. The whole city was filled with confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel. 30. When Paul wanted to enter in to the people, the disciples didn’t allow him. 31. Certain also of the Asiarchs, being his friends, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater. 32. Some therefore cried one thing, and some another, for the assembly was in confusion. Most of them didn’t know why they had come together. 33. They brought Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. Alexander beckoned with his hand, and would have made a defense to the people. 34. But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice for a time of about two hours cried out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”"

"35. When the town clerk had quieted the multitude, he said, “You men of Ephesus, what man is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great goddess Artemis, and of the image which fell down from Zeus? 36. Seeing then that these things can’t be denied, you ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash." (Acts 19:27-36, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"27. So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. ^{set at nought: or, brought into disrepute, or, contempt} 28. And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians."

"29. And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre. 30. And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. 31. And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre. 32. Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. 33. And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people. 34. But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians."

"35. And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter? ^{a worshipper: Gr. the temple keeper} 36. Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly." (Acts 19:27-36, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"27. and not only is this department in danger for us of coming into disregard, but also, that of the great goddess Artemis the temple is to be reckoned for nothing, and also her greatness is about to be brought down, whom all Asia and the world doth worship.' 28. And they having heard, and having become full of wrath, were crying out, saying, 'Great [is] the Artemis of the Ephesians!'"

"29. and the whole city was filled with confusion, they rushed also with one accord into the theatre, having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul's fellow-travellers. 30. And on Paul's purposing to enter in unto the populace, the disciples were not suffering him, 31. and certain also of the chief men of Asia, being his friends, having sent unto him, were entreating him not to venture himself into the theatre. 32. Some indeed, therefore, were calling out one thing, and some another, for the assembly was confused, and the greater part did not know for what they were come together; 33. and out of the multitude they put forward Alexander, the Jews thrusting him forward, and Alexander having beckoned with the hand, wished to make defence to the populace, 34. and having known that he is a Jew, one voice came out of all, for about two hours, crying, 'Great [is] the Artemis of the Ephesians!'"

"35. And the public clerk having quieted the multitude, saith, 'Men, Ephesians, why, who is the man that doth not know that the city of the Ephesians is a devotee of the great goddess Artemis, and of that which fell down from Zeus? 36. these things, then, not being to be gainsaid, it is necessary for you to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly." (Acts 19:27-36, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

NT Geographical Reliability

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.