And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
extraordinary miracles - "On other occasions Paul did not have this power (2 Cor 12:8; Phil 2:27; 1 Tim 5:23; 2 Tim 4:20)." (Ryrie)
"...'special' miracles which God wrought through Paul. Actually the word 'special' should have been rendered in the negative as it is in the Greek: 'not common' or 'not ordinary.' The idea is that though Ephesus, being more oriental in character than Athens or Corinth, had many magicians and wonder-workers about her streets, God used Paul to work miracles which they could not duplicate, just as Moses and Aaron, more than fifteen centuries earlier, had wrought miracles which Pharoah's magicians found it impossible imitate. Among these were the curing of diseases and casting out of demons by handkerchiefs and aprons which had touched Paul's person. The era of demonstrative miracles had not yet passed." (Stam)
handkerchiefs - "Really a Latin word 'sudaria', meaning cloths for wiping off perspiration. It occurs again in Luke 19:20; John 11:44; 20:7 (napkin). They were, it appears, handkerchiefs' with which the hard-working tentmaker had wiped off the sweat of honest toil." (Walker)
aprons - "Also a Latin word 'semi-cinctria', aprons worn by artisans in their work. It is peculiar to this verse. These, too, were clearly used by the apostle in his labours." (Walker)
Seven sons of a Jewish high priest - "He may have been one of the heads of the twenty-four courses of priests; or been termed 'chief priest' popularly because of his connexion with a high-priestly family; or even have been an ex-high-priest himself. At first sight, the title seems strange in such a connexion, but there are many illustrations of the sons of great and honoured personages taking up strange professions. Some would interpret it as meaning that these exorcists gave out themselves to be sons or disciples of a Jewish high-priest, the better to attract attention." (Walker)
"The seven sons of Sceva tried to imitate the power of God as it was manifested through Paul; but they knew not the Lord Jesus Christ. They were professional exorcists travelling from place to place and preaching the expulsion of evil spirits. All kinds of mysterious things were used by these exorcists; the use of different names of God in driving out the evil spirits were especially resorted to. The so-called Kabbala and many parts of the Talmud are full of these mysterious things of magic. In some cases no doubt there was reality, as we learn from Matthew 12:27." (Gaebelein)
"They were 'vagabond Jews,' wanderers, far from their land, certainly not typical of redeemed Israel of the future who 'shall dwell in their own land' (Jer 23:8) but rather of the present apostate Israel, wandering homeless in other lands ... How low these vagabond Jews had fallen, spiritually, is evidenced by the fact that, for personal gain, they would use the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, their Messiah, whom they rejected, in a traffic with evil spirits which was strictly forbidden by Scripture and punishable with death (See Ex 22:18; Lev 20:27; Deut 18:10-11; 1 Sam 28:3,9). In this too they were symbolic of their nation, for rather than representing God before the nations now, Israel has become a false prophet by rejecting Messiah." (Stam)
those who had practiced magic arts brought their books - "Magical spells written on scrolls." (Ryrie)
"That is, manuscripts, books, or rolls containing their mystic 'Ephesian letters', with formulae and prescriptions for exorcism, for working good or evil to others, etc." (Walker)
"But more than that, they brought their parchments and rolls which contained the magical formulas, incantations and adjurations. These formulas and written amulets had at that time a world-wide reputation and were known by the name 'Ephesia gramata'—the Ephesian letters. They brought them together and burned them before all men." (Gaebelein)
fifty thousand pieces of silver - "If the silver drachma is meant, the value would have been the equivalent of about 138 years' pay for a rural worker." (Ryrie)
extraordinary miracles - "On other occasions Paul did not have this power (2 Cor 12:8; Phil 2:27; 1 Tim 5:23; 2 Tim 4:20)." (Ryrie)
"...'special' miracles which God wrought through Paul. Actually the word 'special' should have been rendered in the negative as it is in the Greek: 'not common' or 'not ordinary.' The idea is that though Ephesus, being more oriental in character than Athens or Corinth, had many magicians and wonder-workers about her streets, God used Paul to work miracles which they could not duplicate, just as Moses and Aaron, more than fifteen centuries earlier, had wrought miracles which Pharoah's magicians found it impossible imitate. Among these were the curing of diseases and casting out of demons by handkerchiefs and aprons which had touched Paul's person. The era of demonstrative miracles had not yet passed." (Stam)
handkerchiefs - "Really a Latin word 'sudaria', meaning cloths for wiping off perspiration. It occurs again in Luke 19:20; John 11:44; 20:7 (napkin). They were, it appears, handkerchiefs' with which the hard-working tentmaker had wiped off the sweat of honest toil." (Walker)
aprons - "Also a Latin word 'semi-cinctria', aprons worn by artisans in their work. It is peculiar to this verse. These, too, were clearly used by the apostle in his labours." (Walker)
Seven sons of a Jewish high priest - "He may have been one of the heads of the twenty-four courses of priests; or been termed 'chief priest' popularly because of his connexion with a high-priestly family; or even have been an ex-high-priest himself. At first sight, the title seems strange in such a connexion, but there are many illustrations of the sons of great and honoured personages taking up strange professions. Some would interpret it as meaning that these exorcists gave out themselves to be sons or disciples of a Jewish high-priest, the better to attract attention." (Walker)
"The seven sons of Sceva tried to imitate the power of God as it was manifested through Paul; but they knew not the Lord Jesus Christ. They were professional exorcists travelling from place to place and preaching the expulsion of evil spirits. All kinds of mysterious things were used by these exorcists; the use of different names of God in driving out the evil spirits were especially resorted to. The so-called Kabbala and many parts of the Talmud are full of these mysterious things of magic. In some cases no doubt there was reality, as we learn from Matthew 12:27." (Gaebelein)
"They were 'vagabond Jews,' wanderers, far from their land, certainly not typical of redeemed Israel of the future who 'shall dwell in their own land' (Jer 23:8) but rather of the present apostate Israel, wandering homeless in other lands ... How low these vagabond Jews had fallen, spiritually, is evidenced by the fact that, for personal gain, they would use the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, their Messiah, whom they rejected, in a traffic with evil spirits which was strictly forbidden by Scripture and punishable with death (See Ex 22:18; Lev 20:27; Deut 18:10-11; 1 Sam 28:3,9). In this too they were symbolic of their nation, for rather than representing God before the nations now, Israel has become a false prophet by rejecting Messiah." (Stam)
those who had practiced magic arts brought their books - "Magical spells written on scrolls." (Ryrie)
"That is, manuscripts, books, or rolls containing their mystic 'Ephesian letters', with formulae and prescriptions for exorcism, for working good or evil to others, etc." (Walker)
"But more than that, they brought their parchments and rolls which contained the magical formulas, incantations and adjurations. These formulas and written amulets had at that time a world-wide reputation and were known by the name 'Ephesia gramata'—the Ephesian letters. They brought them together and burned them before all men." (Gaebelein)
fifty thousand pieces of silver - "If the silver drachma is meant, the value would have been the equivalent of about 138 years' pay for a rural worker." (Ryrie)
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