When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theatre, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s companions in travel. But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theatre. Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defence to the crowd. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
Comment: What was the ‘this’ that they heard? Yesterday ended with ‘And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship’. What were the issues at stake? Firstly, and verbalized first, was the fear of lost income! Next, as is so often pointed out by God in the prophetic writings, their idol had ears but couldn’t hear; a mouth but couldn’t speak; a brain of solid metal through which even a single thought couldn’t pass. Yet they feared that it, the idol, would lose its fame. Her magnificence was a total sham, a glory built on nothing!
And so a great confusion was whipped up and its purpose – to get rid of the Christian messengers. Much of the crowd were just there to yell. And the Jew, Alexander, seeking to settle things in fact set in place a rebellious senseless chorus of people shouting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians”. A rioting senseless mob!
Prayer: Please help me to discern the real issues at stake in life, O Lord!
As I read it! 