Acts 19:14

Act 19:14. Ἑπτὰ,—seven) On which very number the exorcists seem to have relied, as also upon the dignity of their nation and their Father. In our time seven sons, or the seventh among them, is reputed, I know not whether without superstition, to be endowed with a healing power for the cure of diseases.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_19:14. ʼΑρχιερ.] Whether he was a former head of one of the twenty-four priestly classes, or a past de facto high priest, remains undecided, as this Skeuasaccording to A: Skeujas, according to Ewald, perhaps שְׁכַבְיָהis otherwise entirely unknown.

τινες … ἑπτά] is by many (including Kuinoel and Olshausen) taken as some seven, i.e. about seven; but then Luke would have placed the pronoun close to the numeral, either before or after it (Act_23:23; Thuc. vii. 34. 4, ἑπτά τινες, and see Kühner, § 633. 5; Krüger, § li. 16. 4); and the merely approximate expression would not be in keeping with the significance of the number seven. The correct mode of taking it is: but there were certain sons of Skeuas, a Jewish high priest, (and indeed) seven, who did this. The number, not thought of at the very beginning (instead of τινές), is introduced afterwards. Baur, I. p. 215, ed. 2, converts the sons into disciples, without any ground whatever in the text.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 19:14 . See critical note. Σκευᾶ : probably a Latin name adapted to Greek, see Blass, in loco , who gives instances of its occurrence, see also Gram. , p. 13, and Winer-Schmeidel, p. 75. Ewald refers it to the Hebrew שְׁכֵבְיָה . ἀρχ .: the description is difficult, as it seems incredible if we take it in its strictest sense; it may have denoted one who had been at the head of one of the twenty-four courses of priests in Jerusalem, or perhaps used loosely to denote one who belonged to the high-priestly families ( cf. Act 4:6 ). We cannot connect him with any special sacred office of the Jews in Asia Minor, as Nösgen proposes, for the Jews in the Diaspora had no temple, but synagogues; see reading in , critical note. Nothing further is known of Sceva, but there is no reason to suppose that he was an impostor in the sense that he pretended to be a high priest. ἧσαν … ποιοῦντες , Lucan, see above on Act 1:10 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

seven sons of . . . Sceva . . . chief of the priests--head, possibly, of one of the twenty-four courts.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 14. Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests] The original Ιουδαιου αρχιερεως, dignifies a Jewish high priest; but it is not probable that any sons, much less seven sons of a Jewish high priest, should be strolling exorcists: it is therefore likely that υιοισκευατινοςιερεως, the sons of Skeva, a certain priest, as it stands in the Codex Bezae, is the true reading. The whole verse in that MS. reads thus: Among them there also the sons of Skeva, a priest, who wished to do the same: for they were accustomed to exorcise such persons. And entering in to the demoniac, they began to invoke that Name, saying, We command thee by Jesus, whom Paul preacheth, to go out. And the evil spirit angered, and said unto them, Jesus I know, c. It has been often remarked that in our Lord's time there were many of the Jews that professed to cast out demons and perhaps to this our Lord alludes, Mt 12:27. See Clark's note there; "Mt 12:27".

Josephus, in speaking of the wisdom of Solomon, says that he had that skill by which demons are expelled; and that he left behind him the manner of using exorcisms, by which they are cast out; and that those arts were known among his countrymen down to his own time; and then gives us the following relation: "I have seen a certain man of my own country whose name was Eleazar, releasing people that were demoniacs, in the presence of Vespasian, his sons, his captains, and the whole multitude of his soldiers. The manner of the cure was this: He put a ring, that had a root of one of those sorts mentioned by Solomon, to the nostrils of the demoniac, after which he drew out the demon through his nostrils; and, when the man fell down, immediately he adjured him to return into him no more, making still mention of Solomon, and reciting the incantations that he had composed. And when Eleazar would persuade the spectators that he had such power, he set at a little distance a cup of water, and commanded the demon, as he went out of the man, to overturn it; and, when this was done, the skill and wisdom of Solomon were showed very manifestly." Joseph. ANTIQ. book viii. cap. 2, sect. 5. Whiston's edition.

That there were such incantations among the Jews we know well, and that there are still such found, and that they are attributed to Solomon; but that they are his remains to be proved; and could this even be done, a point remains which can never be proved, viz. that those curious arts were a part of that wisdom which he received from God, as Josephus intimates. Indeed, the whole of the above account gives the strongest suspicion of its being a trick by the Jewish juggler, which neither Josephus nor the emperor could detect; but the ring, the root, the cup of water, the spell, c. all indicate imposture. Magicians among the Jews were termed בעלי שם baaley shem, Masters of the Name, that is, the name of Jehovah יהוה by a certain pronunciation of which they believed the most wonderful miracles could be wrought. There were several among them who pretended to this knowledge; and, when they could not deny the miracles of our Lord, they attributed them to his knowledge of the true pronunciation of this most sacred name.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(14) Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests.—Better, a Jewish chief priest. The word might mean that he was at the head of one of the twenty-four courses into which the priests of the Temple were divided. (See Notes on Mat_21:15; Luk_3:2.) It is hardly probable, however, that one in that position would have taken to this disreputable calling, and it seems more likely that the title itself was part of the imposture. He called himself a chief priest, and as such St. Luke, or Tyrannus, described him. The scene is brought vividly before us. The seven exorcists, relying partly, we may believe, in the mystical virtue of their number, stand face to face with a demoniac, frenzied and strong like the Gadarene of Mat_8:28; Mar_5:3-4.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests] The Greek says simply a chief priest, and so Rev. Ver. We cannot tell why the title is given to him, but it is most likely that the name was applied to the heads of the twenty-four courses of the Levitical priesthood, who are called in the Old Testament “heads of fathers’ houses.”

which did so] i.e. which agreed to adopt this form of words in their exorcisms. There is no need to suppose that the whole seven were present in the case about to be named, but only that they were all exorcists, and in their wish to seem the best of their class they determined to use words which should connect them with the Christian preacher through whom many miracles were known to have been wrought.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the man in whom the evil spirit was,.... Being agitated by him:

leapt upon them; with great agility and force, and laid hold on them, and struggled with them, and beat and wounded them, and stripped them naked:

and overcame them, and prevailed against them; the Alexandrian copy, Beza's most ancient one, and some others, and the Vulgate Latin version read, "and overcame both"; as if only two of these seven sons had made this attempt, and were so used; though the Ethiopic version reads, "and overcame them all"; all the seven sons:

so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded; having their clothes tore off, and their bodies beat and bruised.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.

Ver. 14. Seven sons of one Sceva] All fathers, but especially ministers, should use all utmost care that their children be well educated and instructed; and not think it sufficient to say of them as Pope Paul III did of his dissolute sea Farnesius, Haec vitia me non commonstratore didicit, He never learned it from his father.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

One Sceva - Sceva is a Greek name, but nothing more is known of him.

Chief of the priests - This cannot mean that he was high priest among the Jews, as it is wholly improbable that his sons would be wandering exorcists. But it denotes that he was of the sacerdotal order. He was a Jewish chief priest; a priest of distinction, and had held the office of a ruler. The word “chief priest,” in the New Testament, usually refers to men of the sacerdotal order who were also rulers in the Sanhedrin.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

One of the chief of the twenty-four courses into which the priests were divided, 1Ch 24:4, or such as (according to the corruption of those times) had been high priests, and were laid aside, or were of the high priest’s family, and hoped to succeed him.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

14. Chief… priests—It is evident from Act_19:18-19, that the priesthood of Sceva, though a Jew, was in the service of Artemis. For the defeat of his sorcerer sons induced the people to burn their books of Artemisian rites.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A chief priest for and chief of the priests, A.V.; this for so, A.V. A chief priest (ajrciereuv); not, of course, in the sense of high priest, but in that wider sense of the word which comprised the chiefs of the twenty-four courses and the members of the Sanhedrim and all who had ever been high priests or who were of the kindred of the high priest (Mat_2:4 Mat_16:21 Mat_21:15 Mat_23:4-5, etc.; Luk_9:22 Luk_19:47; Act_4:23 Act_5:24 Act_9:14, Act_9:21, etc.) It is probable that the Eleazar mentioned in the preceding note was a priest, both from his name and because Josephus calls him one of his oJmofulwn, which may mean "fellow-tribesmen." The name Sceca occurs nowhere else, nor is its meaning or etymology at all certain. Some identify it with the Latin Scaera (Horace, "Ep.," 1. 17:1), "left-handed," l.q. Scaevola; or the Greek Scenes, a proper name in Appian. Simonis gives it an Aramean etymology.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14. Here we see a case in which those Jewish exorcists [i. e., people gifted with the power of demoniacal ejectment, of course delegated by Jehovah], undertake to utilize the Christ of Paul in that way.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes on verse 13

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

14. υἱοὶ after ἐπτὰ and omitting οἱ with אABE. Vulg. has ‘septem filii qui hoc faciebant.’

14. ἦσαν δέ τινες … ἀρχιερέως ἑπτὰ υἱοί, and there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest. We cannot tell why the title ‘chief priest’ is given to Sceva, but it is not improbable that the name was applied to the heads of the twenty-four courses of the Levitical priesthood, who are called in the Old Testament ‘heads of fathers’ houses.’

τοῦτο ποιοῦντες, who did this, i.e. which agreed to adopt this form of words in their exorcisms. There is no need to suppose that the whole seven were present in the case about to be named, but only that they were all exorcists, and in their wish to seem the best of their class they determined to use words which should connect them with the Christian preacher through whom many miracles were known to have been wrought.

Chrysostom’s comment here is: σὺ δέ μοι σκόπει τοῦ συγγραφέως ἐνταῦθα τὸ ἀνεπαχθές, καὶ πῶς ἱστορίαν μόνον γράφει, καὶ οὐ διαβάλλει. τοῦτο τοὺς ἀποστόλους ἐποίει θαυμαστούς. ἀλλὰ τίνος ἦσαν νἱοὶ τὸ ὄνομα λέγει καὶ τὸν ἀριθμόν, διδοὺς τοῖς τότε τεκμήριον ἀξιόπιστον ὧν ἔγραφε. τίνος δὲ ἕνεκεν καὶ περιήρχοντο, ἐμπορίας χάριν. οὐ γὰρ δὴ τὸν λόγον καταγγέλλοντες. πῶς γάρ; καλῶς δὲ ἔτρεχον λοιπόν, κηρύττοντες δι’ ὧν ἔπασχον.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14. ἀρχιερέως] The word must be used in a wide sense. He may have been chief of the priests resident at Ephesus: or perhaps chief of one of the twenty-four courses.

τινες does not belong to ἑπτά, see ch. 23:23, but stands alone, recalling the τινες of the preceding verse.

Without the οἱ it would be, ‘certain men, &c. were attempting this,’ ἦσαν and ποιοῦντες being taken together. With it, They were (it was) certain men, seven sons, &c. who attempted this.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Did [ποιουντες] . The participle denotes a practice.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.