Acts 19:40

Act 19:40. Τῆς σήμερον) viz. ἡμέρας: ch. Act 20:26, ἐν τῇ σήμερον.—αἰτίου) The Vulgate takes this in the masculine gender: but the neuter in this book is frequent.—περὶ οὗ οὐ δυνησόμεθα) A double negation: ch. Act 10:47, κωλῦσαι τοῦ μὴ βαπτισθῆναι τούτους.—συστροφῆς) which has the appearance of a στάσις, insurrection. The mild term is prudently used by the clerk.

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

Act 19:40 . ἐγκαλεῖσθαι στάσεως περὶ τῆς σήμερον , A.V., “to be called in question for this day’s uproar,” but R.V., “to be accused concerning this day’s riot,” rendering ἐγκαλ ., as in Act 19:38 , and στάσεως , as in Mar 15:7 . θόρυβος being rather the word for uproar or tumult, cf. Vulgate: “argui seditionis hodiernæ”. But a further question arises from the marginal rendering of R.V., “to be accused of riot concerning this day”: so Page, Meyer-Wendt, Zöckler. But Blass, Weiss, Rendall, so Ram say: “to be accused of riot concerning this day’s assembly,” sc. , ἐκκλησία , although Blass thinks it still better to omit περὶ τῆς altogether, and to connect σήμερον with ἐγκαλ ., cf. Act 4:9 . μηδενὸς αἰτίου ὑπάρχοντος : with this punctuation R.V. renders “there being no cause for it ,” taking αἰτίου as neuter, and closely connecting the phrase with the foregoing, so W. H. Overbeck (so Felten, Rendall) takes αἰτίου as masculine: “there being no man guilty by reason of whom,” etc., and Wendt considers that the rendering cannot be altogether excluded. Vulgate has “cum nullus obnoxius sit”. But αἰτίου may be strictly a noun neuter from αἴτιον = αἰτία , and not an adjective as the last-mentioned rendering demands, cf. Plummer on Luk 23:4 ; Luk 23:14 ; Luk 23:22 , and nowhere else in N.T., so Moulton and Geden, who give the adjective αἴτιος only in Heb 5:9 . περὶ οὗ δυνησόμεθα : Ramsay (so Meyer and Zöckler) follows T.R. and Bezan text in omitting the negative οὐ before δυν ., but see on the other hand Wendt (1899), p. 322; and critical note. R.V. (introducing negative οὐ , so Weiss and Wendt) renders “and as touching it we shall not be able to give account of this concourse”. συστροφῆς , Polyb., iv., 34, 6, of a seditious meeting or mob. In Act 23:12 used of a conspiracy; cf. LXX, Psa 63:2 , Amo 7:10 .

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

For we--the public authorities.

are in danger of being called in question--by our superiors.

Next: Acts Chapter 20

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 40. For we are in danger, c.] Popular commotions were always dreaded by the Roman government and so they should by all governments; for, when might has nothing to direct its operations but passion, how destructive must these operations be! One of the Roman laws made all such commotions of the people capital offenses against those who raised them. Qui caetum et concursus fecerit, capite puniatur: "He who raises a mob shall forfeit his life." If such a law existed at Ephesus-and it probably did, from this reference to it in the words of the town-clerk or recorder-then Demetrius must feel himself in great personal danger; and that his own life lay now at the mercy of those whom he had accused, concerning whom he had raised such an outcry, and against whom nothing disorderly could be proved.

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

(40) We are in danger to be called in question.—The “we” as used to include the rioters. The “called in question” is the same verb as that rendered “implead” in Act_19:38. There was a risk of which Demetrius and his party had to be reminded, that they might find themselves defendants, and not plaintiffs, in a suit. A riotous “concourse” (the town-clerk uses the most contemptuous word he can find, “this mob meeting”) taking the law into its own hands was not an offence which the proconsuls were likely to pass over lightly. It would hardly be thought a legitimate excuse that they had got hold of two Jews and wanted to “lynch” them.

An interesting inscription of the date of Trajan, from an aqueduct at Ephesus, gives nearly all the technical terms that occur in the town-clerk’s speech, and so far confirms the accuracy of St. Luke’s report: “This has been dedicated by the loyal and devoted Council of the Ephesians, and the people that serve the temple (Neôkoros), Peducæus Priscinus being proconsul, by the decree of Tiberius Claudius Italicus, the town-clerk of the people.”

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

40. For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar. The A. V. seems here to be incorrect. ‘The word for “uproar” ought not to be joined with “this day.” The construction is contrary to N. T. usage, and the adoption of it has caused some violence to be done to the other words. The verb rendered “called in question” is the verb used in Act_19:38 in the sense of “accuse,” while the word for “uproar” means “riot,” “sedition.” So the Rev. Ver. gives, as an alternative version, “For indeed we are in danger to be accused of riot concerning this day.” Of course the town-clerk did not want himself to call it riot, but he intimates to them that other people may do so. He only styles it a “concourse.”

there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse] Here the readings of the oldest MSS. raise a considerable difficulty. Their repetition of οὐ after περὶ οὖ gives another form to the sentence altogether. But it is not possible to decide with certainty whether the two letters in question should or should not be part of the text. Westcott and Hort place them in their text, but do not think that thus the reading is correct. The rendering of the Received Text is that of the A.V. The text with the additional οὐ is translated in the Rev. Ver. “there being no cause for it: and as touching it we shall not be able to give account of this concourse.”

But the alternative rendering of the Rev. Ver. given above for the first clause of the verse may be taken, with the rendering of the Text, Recept. in the second clause. The Rev. Ver. adheres to “this day’s riot,” but this involves a transposition of the preposition in the Greek, of which no other example is found in the N. T.

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.

40 For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse.

Ver. 40. For we are in danger] Danger we all desire to decline, whether it be of life, limb, estate, &c., but venture our souls daily to the danger of damnation: this is practical atheism, rank folly.

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.

To be called in question - By the government; by the Roman authority. Such a tumult, continued for so long. a time, would be likely to attract the attention of the magistrates, and expose them to their displeasure. Popular commotions were justly dreaded by the Roman government; and such an assembly as this, convened without any good cause, would not escape their notice. There was a Roman law which made it capital for anyone to be engaged in promoting a riot. Sui coetum, et concursum fecerit, capite puniatur: “He who raises a mob, let him be punished with death.”

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

He wisely minds them of their danger; for being under the power of the Romans, it was no less than the loss of their liberties to abet any faction or sedition; and to make a concourse or meeting tumultuously together, was capital, unless it were upon the sudden invasion of an enemy, or to but out some raging fire.

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

For indeed for for, A.V.; accused for called in question, A.V.; concerning for for, A.V.; riot for uproar, A.V; for it for whereby, A.V.; and as touching it we shall not be able to for we may, A.V. and T.R.; account for an account, A.V. We are in danger (kinduneuomen: see ver. 27, note). To be accused concerning this day"s riot. The Greek cannot well be so construed. The margin is right; ejgkaleisqai stasewv is "to be charged with sedition;" perimeron is for thv shmeron hJmerav, this day," as in Act_20:26, meron th sh hJmera: only in English we should say, on account of this day," i.e. what has been done this day. The R.T. places a stop after mhdenoou uJpacontovr As touching it. But it" must mean "the riot," which is feminine, whereas ou is masculine; so that the R.T. is impossible to construe. It is much better, therefore, to adhere to the T.R., which has good manuscript authority, and to construe as the A.V. Whereby, equivalent to on the ground of which" (Meyer). With regard to the great tumult to which the foregoing narrative relates, it is certain that St. Luke has by no means exaggerated its importance. In his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, written from Macedonia shortly after his departure from Ephesus, St. Paul speaks as one still smarting under the severity of his sufferings. In the language of trust, yet of a trust sorely tried, he speaks of the Father of mercies" who comforteth us in all our tribulation." He speaks of the sufferings of Christ as abounding in him. And then, referring directly to the trouble which came upon him in Asia, he says, "We were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: but we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: who delivered us from so great a death". (2Co_1:4-10) And the same tone breaks out again in 2Co_4:7-18 2Co_6:4-10 2Co_11:23-27 2Co_12:9, 2Co_12:10. It is also very probable that it was on this occasion that Priscilla and Aquila saved St. Paul"s life at the risk of their own, to which he alludes in Rom_16:3, Rom_16:4, written after he had reached Corinth from Macedonia, i.e. before Easter of the year 58 A.D. So that it is certain that the riot and the danger to St. Paul"s life wereeven greater than we should have inferred from St. Luke"s narrative alone. It should be added, with reference to the three years" residence at Ephesus (Act_20:21) which this nineteenth chapter describes, that one or two important incidents which occurred are not related by St. Luke. The first is that encounter with a savage rabble to which St. Paul refers in 1Co_15:32, but of which we have no account in the Acts. It must have happened in the early part of his sojourn at Ephesus. Another is a probable visit to Corinth, inferred from 2Co_2:1 2Co_12:14, 21 13:1, 2; and thought to have been caused by bad accounts of the moral state of the Corinthian Church, sent to him at Ephesus. It was probably a hasty visit, and in contrast with it he says, in 1Co_16:7, with reference to his then coming visit, "I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you." It is also thought that there was another letter to the Corinthians, written from Ephesus, soon after that second visit, which is now lost, but is alluded to in 1Co_5:9. The First Epistle to the Corinthians was manifestly written at this time from Ephesus. (1Co_16:8, 1Co_16:19) Some think that the Epistle to the Galatians was also written from Ephesus, a little before the First Epistle to the Corinthians. (see 1Co_16:1; Gal_2:10) but Renan thinks it was written from Antioch, before he came to Ephesus.

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

This concourse - He wisely calls it by an inoffensive name.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

See notes on verse 35

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.

40. περὶ οὗ οὐ with אABHLP. Vulg. has ‘de quo possumus.’

40. καὶ γὰρ κινδυνεύομεν ἐγκαλεῖσθαι στάσεως περὶ τῆς σήμερον, for indeed we are in danger to be accused of a riot concerning this day. ἐγκαλεῖν in the previous verse = to accuse, and this meaning should be preserved here. στάσις is the name which the γραμματεύς hints, by this sentence, that other people will give to the gathering in the theatre. He calls it by a gentler term, συστροφή.

μηδένος αἰτίου ὑπάρχοντος, there being no cause, i.e. why any concourse should have been gathered.

περὶ οὖ οὐ δυνησόμεθα ἀποδοῦναι λόγον τῆς συστροφῆς ταύτης, and as touching it we shall not be able to give account of this concourse. It seems clear that περὶ οὖ could not mean (as A.V.) whereby. The insertion of a second οὔ, = not, is warranted by much MS. testimony, but it is not easy to render, and Westcott and Hort think that there must still be some error in the text. The relative οὖ does not grammatically accord with any part of the sentence to which it ought to be referred. But the rendering given is perhaps the best which can be made of the word, and οὔ as a neuter must be taken to refer to the matter as a whole.

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.

40.] γάρ assumes that this assembly was an unlawful one.

μηδενὸς κ.τ.λ.] There being no ground why (i.e. in consequence of which) we shall be able to give an account, i.e. ‘no ground whereon to build the possibility of our giving an account.’ The reading περὶ οὗ οὐ (see digest) seems to involve the sentence in almost inextricable confusion. To read περὶ τῆς συστ. τ. and take it in apposit. with περὶ οὗ, ‘hujus rei, videlicet conventus hujus’ (Bornemann), is very harsh.

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

Concourse [συστροφης] . Lit., a twisting together : hence of anything which is rolled or twisted into a mass; and so of a mass of people, with an underlying idea of confusion : a mob. Compare ch. 28 12.

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