Acts 19:14
in Acts 19Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, who did this.
KJV
And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
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This verse in Acts 19
Commentary
10 notes on this verseNeither is every one that prophesies holy, nor every one that casts out devils religious: for even Balaam the son of Beor the prophet did prophesy, though he was himself ungodly; as also did Caiaphas, the falsely-named high priest. Nay, the devil foretells many things, and the demons, about Him; and yet for all that, there is not a spark of piety in them: for they are oppressed with ignorance, by reason of their voluntary wickedness.
This site's exposition
vagabond Jews, exorcists
on Acts 19:13-14
Certain itinerant Jewish exorcists try to use the name of the Lord Jesus as a formula, adjuring evil spirits by Jesus whom Paul preaches, treating the name as a piece of technique borrowed from a preacher's success rather than as the confession of a faith they held themselves. Seven sons of one Sceva, described as a chief priest though no such man appears in the high priestly lists, attempt the same. The detail that they are many, seven of them against a single possessed man, sets up the humiliation that follows all the more sharply. The bench reads the episode as Ephesus's own magical culture colliding with a name it wants to use but does not actually believe.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded." They did it in secret: then their impotence is publicly exposed. Then not the Name does anything, unless it be spoken with faith. See how they used their weapons against themselves! So far were they from thinking Jesus to be anything great: no, they must needs add Paul, as thinking him to be something great. Here one may marvel how it was that the demon did not cooperate with the imposture of the exorcists, but on the contrary exposed them, and laid open their stage-play. He seems to me to have done this in exceeding wrath: just as it might be, if a person being in uttermost peril, should be exposed by some pitiful creature, and wish to vent all his rage upon him.
"Some of the roaming Jewish exorcists." This statement shows that they did not, like exorcists believing in Jesus, adjure unclean spirits in the name of the Lord, but were testing them: wherefore also, since they were not faithful, as the evil spirit says, they shortly …
The Medieval Church2 voices
However, there were some seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva, who were doing this. It is better read according to the Greek: However, there was of a certain Sceva. Since even Satan himself transforms into an angel of light (II Cor. XI), …
Although the sons of Sceva did this secretly, their powerlessness is exposed. What is worthy of wonder is the circumstance that the evil spirit did not aid in the deception of these exorcists, but rather exposed and revealed their fraud. It seems to me that …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The confusion they were put to in their impious operations. Let them not be deceived, God is not mocked, nor shall the glorious name of Jesus be prostituted to such a vile purpose as this; what communion hath Christ with Belial?
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And there were seven sons of one Sceva a Jew,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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 υἱοι Σκευα τινος ἱερεως, the sons of Skeva, a certain priest, as it stands in the Codex Bezae, is the true reading.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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.
The words behind it
10 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἦσαν | esan | They were | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| δέ | de | now | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| τινος | tinos | of a certain | G5100 → | 528 times |
| Σκευᾶ | skeua | of Sceva | G4630 → | |
| Ἰουδαίου | ioudaiou | a Jewish | G2453 → | 192 times |
| ἀρχιερέως | archiereos | a high priest | G749 → | 122 times |
| ἑπτὰ | hepta | seven | G2033 → | 86 times |
| υἱοὶ | huioi | sons | G5207 → | 377 times |
| τοῦτο | touto | this | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| ποιοῦντες. | poiountes | were doing. | G4160 → | 569 times |
ἦσανThey were
esanG1510 →2333 times
δέnow
deG1161 →2765 times
τινοςof a certain
tinosG5100 →528 times
Σκευᾶof Sceva
skeuaG4630 →
Ἰουδαίουa Jewish
ioudaiouG2453 →192 times
ἀρχιερέωςa high priest
archiereosG749 →122 times
ἑπτὰseven
heptaG2033 →86 times
υἱοὶsons
huioiG5207 →377 times
τοῦτοthis
toutoG3778 →1381 times
ποιοῦντες.were doing.
poiountesG4160 →569 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
About Acts
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Apostolic Constitutions, Constitutions of the Holy Apostles Book 8; Bede, Commentary on Acts; J. A. Alexander, The Acts of the Apostles Explained; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 41; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.