Acts 19:18
in Acts 19Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Many also of them that had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds.
KJV
And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.
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This verse in Acts 19
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd many that believed,.... In Jesus Christ, whose name was spoken of with great respect, and which spread fear in every person: came; to the apostle: and confessed; their sins; and acknowledged what a wicked life they had led: and showed their deeds; their former evil deeds, which they had been guilty of; one copy reads, "their sins"; see Mat 3:6.
This site's exposition
fear fell on them all
on Acts 19:17-19
News of the humiliation spreads through the whole city, Jews and Greeks alike, and fear falls on them all while the name of the Lord Jesus is magnified, the opposite outcome from what the exorcists intended. Many who had believed now come forward and confess, openly showing their deeds, a public reckoning with practices they had kept hidden even after professing faith. Those who had practiced curious arts, the magical papyri and charms for which Ephesus was famous across the ancient world, bring their books together and burn them before everyone, valuing the loss at fifty thousand pieces of silver, a sum equal to roughly fifty thousand days' wages for a laborer. The bench reads the burning as repentance costing something real rather than a merely verbal renunciation, and the size of the bonfire as Luke's own evidence of how deeply occult practice had been entangled with the city's life even inside the young church.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"confessing and proclaiming their deeds." It is necessary for every faithful person to confess his own sins, and to turn away by reproving himself, so as no longer to do the same things, in order that he may be justified according to the saying: "You …
"And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, that dwelt at Ephesus, and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many of them that had believed came confessing and making known their practices." For since they had got to possess such power as, by means of the demons, to do such things, well might this be the consequence. Look, in every case, how men are converted not so much in consequence of good things as of things fearful. In the case of Sapphira, fear fell upon the Church, and men dared not join themselves to them: here they received handkerchiefs and aprons, and were healed: and after this, then they came confessing their sins. Hereby the power of the demons is shown to be a great one, when it is against unbelievers.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Every believer ought to confess his sins and, by accusing himself, resolve never to commit the same sins again, so as to receive justification by virtue of what is said in Scripture: "Declare… that you may be justified" (Isa. 43:26).
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
These confessions were not extorted from them, but were voluntary, for the ease of their consciences, upon which the late miracles had struck a terror. Note, Where there is true contrition for sin there will be an ingenuous confession of sin to God in every prayer, and to man whom we have offended when the case requires it.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Their deeds - Their actions; their evil course of life. The direct reference here is to the magical arts which had been used, but the word may also be designed to denote “iniquity” in general. They who make a profession of religion will be willing to confess their transgressions, and no man can have evidence that he is truly renewed who is not willing to confess as well as to forsake his sins, Rom 10:10; Pro 28:13, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall find mercy.”
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| πολλοί | polloi | Many | G4183 → | 367 times |
| τε | te | then | G5037 → | 213 times |
| τῶν | ton | of those | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πεπιστευκότων | pepisteukoton | having believed | G4100 → | 237 times |
| ἤρχοντο | erchonto | were coming | G2064 → | 628 times |
| ἐξομολογούμενοι | exomologoumenoi | confessing | G1843 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἀναγγέλλοντες | anangellontes | declaring | G312 → | 14 times |
| τὰς | tas | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πράξεις | praxeis | deeds | G4234 → | |
| αὐτῶν. | auton | of them. | G846 → | 5565 times |
πολλοίMany
polloiG4183 →367 times
τεthen
teG5037 →213 times
τῶνof those
tonG3588 →19766 times
πεπιστευκότωνhaving believed
pepisteukotonG4100 →237 times
ἤρχοντοwere coming
erchontoG2064 →628 times
ἐξομολογούμενοιconfessing
exomologoumenoiG1843 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἀναγγέλλοντεςdeclaring
anangellontesG312 →14 times
τὰςthe
tasG3588 →19766 times
πράξειςdeeds
praxeisG4234 →
αὐτῶν.of them.
autonG846 →5565 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 32:5Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
it leads to
- Proverbs 28:13
He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Samuel 12:13
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die.
- Psalms 51:3–5
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
- Proverbs 28:13
Through
Romans 10:10For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.
it leads to
- 1 John 4:15
If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
- Romans 10:9
that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
- Galatians 2:16
know that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in…
- John 1:12–13
But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—
- John 3:19–21
And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.
- 1 John 4:15
Where this verse is studied
About Acts
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on Acts; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts and William Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire.