Acts 19:29
in Acts 19Soon the whole city was in disarray. They rushed together into the theatre, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the city was filled with the confusion: and they rushed with one accord into the theatre, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel.
KJV
And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.
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This verse in Acts 19
Commentary
13 notes on this verseThey became enraged upon hearing about Artemis and the undermining of their craft, because it is characteristic of the rabble to become agitated and inflamed by any matter, even a trivial one. They had gods in the city; and they assumed a threatening posture, so …
This site's exposition
Great is Diana of the Ephesians
on Acts 19:28-29
The craftsmen's wrath erupts in the city's own religious slogan, great is Diana of the Ephesians, a cry that will be repeated for two hours by a crowd that mostly does not know why it is shouting. Confusion spreads through the whole city, and the mob seizes Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia, rushing with one accord into the great theatre, whose excavated ruins still seat roughly twenty-five thousand people and stand as visible confirmation of the scene's setting. The two companions rather than Paul himself become the crowd's target, a detail that sets up the next paragraph's account of the disciples restraining Paul from entering the danger himself. The bench reads the empty repetition of a religious slogan by a crowd that does not know its own purpose as Luke's own quiet commentary on mob religion, loud conviction with no content behind it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Hence neither is it lawful to accuse those who have left all, and have retired for the safety of their life, as if others had been held back by them. For at Ephesus also they seized Gaius and Aristarchus instead of Paul, and rustled to …
"And the whole city," etc. See a disorderly multitude!
"And cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And the whole city was filled with confusion: and rushed with one accord into the theatre." Such is the way with vulgar minds, any trivial occasion shall hurry them away and inflame their passions. Therefore it behooves to do things with strict examination. But see how contemptible they were, to be so exposed to all excitements! "Having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel, they dragged them:" here again recklessly, just as did the Jews in the case of Jason; and everywhere they set upon them.
A great good is affliction: and we learn this from our own children: for without affliction a boy would learn nothing useful. But we, more than they, need affliction. For if there, when the passions as yet are quiet, chastisement benefits them, how much more us, especially possessed as we are by so many! Nay, we behoove rather to have schoolmasters than they: since the faults of children cannot be great, but ours are exceeding great. Our schoolmaster is affliction. Let us then not draw it down willingly upon ourselves, but when it is come let us bear it bravely, being, as it is, always the cause of numberless good things; that so we may both obtain grace from God, and the good things which are laid up for them that love Him, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Afflictions cut us off from the sympathy we have for the present world, as appears in this, that we wish for death immediately, and cease to be loving of the body: which very thing is the greatest part of wisdom, to have no hankering, no ties to the present life. The soul which is afflicted does not wish to be concerned about many things: repose and stillness are all it desired, content for its part to have done with the things present, even though there be nothing else to follow.
6 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers1 voice
Seest thou how God permits trials, and by them stirs up and awakens the disciples, and makes them more energetic? Then let us not sink down under trials: for He Himself will "also make the way of escape, that we may be able to bear them." Nothing so makes friends, and rivets them so firmly, as affliction: nothing so fastens and compacts the souls of believers: nothing is so seasonable for us teachers in order that the things said by us may be heard. For the hearer when he is in ease is listless and indolent, and seems to suffer annoyance from the speaker: but when he is in affliction and distress, he falls into a great longing for the hearing. For when distressed in his soul, he seeks on all sides to find comfort for his affliction: and the preaching brings no small comfort.
The Medieval Church1 voice
And they rushed with one accord into the theater. The theater is a place having the shape of a semicircle, where people standing inside watched scenic plays. Hence, it received its name in Greek, from the spectacle. Therefore, as Arator says: The merit and cause …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the whole city was filled with confusion,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Confusion - Tumult; disorder. Gaius - He had lived at Corinth, and had kinky entertained Paul at his house, 1Co 1:14; Rom 16:23. Aristarchus - He attended Paul to Rome, and was there a prisoner with him, Col 4:10. With one accord - Tumultuously; or with one mind or purpose. Into the theatre - The theaters of the Greeks were not only places for public exhibitions, but also for holding assemblies, and often for courts, elections, etc. The people, therefore, naturally rushed there, as being a suitable place to decide this matter.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
They are mentioned in Ac 20:4; 1Co 1:14; and probably 3Jo 1. If it was in the house of Aquila and Priscilla that he found an asylum (see 1Co 16:9), that would explain Ro 16:3, 4, where he says of them that "for his life they laid down their own necks" [HOWSON]. rushed . . . into the theatre--a vast pile, whose ruins are even now a wreck of immense grandeur [SIR C.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-brackets
The whole city was filled with confusion - Thus we find the peace of the whole city was disturbed, not by an apostle preaching the Gospel of Christ, but by one interested, unprincipled knave, who did not even plead conscience for what he was doing; but that it was by this craft he and his fellows got their wealth, and he was afraid to lose it. Rushed - into the theater - The theatres, being very spacious and convenient places, were often used for popular assemblies and public deliberation, especially in matters which regarded the safety of the state. There are several proofs of this in ancient authors. So Tacitus, Hist. ii. 80, speaking concerning Vespasian, says: Antiochensium theatrum ingressus, ubi illis consultare mos est, concurrentes et in adulationem effusos alloquitur. “Having entered into the theater of the Antiochians, where it was the custom to hold consultations, the people running together, and being profuse in flattery, he addressed them.” Frontinus, in Stratagem lib. iii. cap. 2, speaking of a public meeting at the theater at Agrigentum, observes, ubi ex more Graecorum locus consultationi praebebatur; which, according to the custom of the Greeks, is the place for public deliberation. See several examples in Kypke.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἐπλήσθη | eplesthe | was filled | G4130 → | 24 times |
| ἡ | he | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πόλις | polis | city | G4172 → | 163 times |
| τῆς | tes | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| συγχύσεως· | sugchuseos | with confusion; | G4799 → | |
| ὥρμησάν | hormesan | they rushed | G3729 → | |
| τε | te | and | G5037 → | 213 times |
| ὁμοθυμαδὸν | homothumadon | with one accord | G3661 → | 11 times |
| εἰς | eis | to | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| τὸ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θέατρον | theatron | theatre | G2302 → | |
| συναρπάσαντες | sunarpasantes | having dragged off | G4884 → | 4 times |
| Γάϊον | gaion | Gaius | G1050 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| Ἀρίσταρχον | aristarchon | Aristarchus | G708 → | 5 times |
| Μακεδόνας, | makedonas | Macedonians, | G3110 → | 5 times |
| συνεκδήμους | sunekdemous | fellow travelers | G4898 → | |
| Παύλου.¶ | paulou | of Paul. | G3972 → | 158 times |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐπλήσθηwas filled
eplestheG4130 →24 times
ἡthe
heG3588 →19766 times
πόλιςcity
polisG4172 →163 times
τῆς<the>
tesG3588 →19766 times
συγχύσεως·with confusion;
sugchuseosG4799 →
ὥρμησάνthey rushed
hormesanG3729 →
τεand
teG5037 →213 times
ὁμοθυμαδὸνwith one accord
homothumadonG3661 →11 times
εἰςto
eisG1519 →1755 times
τὸthe
toG3588 →19766 times
θέατρονtheatre
theatronG2302 →
συναρπάσαντεςhaving dragged off
sunarpasantesG4884 →4 times
ΓάϊονGaius
gaionG1050 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἈρίσταρχονAristarchus
aristarchonG708 →5 times
Μακεδόνας,Macedonians,
makedonasG3110 →5 times
συνεκδήμουςfellow travelers
sunekdemousG4898 →
Παύλου.¶of Paul.
paulouG3972 →158 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
Philemon 1:24as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
it leads to
- Colossians 4:10
My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you greetings, as does Mark the cousin of Barnabas. You have already received instructions about him: If he comes to you, welcome him.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Colossians 4:10
Through
Colossians 4:10My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you greetings, as does Mark the cousin of Barnabas. You have already received instructions about him: If he comes to you, welcome him.
it leads to
- Philemon 1:24
as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 12:12
And when he had realized this, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered together and were praying.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Philemon 1:24
Through
1 Corinthians 4:9For it seems to me that God has displayed us apostles at the end of the procession, like prisoners appointed for death. We have become a spectacle to the whole world, to angels as…
it leads to
- Hebrews 10:33
Sometimes you were publicly exposed to ridicule and persecution; at other times you were partners with those who were so treated.
- 2 Corinthians 4:8–12
We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
- Romans 8:36
As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
- Hebrews 10:33
Through
Acts 20:4Paul was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 4:20
Erastus has remained at Corinth, and Trophimus I left sick in Miletus.
- Ephesians 6:21
Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know about me and what I am doing.
- 2 Timothy 4:20
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); Bede, Commentary on Acts; J. A. Alexander, The Acts of the Apostles Explained; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 42; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Peter of Alexandria, Peter of Alexandria Canonical Epistle; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.