Acts 19:32
in Acts 19Meanwhile the assembly was in turmoil. Some were shouting one thing and some another, and most of them did not even know why they were there.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was in confusion; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.
KJV
Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.
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This verse in Acts 19
Commentary
10 notes on this verse"Most of those who had gathered did not know why they had gathered." Such is the nature of a crowd: it rushes here or there without reason, like fire thrown into a forest.
This site's exposition
the assembly was confused
on Acts 19:32-34
The assembly is confused, some crying one thing and some another, and Luke notes plainly that most of the crowd did not even know why they had gathered, the mob's energy entirely disconnected from its reason. The Jews put Alexander forward, perhaps to distance the Jewish community from Paul and the Christians by publicly disowning the Way, but once the crowd recognizes him as a Jew they drown him out, shouting great is Diana of the Ephesians for two straight hours. Luke's use of ekklesia for this unruly civic gathering, the same word the church uses of itself, is a reminder that the term simply meant a called assembly in ordinary Greek before the church gave it its distinct sense. The bench reads the two-hour chant as a study in mob psychology that needs no theological gloss, since Luke lets the scene's own absurdity make its point.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
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.
"Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused." Such is the nature of the multitude: it recklessly follows, like fire when it has fallen upon fuel; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.
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.
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 Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Some therefore cried one thing, and some another,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Some - cried one thing, and some another - This is an admirable description of a tumultuous mob, gathered together without law or reason; getting their passions inflamed, and looking for an opportunity to commit outrages, without why or wherefore - principle or object. For the assembly was confused - Ἡ εκκλησια; The same word which we translate church; and thus we find that it signifies any assembly, good or bad, lawful, or unlawful; and that only the circumstances of the case can determine the precise nature of the assembly to which this word is applied.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
when Paul would have entered in--with noble forgetfulness of self. unto the people--the demos, that is, the people met in public assembly. the disciples suffered him not--The tense used implies only that they were using their efforts to restrain him; which might have been unavailing but for what follows.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Some therefore cried one thing ... - This is an admirable description of a mob, assembled for what purpose they knew not; but agitated by passions, and strifes, and tumults. And the more part knew not ... - The greater part did not know. They had been drawn together by the noise and excitement, and but a small part would know the real cause of the commotion. This is usually the case in tumultuous meetings.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἄλλοι | alloi | Others | G243 → | 155 times |
| μὲν | men | indeed | G3303 → | 176 times |
| οὖν | oun | therefore | G3767 → | 497 times |
| ἄλλο | allo | some | G243 → | 155 times |
| τι | ti | thing | G5100 → | 528 times |
| ἔκραζον· | ekrazon | were crying out; | G2896 → | 55 times |
| ἦν | en | was | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| ἡ | he | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἐκκλησία | ekklesia | assembly | G1577 → | 113 times |
| συγκεχυμένη, | sugkechumene | confused, | G4797 → | 5 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| οἱ | hoi | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πλείους | pleious | most | G4183 → | 367 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ᾔδεισαν | edeisan | did know | G1492 → | 374 times |
| τίνος | tinos | for what | G5101 → | 563 times |
| ἕνεκα | heneka | cause | G1752 → | 26 times |
| συνεληλύθεισαν. | sunelelutheisan | they had assembled. | G4905 → | 30 times |
ἄλλοιOthers
alloiG243 →155 times
μὲνindeed
menG3303 →176 times
οὖνtherefore
ounG3767 →497 times
ἄλλοsome
alloG243 →155 times
τιthing
tiG5100 →528 times
ἔκραζον·were crying out;
ekrazonG2896 →55 times
ἦνwas
enG1510 →2333 times
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
ἡthe
heG3588 →19766 times
ἐκκλησίαassembly
ekklesiaG1577 →113 times
συγκεχυμένη,confused,
sugkechumeneG4797 →5 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
οἱ<the>
hoiG3588 →19766 times
πλείουςmost
pleiousG4183 →367 times
οὐκnot
oukG3756 →1664 times
ᾔδεισανdid know
edeisanG1492 →374 times
τίνοςfor what
tinosG5101 →563 times
ἕνεκαcause
henekaG1752 →26 times
συνεληλύθεισαν.they had assembled.
sunelelutheisanG4905 →30 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
Acts 19:29Soon the whole city was in disarray. They rushed together into the theatre, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.
it leads to
- Acts 20:4
Paul 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.
- Acts 27:2
We boarded an Adramyttian ship about to sail for ports along the coast of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.
- Philemon 1:24
as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
- 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.
- Acts 20:4
Through
Acts 21:34Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, and some another. And since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks.
it leads to
- Acts 23:10
The dispute grew so violent that the commander was afraid they would tear Paul to pieces. He ordered the soldiers to go down and remove him by force and bring him into the barracks.
- Acts 21:37
As they were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?” “Do you speak Greek?” he replied.
- Acts 23:16
But when the son of Paul’s sister heard about the plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul.
- Acts 22:24
the commander ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. He directed that Paul be flogged and interrogated to determine the reason for this outcry against him.
- Acts 23:10
Where this verse is studied
About Acts
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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); Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.