Acts 19:36
in Acts 19Since these things are undeniable, you ought to be calm and not do anything rash.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Seeing then that these things cannot be gainsaid, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash.
KJV
Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.
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This verse in Acts 19
Commentary
12 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Seeing then ... - Since no one can call in question the zeal of the Ephesians on this subject, or doubt the sincerity of their belief, and since there can be no danger that this well-established worship is to be destroyed by the efforts of a few evil-disposed Jews, there is no occasion for this tumult. Be quiet - Be appeased. The same Greek word which is used in Acts . Act 19:35, “had appeased the people.” To do nothing rashly - To do nothing in a heated, inconsiderate manner. There is no occasion for tumult and riot.
This site's exposition
the city clerk quieted the crowd
on Acts 19:35-37
The city clerk, the city's senior official, quieted the crowd by granting what no one disputed, that Ephesus is guardian of the temple of Artemis. He added that the men brought before him had robbed no temple and blasphemed no goddess.
This site's exposition
you ought to be calm
The city clerk's advice to be calm matches Gamaliel's counsel to the council at 5:38 to 39. Both men tell an angry assembly to do nothing rash and to leave the matter to the courts or to God. Luke records both speeches.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
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.
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.
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.
"Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly." Why then do ye make a question about them, as if these things were not plain? Then he quietly chides them, showing that they had come together without reason. "And to do nothing rashly" he says. Showing that they had acted rashly.
The Medieval Church1 voice
The town clerk answers justly and with reproach; he did not say "what person does not know of Artemis?" but rather "who does not know that our city is a servant of the great goddess Artemis?" So why are you making an uproar, as though …
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. 7 And all the men were about twelve. Ephesus was a city of great note in Asia, famous for a temple built there to Diana, which was one of the wonders of the world: thither Paul came to preach the gospel while Apollos was at Corinth (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Seeing that these things cannot be spoken against, &c.--Like a true legal man, he urges that such was notoriously the constitution and fixed character of the city, with which its very existence was all but bound up. Did they suppose that all this was going to be overturned by a set of itinerant orators?
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
"With this we may compare various legends concerning images and pictures in the Romish Church, such as the traditional likenesses of Christ, which were said to be "not made with hands"" [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἀναντιρρήτων | anantirreton | Undeniable | G368 → | |
| οὖν | oun | therefore | G3767 → | 497 times |
| ὄντων | onton | are being | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| τούτων | touton | these things | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| δέον | deon | necessary | G1163 → | 101 times |
| ἐστὶν | estin | it is | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ὑμᾶς | humas | for you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| κατεσταλμένους | katestalmenous | quietened | G2687 → | |
| ὑπάρχειν | huparchein | to be | G5225 → | 60 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| μηδὲν | meden | nothing | G3367 → | 90 times |
| προπετὲς | propetes | rash | G4312 → | |
| πράσσειν. | prassein | to do. | G4238 → | 39 times |
ἀναντιρρήτωνUndeniable
anantirretonG368 →
οὖνtherefore
ounG3767 →497 times
ὄντωνare being
ontonG1510 →2333 times
τούτωνthese things
toutonG3778 →1381 times
δέονnecessary
deonG1163 →101 times
ἐστὶνit is
estinG1510 →2333 times
ὑμᾶςfor you
humasG4771 →2973 times
κατεσταλμένουςquietened
katestalmenousG2687 →
ὑπάρχεινto be
huparcheinG5225 →60 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
μηδὲνnothing
medenG3367 →90 times
προπετὲςrash
propetesG4312 →
πράσσειν.to do.
prasseinG4238 →39 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
Proverbs 14:29A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.
it leads to
- James 1:19
My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
- Ecclesiastes 7:9
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.
- Proverbs 14:17
A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, and a devious man is hated.
- Proverbs 19:11
A man’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense.
- Proverbs 15:18
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
- James 1:19
Through
Proverbs 25:8do not bring hastily to court. Otherwise, what will you do in the end when your neighbor puts you to shame?
it leads to
- Matthew 5:25
Reconcile quickly with your adversary, while you are still on the way to court. Otherwise, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and…
- Proverbs 17:14
To start a quarrel is to release a flood; so abandon the dispute before it breaks out.
- Proverbs 18:6
A fool’s lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating.
- Matthew 5:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Acts
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts and William Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire.