Acts 19:40
in Acts 19For we are in jeopardy of being charged with rioting for today’s events, and we have no justification to account for this commotion.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For indeed we are in danger to be accused concerning this day’s riot, there being no cause for it: and as touching it we shall not be able to give account of this concourse.
KJV
For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse.
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This verse in Acts 19
Commentary
12 notes on this verseFor we are in danger of being called in question,.... Or are liable to be called to an account, reproved, and punished by the Roman proconsul, appointed over this city, or by the Roman emperor, or the Roman senate: for this day's uproar; it being capable of being interpreted as a riot, tumult, and sedition: there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse: or no reason can be assigned, why such a number of people should gather together; none can be given that will justify it, or that can be alleged in favour of it.
This site's exposition
the law is open
on Acts 19:38-41
If Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a genuine grievance, the clerk says, the law is open and there are deputies, proconsuls holding regular court, so let the matter be tried there rather than settled by a mob in a theatre. Anything beyond that belongs to a lawful assembly, not this one, and he warns that Rome itself may call the city to account for the day's uproar, since an unauthorized riot was itself a crime under Roman administration and Ephesus's own privileged status as a free city could be revoked for tolerating one. Having spoken, he dismisses the assembly, and the riot ends without a single recorded injury to Paul, Gaius, or Aristarchus. The bench reads the town clerk's intervention as ordinary Roman civic order functioning, unknowingly, as the means by which providence protects the gospel's advance in one of its most important cities, closing the Ephesian episode exactly as the growth panel of verse 20 had already promised it would close, the word prevailing.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 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.
"For we are in danger to be called in question for this day's uproar, there being no cause, for which matter we shall not be able to give an account for this concourse." Then he terrified them also by saying, "We are in danger to be called to account" for sedition.
"There being no cause," he says, "for this concourse, for which matter we shall not be able to give the account." See how prudently, how cleverly, the unbelievers act. Thus he extinguished their wrath. For as it is easily kindled, so also is it easily extinguished.
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.
5 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
He gently rebukes them, showing that they acted rashly and that it was not proper to hold a public assembly for private reasons.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
For we are in danger, etc. - Popular commotions were always dreaded by the Roman government; and so they should by all governments; for, when might has nothing to direct its operations but passion, how destructive must these operations be! One of the Roman laws made all such commotions of the people capital offenses against those who raised them.
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].
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
To be called in question - By the government; by the Roman authority. Such a tumult, continued for so long. a time, would be likely to attract the attention of the magistrates, and expose them to their displeasure. Popular commotions were justly dreaded by the Roman government; and such an assembly as this, convened without any good cause, would not escape their notice. There was a Roman law which made it capital for anyone to be engaged in promoting a riot. Sui coetum, et concursum fecerit, capite puniatur: “He who raises a mob, let him be punished with death.”
The words behind it
21 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 |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| κινδυνεύομεν | kinduneuomen | we are in danger of | G2793 → | |
| ἐγκαλεῖσθαι | egkaleisthai | being accused | G1458 → | 7 times |
| στάσεως | staseos | of insurrection | G4714 → | 9 times |
| περὶ | peri | in regard to | G4012 → | 332 times |
| τῆς | tes | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| σήμερον | semeron | this day | G4594 → | 41 times |
| μηδενὸς | medenos | not one | G3367 → | 90 times |
| αἰτίου | aitiou | cause | G159 → | |
| ὑπάρχοντος | huparchontos | there is existing | G5225 → | 60 times |
| περὶ | peri | concerning | G4012 → | 332 times |
| οὗ | hou | which | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| οὐ | ou | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| δυνησόμεθα | dunesometha | we will be able | G1410 → | 207 times |
| ἀποδοῦναι | apodounai | to render | G591 → | 48 times |
| λόγον | logon | a reason | G3056 → | 329 times |
| περὶ | peri | for | G4012 → | 332 times |
| τῆς | tes | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| συστροφῆς | sustrophes | commotion | G4963 → | |
| ταύτης. | tautes | this. | G3778 → | 1381 times |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
κινδυνεύομενwe are in danger of
kinduneuomenG2793 →
ἐγκαλεῖσθαιbeing accused
egkaleisthaiG1458 →7 times
στάσεωςof insurrection
staseosG4714 →9 times
περὶin regard to
periG4012 →332 times
τῆς<the>
tesG3588 →19766 times
σήμερονthis day
semeronG4594 →41 times
μηδενὸςnot one
medenosG3367 →90 times
αἰτίουcause
aitiouG159 →
ὑπάρχοντοςthere is existing
huparchontosG5225 →60 times
περὶconcerning
periG4012 →332 times
οὗwhich
houG3739 →1405 times
οὐnot
ouG3756 →1664 times
δυνησόμεθαwe will be able
dunesomethaG1410 →207 times
ἀποδοῦναιto render
apodounaiG591 →48 times
λόγονa reason
logonG3056 →329 times
περὶfor
periG4012 →332 times
τῆς<the>
tesG3588 →19766 times
συστροφῆςcommotion
sustrophesG4963 →
ταύτης.this.
tautesG3778 →1381 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 20:1When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples. And after encouraging them, he said goodbye to them and left for Macedonia.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 7:5
For when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were pressed from every direction—conflicts on the outside, fears within.
- Acts 19:21
After these things had happened, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as…
- 1 Timothy 1:3
As I urged you on my departure to Macedonia, you should stay on at Ephesus to instruct certain men not to teach false doctrines
- Romans 16:16
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send you greetings.
- 2 Corinthians 7:5
Through
Acts 21:38“Aren’t you the Egyptian who incited a rebellion some time ago and led four thousand members of the ‘Assassins’ into the wilderness?”
it leads to
- Matthew 24:26
So if they tell you, ‘There He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
- Acts 5:36–37
Some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men joined him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.
- Matthew 24:26
Through
Acts 21:31While they were trying to kill him, the commander of the Roman regiment received a report that all Jerusalem was in turmoil.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 11:23–33
Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of…
- Acts 17:5
The Jews, however, became jealous. So they brought in some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and sent the city into an uproar. They raided Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas,…
- 2 Corinthians 11:23–33
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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.