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Bible online. Large Christian Library Acts of the Holy Apostles ch 19

Bible online. Large Christian Library Acts of the Holy Apostles ch 19

Paul in Ephesus, baptism of the disciples of John (1-7). Separation of Christians from Jews (8-10). Paul's miracles and their impact (11–20). Paul's plans for further travel (21-22). Revolt in Ephesus against Christians (23–40)

Acts 19:1. While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul, passing through the upper countries, came to Ephesus, and finding there some students

"Having passed the upper countries" - upland countries, lying above Ephesus and the low-lying seashore on which it was located; these are obviously the interior provinces of Asia Minor, among other things - Phrygia and Galatia, which Paul visited during this journey (Acts 18:23). If during his 2nd journey Paul was forbidden by the Spirit to preach in proconsular Asia (Acts 16 etc.), and only on the way back he spent a short time in Ephesus (Acts 18 etc.), now, straight from Phrygia, having passed proconsular Asia, he arrived in Ephesus and stayed there for a long time (Acts 19:10).

"Some students..." It can be seen from the following that these were actually students John's, and not those of Jesus, whom the descriptor mostly calls "disciples." Baptized only in "John's Baptism", these "disciples" believed in the preached by the Baptist coming Messiah, but did not have a complete understanding of Him, like Apollos, until the time; however, as sufficiently prepared for faith in Christ, they could be called Christians, or “disciples” of Christ in the broad sense of the word. These disciples were, in all probability, from the Jews who had recently settled in Ephesus, where they joined the Christian community, so that Paul himself considered them Christians (v. 2: "believing").

Acts 19:2. He said to them, Have you received the Holy Spirit by believing? And they said to him: We have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.

“Have you heard if there is a Holy Spirit?” The answer is strange and not even entirely clear and polite, if taken literally. Of course, they could not help but know that the Spirit of God spoke through the prophets and through John, but they did not know the foundation of the new economy of God, in which the Holy Spirit is promised and given to all in Jesus Christ, as the only agent of the regeneration of souls. Thus, here we are not talking about whether the Holy Spirit exists, has existence, but whether the Messiah appeared, who was supposed to baptize people with the Holy Spirit, whether the grace-filled gifts of this Holy Spirit appeared and began to dwell on earth among people? It is precisely in this sense that the answer must be understood: “We have not even heard whether the Holy Spirit already exists,” that is, in our gifts on earth, among people? (cf. John 7:39). Obviously, they simply did not know anything about the events of Jerusalem since the death of the Baptist, living in some corner of the world where rumors of these events had not yet penetrated, and only now, in Ephesus, did they begin to learn more about everything, but until the meeting with the apostle, due to the recentness of their stay in Ephesus, from no one else did they have time to learn about everything more precisely.

Acts 19:3. He said to them: What were you baptized into? They answered: in John's baptism.:

The bewildered answer of the “disciples” evokes a new bewildered question from the Apostle: “Into what were you baptized?” What doctrine and about whom have you received and sealed by your baptism? The simple and short answer of the questioned: in "John's baptism" - opens the eyes of the apostle, who is perplexed at the sight of these strange "disciples". They were baptized into that which was the purpose of John's baptism and the confession of which was required at that baptism. This gives the apostle occasion to briefly and concisely, but very meaningfully characterize the essence of the baptism of John and his relationship to Christ.

Acts 19:4. Paul said: John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in him who would come after him, that is, in Christ Jesus.

“Baptism of repentance” (Mk. 1:4; cf. Mt. 3:11, etc.) as a sign of a good change in the way of thinking and life, as a sign of firm intention, after repentance and confession of sins, to renounce the former sinful life and perverse way of thinking and begin a life pleasing to God, in readiness to enter the Kingdom of the Messiah. According to the interpretation of the blessed Theophylact "The Forerunner preached the baptism of repentance so that people, having repented and accepted Christ, would receive the remission of sins." Why was this baptism not enough, and those who were baptized "in John's baptism" were again "baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus"? Because the first baptism did not provide positive content for the spiritual life of the person being baptized, while the second, imparting the grace of remission of sins, had the significance of a real and essential regeneration of the spiritual nature of the person being baptized. In relation to the second, Christian, the first, "John's" baptism had a meaning preparatory disposing and preparing for faith in the Lord Jesus, baptism in Whom had, however, a completely independent and final significance.

Acts 19:5. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,

“Hearing this,” i.e., about the coming of the Messiah preached by John and about the insufficiency of John’s baptism, “they were baptized” with Christian baptism (see Acts 2 and Matt. 28:19) and, after the laying on of hands by Paul on them (see to Acts 8:15-17), received the Holy Spirit, as a result of which they immediately began to “speak with other tongues” (see Acts 2:4, 10:14-48) “and prophesy” (see Acts 11:27; cf. Acts 13:1; 1 Cor. 14).

It should be noted here the groundlessness of the false teachings of the ancient heretics and the latest sectarians (Anabaptists and Mennonites), who based their second baptism on this place of Acts.

In order to see the whole falsity of the support of the defenders of the crossing, it is enough to point out the inconsistency of the analogy they establish in such a case. This verse of Acts speaks of a new baptism of the John's disciples, which is fundamentally different from what they had previously received. Formerly they were baptized with John's baptism of repentance, that they might believe in the One who came according to John. The Christian baptism they received in Ephesus was baptism in the name of the already come Messiah, Jesus Christ. Meanwhile, among the newest advocates of rebaptism, both baptisms are Christian, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Here, therefore, insists on the repetition of the same Christian baptism.

Acts 19:8. Arriving at the synagogue, he fearlessly preached for three months, talking and testifying about the Kingdom of God.

"He preached fearlessly." A deaf indication that the preaching of the apostle had significant opponents, who were ready to show their opposition to the great harm of the apostle; however, this did not deter his jealousy.

"About the Kingdom of God". Under the name of the Kingdom of God here is meant the Christian Church with all the blessings that it bestows on its true members, both in the present life and in the future. This kingdom, in contrast to the kingdom of the prince of this world, is the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of holiness and truth, the kingdom of eternal life in union with Christ (see Matt. 3:2; John 3:3, 5).

Acts 19:9. But as some became hardened and did not believe, slandering the way of the Lord before the people, he, leaving them, separated the disciples, and daily preached in the school of a certain Tyrannus.

"Slandering the way of the Lord" - cf. Acts 18:25-26.

"In the school of a certain Tyrannus." Judging by the name, it was some Greek rhetorician or philosopher who had a school for teaching those who wished the philosophical or oratory; it is difficult to say whether he was a pagan or a proselyte. It is also believed that it was a Jewish teacher who had in his house a private synagogue(bet-midrash), where they usually taught traditions and their interpretation. In the school of this rabbi, apparently disposed towards Christianity, who willingly offered his services to Paul, the latter could more safely and more profitably (daily) engage in planting Christian truths among not only Jews, but also Greeks.

Acts 19:10. This went on for up to two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia heard the sermon about the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

"All the people of Asia have heard." A great multitude of both Jews and Greeks, proselytes and pagans constantly flocked to flourishing commercial Ephesus from all the provinces of Asia Minor, so that Paul really had a “great and wide door” open here (1 Corinthians XVI: 8-9). If not personally from Paul, then from strangers who personally heard him, indeed, more or less the whole pro-consular Asia could be filled with rumors about Christ Jesus preached from the apostle.

Acts 19:11. God did many miracles with the hands of Paul,

Acts 19:12. so that handkerchiefs and aprons from his body were placed on the sick, and their diseases ceased, and evil spirits went out of them.

"Many miracles" - more precisely, the Greek and Slavic texts: δυνάμεις τας τυκούσας - "powers are not simple", that is, considerable, extraordinary, extraordinary "miracles", not only in quantity, but mainly in quality.

"Paul's Hands" This expression of the descriptor in itself does not oblige to believe that all the miracles performed by St. Paul, were accomplished by him precisely through his hands. Such a turn is common in the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament to denote the performance of miracles by a famous person. The very possibility of such a metaphor (διά τῶν χειρῶν Παύλου), however, forces one to admit that St. The apostle did indeed work some of his miracles with his hands, through the laying on of hands, pronouncing, probably, brief prayerful and permissive sayings, with the mention of the name of the Lord Jesus. This reception of the apostle forced others, in imitation of him, to lay on the sick parts of his clothes, which was accompanied, by the grace of God, by the same miraculous power.

Acts 19:13. Even some of the wandering Jewish exorcists began to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying: We conjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches.

"Some of the Wandering Jewish Exorcists". Something like the current healers, hypnotists, who used the use of certain secrets and forces of nature, hitherto unknown in all the fullness of their significance for man (cf. Acts 13 and d.; Flav. :1, 2; Matt. 12:27). Noticing the extraordinary effects of the name of the Lord in the mouth of Paul when healing the sick, some of these exorcists began to use this name in their charlatan formulas and, not knowing and not believing in the Lord Jesus themselves, added: “Whom Paul preaches,” that is, precisely this Jesus, not another. “So they all did it out of covetousness. Look: they didn’t want to believe, but they wanted to cast out demons with this Name ”(Chrysostom).

Acts 19:14. This was done by some seven sons of the Jewish high priest Skeva.:

"The Seven Sons of Skeva". Who this Skeva was, and in what sense he is called the Jewish high priest, is not known. Perhaps it was one of the chief priests (Mt. 2:4), whose sons were evicted from Judea and hunted by sorcery.

Acts 19:15. But the evil spirit answered and said: I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?

“I know Jesus, and I know Paul.” With these words, the demon recognizes his power and authority over himself of the Lord Jesus Christ and His apostle, and with the expression - “who are you”? – expresses contempt and his power over these abusers of the Name of Jesus.

Acts 19:18. Many of those who believed came, confessing and revealing their deeds.

“They came, confessing and revealing their deeds,” that is, sins, under the influence of a sense of fear and the majesty of the Name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 19:17). This especially had to be done by former exorcists who abandoned their craft and turned to Christ: repentance was the result of their belief and determination to join the Christian community, which was then sealed by their baptism.

Acts 19:19. And of those who practiced sorcery, quite a few gathered their books and burned them in front of everyone, and added up their prices, and they turned out to be fifty thousand. drachmas.

“Having collected their books”, in which the methods of producing various sorceries and spells were recorded, the exorcists betrayed them to a public solemn burning. This original bonfire for the crowd was the best sermon about the power of Christ, especially in view of the value of the burnt - 50,000 silver. The descriptor does not indicate what kind of coin this amount was. But, undoubtedly, in the Greek trading city they considered then 20–25 kopecks as a “drachma”. Therefore, more accurately, this amount was about 10,000–12,500 rubles for our money.

Acts 19:21. When this was done, Paul decided in the spirit, having passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying: Having been there, I must also see Rome.

"Having passed through Macedonia and Achaia, go to Jerusalem." From the epistles of the apostle (1 Corinthians 16 and d.; 2 Cor. 8; Rom. 15 and d.) it is clear that this path of the apostle was accompanied by the gathering of mercy for the Palestinian Church, which he further pointed out in his speech (Acts 24:17).

"I must see Rome too." This intention of Paul was later approved by the Lord Himself, as being in accordance with His will (Acts 23:11).

Acts 19:22. And, having sent to Macedonia two of those who served him, Timothy and Erast, he himself stayed for a while in Asia.

"Sending Timothy and Erast" (2 Tim. 4:20), probably for the location of the Macedonians and for the collection of alms and for the collection itself.

Acts 19:23. At that time there was no small rebellion against the way of the Lord:

"Rebellion against the way of the Lord" - against the preaching of the apostle and generally against Christianity (cf. Acts 18:25-26).

Acts 19:24. for a certain silversmith named Demetrius, who made the silver temples of Artemis and brought a considerable profit to the artists,

“Silver piece ... Demetrius, who made silver temples” (i.e., their models) of “Artemis”, the goddess of Ephesus, for sale to travelers and pilgrims of the city. The cult of Artemis was very widespread in Asia Minor. The temple of this goddess in Ephesus, burned by Herostratus on the birthday of Alexander the Great, was restored with such splendor that it was considered one of the seven wonders of the world. Small models of this temple and figurines of Diana were in great use among the worshipers of this goddess: they decorated rooms, they served as amulets during travels, etc. service to artists and artisans who were so easily roused to revolt.

Acts 19:26. meanwhile, you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul, by his convictions, deceived a considerable number of people, saying that those made by human hands are not gods.

Remarkable here is the evidence of the success of Paul's preaching from the lips of his enemies, confirming what was said above (Acts 19:10).

"Saying that things made by human hands are not gods." A wonderful expression of a pagan, showing that the pagan people identified the statues of the gods with the gods themselves or imagined that the gods live in these statues (cf. Acts 17:29; 1 Cor. 8:4, 10, etc.).

Acts 19:27. And this threatens us with the fact that not only our craft will come into contempt, but also the temple of the great goddess Artemis will mean nothing, and the greatness of the one that all Asia and the universe honors will be overthrown.

“Look, says Chrysostom, how idolatry is everywhere supported by self-interest: not because (they revolt) that their worship of God was in danger, but because they were deprived of the possibility of profit ... For this (the words of Demetrius) means almost the same as: “we, with our craft, there is a danger of starving to death."

“All Asia and the universe,” that is, the entire Greco-Roman world.

Acts 19:28. When they heard this, they were filled with rage and began to shout, saying: Great is Artemis of Ephesus!

“They were in such a state, as if with their cry they wanted to restore her veneration and destroy everything that Paul had done” (Chrysostom).

Acts 19:29. And the whole city was filled with confusion. Grabbing the Macedonians Gaius and Aristarchus, Pavlov's companions, they unanimously rushed to the spectacle.

"Having seized the Macedonians ... Pavlov's companions." Paul, as can be seen both from this and from what follows, was not found by the rebels.

One of these companions - Gaius, it seems - should be distinguished from Gaius Dervyanin, mentioned later (Acts 20: 4); the other - Aristarchus of Thessalonica - is the mentioned Acts 20:4, 27:2.

“We rushed to the spectacle ...” - to the premises of the city theater, which usually served as a place for large public gatherings.

Acts 19:31. Likewise, some of the chiefs of Asia, being his friends, sent to him and asked him not to appear at the spectacle.

“Some of the Asian chiefs” were elected from the cities to arrange solemn games in honor of the gods and the emperor. These elected elected from among themselves ten members-managers and leaders of the games. Some of them, being personally disposed towards the apostle, although not yet Christians, begged Paul "not to appear at the spectacle", fearing, like his disciples, for his life from the rebellious crowd. The apostle himself showed in this case the great courage and fortitude of a true warrior of Christ, who rushed to the crowd enraged against him.

Acts 19:32. Meanwhile, some shouted one thing, and others another, for the meeting was disorderly, and most gathered didn't know why they were there.

“Some shouted one thing, and others another ... and most did not know why they had gathered” - a characteristic image of the stupidity of such rebellious crowd gatherings. That something was happening in the theater against Paul and his companions, more or less everyone knew it (“with one accord” - Acts 19:29, “with one voice” - Acts 19:34); but what exactly and for what here it is necessary to gather, "most" did not even understand.

Acts 19:33. At the suggestion of the Jews, Alexander was summoned from among the people. Giving a sign with his hand, Alexander wanted to speak to the people.

"At the suggestion of the Jews, Alexander was summoned from among the people." Why - "at the suggestion of the Jews"? for what purpose? Who is this Alexander and what did he mean to say? The explanations are not the same. It is believed that this Alexander, a Jew by origin and religion (Acts 19:34), was exposed by the Jews out of fear that, during this popular indignation against Christians, the Jews would not be confused with them and subjected the latter to the same punishment with Christians, all the more, that the Jews were known to be enemies of idols. The trick failed, and only served to harm the Jews; the people did not even want to listen to the speeches of the Jew, expressing their complete contempt for the Jews in general. Others believe, however, that this Alexander was a Jewish Christian, intending to speak in defense of Paul and the Christians; but he was summoned at the suggestion of his treacherous and malevolent fellow tribesmen, only to make him a victim of the people's fury. Saint Chrysostom also conjectures that Alexander the Jew wanted to speak in order to kindle even more the fury of the people against the Christians. If so, then here, too, the Jews quite deservedly paid for their treachery with the contempt of the crowd expressed against them.

Acts 19:35. The guardian of order, having calmed the people, said: men of Ephesus! what person does not know that the city of Ephesus is the servant of the great goddess Artemis and Diopet?

Acts 19:36. If there is no dispute about this, then you need to be calm and not act rashly.

Acts 19:37. And you brought these men, who neither robbed the temple of Artemidin, nor blasphemed your goddess.

Acts 19:38. If Demetrius and other artists with him have a complaint against someone, then there are court meetings and there are proconsuls: let them complain about each other.

Acts 19:39. And if you're looking for something else, it'll be decided in the legal assembly.

Acts 19:40. For we are in danger - for what has happened now - of being accused of indignation, since there is no reason by which we could justify such a gathering. Having said this, he dismissed the meeting.

"Guardian of order" - actually a scribe or scribe - γραμματεύς, - something like a city secretary (γραμματεύς ο τῆς πόλεως), whose duties were to draw up official papers, promulgate public affairs, read them in public assemblies or report, store all kinds of written documents and etc. In his speech to the people, this "secretary" points out, first of all, that the cult of Artemis is firmly established in Ephesus and Paul's companions taken by the people cannot be accused of directly insulting him (35-37). In the absence of, so to speak, corpus delicti, it should also be taken into account that there are legitimate authorities and a certain procedure for handling legitimate complaints (38-39). Finally, if all these conditions are not observed, the people themselves run the risk of being in the position of defendants for indignation (40). Such reasonable, skillful arguments cooled the ardor of the meeting, and it dispersed without any incident.

"Diopet" - fallen from Zeus. This name means the statue of Artemis in the Ephesian temple, since, according to folk legend, it fell from the sky - from Zeus.

19:1 ,2 During the stay of Apollos in Corinth, Paul, passing through the upper countries, came to Ephesus and, finding [there] some disciples,
2 He said to them, Have you received the Holy Spirit by believing? They said to him: We have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.
Finding several of Christ's disciples in Ephesus, Paul learned that they were baptized only with water baptism, John's, with which Jesus Christ was also baptized.
And about water baptism in the name of Christ and about the baptism with the holy spiritthey didn't hear anything at allas well as the holy spirit itself.

19: 3 He said to them: What were you baptized into? They answered: in John's baptism.
Here the question may arise: how could the disciples of Christ from Ephesus be baptized by the baptism of John (for repentance of sins against the Mosaic Law), if this baptism was intended only for sinners from Jehovah's people? (Israelis).
After all, while Jesus was alive, His disciples preached only to the Jews and walked with him in the region of Israel. People also came to John and his disciples from Judea and the region of the Jordan (Matt. 3:5). How could they get to Ephesus to baptize the Ephesians with the baptism of John?

There may be several explanations for this.
1) The disciples of John could baptize the Ephesians, continuing the work of John (maybe the Jews lived in Ephesus, not necessarily the Gentiles).

2) Proselytes also went to Judea to worship: a eunuch, for example, came from Ethiopia (Acts 8:27). Perhaps the Ephesian proselytes came to worship and heard about the baptism of John the Baptist, being baptized by his disciples.

3) The disciples of Jesus, who went to Ephesus during his lifetime and did not know about the baptism with the holy spirit, could also baptize (this baptism was known only to those of the disciples who were with the apostles in Jerusalem).

19: 4-7 Paul said: John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in him who would come after him, that is, in Christ Jesus.
The baptism of John was carried out in order to draw attention to Jesus Christ, expected after the appearance of John the Baptist.
Those whom Paul met believed the mission of John, who announced the coming of the Messiah and the need for baptism as a sign of repentance. But they still did not understand what Christ brought to the world, what is the meaning and purpose of his coming, what does the New Testament mean. They did not know anything about the action of the Holy Spirit, which helps the first Christians to correctly fulfill the will of God in the absence of instructions from books according to the New Testament (then the Holy Scriptures were only according to V.Z.) But their hearts were already fully prepared in order to accept the sacrifice of Christ and become his faithful helpers, for they already believed in him according to the testimony of John.

5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,
Acceptance of water baptism in the name of Christ Jesus shows that the sacrifice of Christ is valued and accepted by those who believe in God, that from now on believers are ready to bear responsibility for the vow of good conscience before God and His Christ, figuratively "die" for the past sinful life and "resurrect" for life in Christ Jesus to follow in his footsteps (1 Peter 2:21; 3:21). Baptism in water in the name of Jesus Christ is the initial stage for the subsequent baptism in the holy spirit.

In terms of symbolic meaning, water baptism in the name of Jesus can be compared with the circumcision of the descendants of Abraham: circumcision of the flesh was a sign of the entry of God-fearing people into a covenant with God, which later acquired the "form" of the Mosaic Law with many details - in addition to the circumcision of the flesh.
And water baptism in the era of N.Z., in fact, symbolizes circumcision on the heart, a promise to God of a good conscience on the part of those who are ready to become a participant in the New Testament with God - as a Christian (Rom. 2:28,29; 1 Peter 3 :21). After all, Jeremiah prophesied about such a New Testament, predicts "circumcision of the heart" and the law of God, "written on the heart" (Jer.31:33). He accepted water baptism in the name of Jesus, which means he entered into a New Covenant with God.
And who joined the N.Z. with God (who made a vow to God to "circumcise" his heart and keep his conscience clear) - he can also be called through the baptism with the holy spirit - as the anointed one, which happened to the Ephesians further.

6 And when Paul laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit descended on them, and they began to speak with [other] tongues and prophesy.
7 All of them were about twelve people
Now, after receiving water baptism in the name of Jesus,Paul could show them how jesus christ himself baptizes his disciples - after water baptism in his name:through the laying on of Paul, by the good pleasure of Christ, the holy spirit descended on them, for John baptized everyone in water, and Christ had to baptize everyone with the holy spirit, for this he was called (John 1:33, see also Mark 1:8)

Paul, as we see, also had the gift of mediating the transmission of the Holy Spirit from Jesus Christ through the laying on of hands (besides him, in Scripture, evidence of the presence of such a gift is found only among the first apostles).
And in order that the disciples of Ephesus might understand, which means to be baptized with the Holy Spirit - God gave them as a sign the gift of speaking the good news in different languages and prophesying. For water baptism did not change them outwardly, and the signs of baptism with the holy spirit made them understand that from now on they are real, full-fledged Christians and their faith in Christ is not in vain.
(at present, when there are all books of the word of God, including the New Testament - the main instructions of God can be learned through the study of Scripture, therefore the phenomenon of the descent of the holy spirit as a sign of the anointing of Christians is not as common today as in the 1st century)

19:8,9 Arriving at the synagogue, he fearlessly preached for three months, talking and testifying about the Kingdom of God.
9 But as some were hardened and did not believe, slandering the way of the Lord before the people, he left them and separated the disciples, and preached daily in the school of a certain Tyrannus.
A very good example of how to act if the opinions of those listening to the sermon were divided, and some listened to the words of Paul, while others contradicted and prevented him from speaking, slandering the way of the Lord.

In a hostile environment, it is useless to continue to teach the word of God, so Paul separated all those who worship God and listen to his sermon - from all disputants and began to communicate only with those who were interested.
He simply left all the arguing opponents alone with themselves, depriving them of the opportunity to ignite from the words of Paul: Paul is not with them - there is nothing to cling to those who slander him.

In addition, Paul did not care at all that these debaters were still interested in the topic of God. He was not concerned about staying in a state of talking about God and preaching as a mere public speaker for life, but that his preaching was effective and expedient.
He did not have extra time to communicate with those who wanted to argue about God. For with these lovers you can talk endlessly and waste time to no avail.

19:10-12 This went on for up to two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia heard the sermon about the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
11 But God did many miracles through the hands of Paul,
12 so that handkerchiefs and aprons from his body were placed on the sick, and their diseases ceased, and evil spirits went out of them.
For two whole years, Paul held on to this position of isolation from opponents. Thanks to this, all the Greeks and Jews of Assia had the opportunity to hear Paul preach about Christ and see the miracles that God created by the hands of Paul (the apostle did not work miracles by himself, because it is not natural for a person to work miracles from blood and flesh, only spirits can do them with someone's hands)

19:13 Even some of the wandering Jewish exorcists began to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying: We conjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches.
Paul became so famous among the people that some of the spellcasters decided to cast out demons in his name. Moreover, honest exorcists got caught: they didn’t try to cast out demons from themselves, but they told everyone that in the name of Christ , which Paul preaches - expel.

19:14-16 This was done by some seven sons of the Jewish high priest Skeva.
15 But the evil spirit answered and said, I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?
16 And a man with an evil spirit rushed at them, and overpowering them, took such power over them that they ran out of that house, naked and beaten.
However, the demons respected themselves: well, where else did it go if the Apostle of Christ casts them out by the power of God, but when their demonic brethren try to hide behind the name of Paul, magical in their understanding, and drive out their own, then excuse me. They know Paul and recognize the superiority of the power of God, but these - where, they say, "such geographical news" - is unknown, so get it for imposture, the evil spirit beat them up and brought them to exhaustion. So ingloriously ended the attempt of spellcasters-sorcerers to join the glory of Christ's apostles.

19:17,18 This became known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, and fear fell on all of them, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
18 But many of those who believed came, confessing and revealing their deeds.
And thanks to this incident, the name of Jesus Christ was glorified throughout the Ephesian area, even by an evil spirit (demon or demon).

It turns out that demons can do a good job in glorifying God's messengers: the recently considered soothsayer, who announced that Paul is God's messenger, and this demon, outraged that it was not Paul who tried to cast him out, but his own, scammers.
This incident so frightened everyone that they began to come to Paul from everywhere and tell about all their secret sins. Again we see that fear is not the last engine in making sound decisions.

19:19,20 And of those who practiced sorcery, quite a few, having collected their books, burned them in front of everyone, and added up their prices, and they turned out to be fifty thousand [drachmas].
20 With such power did the word of the Lord grow and grow.
Including the fear of not pleasing God turned out to be a good motivator in the desire to get rid of all demonic objects. Books on magic and sorcery (apparently, these phenomena flourished in Ephesus) - flew into the fire without regret, and those who realized how dangerous they were for life did not even regret their high cost. In general, Ephesus was all covered by the word of God and the number of meetings of Christians in it increased by Paul's labors for God. There is someone to take an example from and modern Christians.

Here the question arises: why did they burn the books, if the books could be sold for a considerable amount of money? Why do you have to burn it? First, you need to understand that it is wrong to get rich with “the reward of unrighteousness” (it is wrong to sell to others what leads them to sin). Secondly, all objects of sorcery are associated with the spiritual companions of the devil, which may turn out to be a snare for the owner and from which it was necessary to get rid of only by burning (Deut. 7:25), which was done by the Christians of Ephesus.

19:21 When this was done, Paul determined in the spirit, having passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying: Having been there, I must also see Rome.
Seeing by the right deeds of the Christians from Ephesus that they were more or less already on their feet, Paul decided to move on: there is no goal of nursing babies for life and leading them by the hand to death, they must be given the opportunity to walk on their own. Otherwise, they will never learn to get up on their own after possible falls.

19:22 And, having sent to Macedonia two of those who served him, Timothy and Erast, he himself stayed for a while in Asia.
It is written that Timothy and Erast served Paul - as we see, there is nothing shameful in being Paul obedient assistants in everything - these two did not test, because they recognized his superior experience and abilities.
On the contrary, it was an honor for them to serve the apostle in the work of God. Therefore, he could count on them and sent them to those congregations where spiritual help was needed.
No matter how you lay it out, but in the work of God without an organizer - well, you can’t do without it. Anyone can be a performer, including organizers. But to be an organizer, you need help from above.

19:23-25 At that time there was no small rebellion against the way of the Lord,
24 for there was a certain silversmith named Demetrius, who made the silver temples of Artemis and made a great profit for the artists,
25 Gathering them and other similar artisans, he said: Friends! you know that our well-being depends on this craft;
It is clear that not everyone was profitable to accept the way of the Lord. Especially if he was a hindrance to the prosperity of the business. Therefore, all the artisans who made money on the production of idols for man-made temples, about which Paul said that all this was useless, rebelled against Paul.

And we must give them their due - they did not begin to invent noble reasons for rebellion against the apostle among themselves, they did not stand on ceremony in choosing good reasons in order to look beautiful in front of each other, but directly and honestly accused Paul of the fact that if they admit that he was right, then idolatry will stop, business will collapse and tight wallets will become skinny. The acceptance of Christ threatens all idolaters with bankruptcy.

19:26,27 meanwhile, you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul, by his convictions, deceived a considerable number of people, saying that those made by human hands are not gods.
27 And this threatens us with the fact that not only our craft will come into contempt, but the temple of the great goddess Artemis will mean nothing, and the greatness of the one that all Asia and the universe honors will be overthrown.
They also recognized the popularity of Paul and, secondly after the decline of the craft, they remembered the possible fall in the demand for the worship of the goddess Artemis, therefore the temple, which needs their craft to repair and maintain, will also fall into disrepair. And again, as a result - a blow to business, from whichever side you come - and Pavel is an enemy.

19:28-31 When they heard this, they were filled with rage and began to shout, saying: Great is Artemis of Ephesus!
29 And the whole city was filled with confusion. Grabbing the Macedonians Gaius and Aristarchus, Pavlov's companions, they unanimously rushed to the spectacle.
30 But when Paul wanted to enter the people, the disciples would not let him in.
31 Also, some of the leaders of Asia, being his friends, sent to him and asked him not to appear on the spectacle
Here, on the scale of the urban public, they no longer recklessly shouted “Long live our idol business!”. But they switched the rails to the goddess Artemis in the expectation that her fans in Assia are much more than the fans of their craft, which means that it will be possible to make more campaign against Paul on speculation with the goddess.
The effect was achieved almost instantly: the crowd of townspeople became furious, grabbed the first acquaintances of Pavel that came across and dragged them to the public square (spectacle) to sort things out. The brothers simply did not let Pavel into these public “showdowns”: his life is too precious to be shown to his brutalized crowd, it is not the time or place for Paul to die from the crowd for the word of God.

19:32 Meanwhile, some shouted one thing, and others another, for the meeting was disorderly, and most of [those who gathered] did not know why they had gathered.
As often happens in campaigns to harass the found "scapegoats" - many of those attacking them do not even know why, in fact, they should be attacked. But for the company with the majority - with pleasure and just in case they attack.

I remembered Garik Huberman:
someday, afterwards, later,
but even in the primers they will put a line,
what was done en masse and herd
disentangles each one alone.

You shouldn't struggle with the crowd for something without understanding the essence of the problem, even if the crowd is large.

19:33,34 At the suggestion of the Jews, Alexander was summoned from among the people. Giving a sign with his hand, Alexander wanted to speak to the people.
34 When they learned that he was a Jew, they all shouted with one voice, and for about two hours they shouted: great is Artemis of Ephesus!
An attempt to somehow curb and enlighten the crowd with an orderly explanation did not give anything: just the case when the probability of stumbling should be taken into account, because the crowd stumbled at the Jewish speaker, because they gathered about worshiping their gods, which the Jews did not recognize.

19:35-38 The guardian of order, having calmed the people, said: Men of Ephesus! what person does not know that the city of Ephesus is the servant of the great goddess Artemis and Diopet?
36 But if there is no dispute about this, then you need to be calm and not act rashly.
37 And you brought these men, who neither robbed the temple of Artemidin, nor blasphemed your goddess.
38 But if Demetrius and the other artists with him have a complaint against someone, then there are judicial assemblies and there are proconsuls: let them complain about each other.
Fortunately, this time too, a judicious peace officer was found: it seems that there were many more of them among the Gentiles than among the people of Jehovah.
He figured out that the instigator, businessman Dmitry, was an artist and explained to the crowd that no one was thinking of encroaching on the temple of Artemis or the goddess of the temple. And your personal claims in business - in the courts you need to expose, and not in public to solve problems of a personal nature.

neither your goddess was blasphemed - it should be noted that the apostles did not allow themselves to disrespect the values and beliefs of other peoples; they did not allow insults and ridicule against their deities. In modern times, one should also respect the beliefs of other people and not allow oneself offensive statements about their deities.

19:39,40 And if you're looking for something else, it'll be decided in the legal assembly.
40 For we are in danger, because of what has now happened, of being accused of indignation, since there is no reason by which we could justify such a gathering. Having said this, he dismissed the meeting
Still, educated law enforcement officers are good: they know how to calm the crowd, knowledge of the laws does not interfere with anyone's life (so education is power! This is for those who claim that secular education is from the devil and Christians do not need it)
And if the crowd itself wants to be tormented by the courts for disturbing the peace and for hooliganism, then the guardian of order was not at all interested.
The disorderly rally was eventually disbanded, and all the "scapegoats" were released from claims, without having time to utter a word.
Dmitry, in general, could not justify his business due to the spirituality of Artemis' fans.
Still, it is not worth your personal mercantile interests - at the expense of the spiritual to decide. This applies to today as well.

Commentary on the book

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1 "Ephesus" - a religious, political and commercial center with a mixed population, was one of the most beautiful cities of the Roman Empire.

2-6 Apollos was no longer in Ephesus, but there remained the people whom he converted and baptized. Ap Paul makes them understand that baptism must be done in the name of Jesus, and calls upon them the Spirit of God, Who communicates to them the gifts of prophecy (inspired preaching) and speaking in tongues (Greek: " elalun te glossis", speaking "glosses", i.e. words from an unknown language; see comm to Acts 2:2-4).

10 "Up to two years" - during this period Paul wrote letters to the Corinthians (first), to the Galatians and, probably, to the Philippians. "All the inhabitants of Asia" - not the whole western part of Asia Minor, but the region, the center of which was Ephesus, with the seven cities listed in Revelation 1 2. Paul entrusted Epaphras with the evangelization of Colossus; Epaphras extended his missionary activity to Laodicea and Hierapolis ( Col 1:7; Col 4:12-13). Timothy and Erast helped Paul ( Acts 19:22), Gaius and Aristarchus ( Acts 19:29), Titus and others (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:18).

13 "Jewish spellcasters"-about the expulsion of evil spirits by the Jews, see Mt 12:27. Christ himself and the apostles after him (cf. Acts 5:16; Acts 16:18) often cast out evil spirits (cf. Mt 8:29).

14 "Jewish High Priest Skeva"- probably the spiritual head of the Jewish community in Ephesus. This name is not found in other sources.

18-19 Collections of sorceries and incantations were widely distributed in the East. The high price of the collected books indicates a significant number of believers.

24 Silver images of the famous temple with the idol of the goddess were purchased by many travelers and pilgrims as a memento of their visit to Ephesus.

29 The theater of Ephesus could hold up to thirty thousand spectators.

31 "" - officials, called asiarchs, were in charge of organizing festivities and games in honor of the emperor.

35 "peace officer"- the secretary of the Ephesian city community presided over the people's assemblies.

The book of Acts is a continuation of the Gospel of Lk. It is addressed, like the third Gospel, to a certain Theophilus (Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1). Church tradition already in the 2nd century (Canon Muratorium, compiled in Rome c. 175, Irenaeus of Lyon, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria and Origen) names the Evangelist Luke as the author of these books. A comparative analysis of the language and style of the Third Gospel and Acts confirms that they belong to the same author. Although the book is called "The Acts of the Apostles", its first chapters mainly deal with the activities of St. Peter, and the second part of the book tells in more detail about the acts of St. Paul, whose companion Luke was on his second and third journeys (Acts 20:6 f.). Concluding the narrative (Acts 28:30), the author reports on the two-year imprisonment of St. Paul in Rome (in 61-63), which helps to determine the date of the book's writing. The Gospel of Mark is usually dated 64, Heb. but from Luke and Acts were written later, but probably before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70, for in Acts separate buildings of the city are mentioned: the porch of Solomon (Acts 3:11) and the fortress of Anthony (Acts 21:34; Acts 22:24 ). According to Jerome, the Book of Acts was written in Rome. The author (see the preface to Ev from Luke) was undoubtedly an eyewitness to many of the events he describes and carefully collected information about the rest: about the activities of Peter and Philip, whom he saw in Caesarea (Acts 8:4-40), about the emergence of a community in Antioch etc. About the conversion of Saul on the road to Damascus and the first period of his preaching activity, he undoubtedly learned from the apostle himself. Continuing the presentation of the NT events from the day of the Lord's ascension, Luke in his second book shows how under the influence of the Holy Spirit, who descended on the apostles in Jerusalem, the Christian gospel quickly spread throughout all areas of the Roman Empire. According to the word of the Lord to the apostles: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8), Luke draws the growth of the Church first among the Jews (Acts 1:4-8:3) and then among the pagans (Acts 8-28), for whom the spread of the teachings of Christ was evidence of its divine origin.

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1 Having passed the upper countries- the mountainous countries lying above Ephesus and the low-lying sea coast on which it was located; these are obviously the interior provinces of Asia Minor, among other things - Phrygia and Galatia, which Paul visited during this trip ( 18:23 ). If during his 2nd journey, Paul was forbidden by the Spirit to preach in proconsular Asia (), and only on the way back he did not stay long in Ephesus (), now, straight from Phrygia, having passed proconsular Asia, he arrived in Ephesus and remained quite for a long time ( Art. ten).

some students. It is clear from what follows that these were actually the disciples of John, and not those of Jesus, whom the descriptor mostly refers to as disciples. Baptized only in John's baptism, these "disciples" believed in the coming Messiah preached by the Baptist, but did not have a complete understanding of Him, like Apollos, until the time; however, as sufficiently prepared for faith in Christ, they could be called Christians, or disciples of Christ in the broad sense of the word. These disciples were, in all probability, from Jews who had recently settled in Ephesus, where they joined the Christian community, so that Paul himself considered them Christians ( Art. 2: "believing").

2 Have you heard of the Holy Spirit? The answer is strange and not even entirely clear and polite, if taken literally. Of course, they could not help but know that the Spirit of God spoke through the prophets and through John, but they did not know the foundation of the new economy of God, in which the Holy Spirit is promised and given to all in Jesus Christ, as the only agent of the regeneration of souls. Thus, here we are not talking about whether the Holy Spirit exists, has existence, but whether the Messiah appeared, who was supposed to baptize people with the Holy Spirit, whether the grace-filled gifts of this Holy Spirit appeared and began to dwell on earth among people? It is in this sense that the answer must be understood: we have not even heard if there is already a Holy Spirit”, i.e. in their gifts on earth, among people? (cf. John 7:39). Obviously, they simply did not know anything about the events of Jerusalem since the death of the Baptist, living in some corner of the world where rumors of these events had not yet penetrated, and only now, in Ephesus, did they begin to learn more about everything, but until the meeting with the apostle, due to the recentness of their stay in Ephesus, from no one else did they have time to learn about everything more precisely.

3 The bewildered answer of the “disciples” evokes a new bewildered question from the apostle: “ what were you baptized into?..” What doctrine and about whom did you accept and seal with your baptism? A simple and short answer of the questioned: “ at John's baptism” - opens the eyes of the apostle, who was perplexed at the sight of these strange “disciples”. They were baptized into that which was the purpose of John's baptism and the confession of which was required at that baptism. This gives the apostle occasion to briefly and concisely, but very meaningfully characterize the essence of the baptism of John and his relationship to Christ.

4 Baptism of repentance (Mark 1:4; cf. Matthew 3:11 etc.) as a sign of a good change in the way of thinking and life, as a sign of a firm intention, upon repentance and confession of sins, to abandon the former sinful life and perverse way of thinking and begin a life pleasing to God, in readiness to enter the kingdom of the Messiah. According to the interpretation of the blessed Theophylact, " The Forerunner preached the baptism of repentance so that people, having repented and accepted Christ, would receive the remission of sins". Why was this baptism not enough, and those who were baptized " at John's baptism“re-baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus”? Because the first baptism did not provide positive content for the spiritual life of the person being baptized, while the second, imparting the grace of remission of sins, had the significance of a real and essential regeneration of the spiritual nature of the person being baptized. In relation to the second, Christian, the first, John's baptism had a preparatory meaning, disposing and preparing for faith in the Lord Jesus, baptism in Whom had, however, a completely independent and final meaning.

5-6 Having heard this, i.e. about the coming of the Messiah preached by John and about the insufficiency of John's baptism, they were baptized with Christian baptism (cf. 2:33 and Mt 28:19) and, after the laying on of hands by Paul (see on 8:15-17 ), received the Holy Spirit, as a result of which they immediately began speak in tongues(see to 2:4 ; 10:14-48 ) and prophesy(see to 11:27 ; cf. 13:1 ; 1 Cor 14).

5 It should be noted here that the false teachings of the ancient heretics and the latest sectarians (Anabaptists and Mennonites), who based their second baptism on this site of Acts, are groundless.

8 Preached fearlessly- a dull indication that the preaching of the apostle had significant opponents who were ready to show their opposition to the great harm of the apostle; however, this did not deter his jealousy.

About the Kingdom of God. By the name of the Kingdom of God, here is meant the Christian Church with all the blessings that it bestows on its true members, both in the present life and in the future. This kingdom, in contrast to the kingdom of the prince of this world, is the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of holiness and truth, the kingdom of eternal life in union with Christ (see on Matthew 3:2; John 3:3,5).

9 Cursing the way of the Lord- cf. 18:25-26 .

In the school of a certain Tyrannus. Judging by the name, it was some Greek rhetorician or philosopher who had a school for teaching those who wished the philosophical or oratory; it is difficult to say whether he was a pagan or a proselyte. It is also believed that this was a Jewish teacher who had a private synagogue (bet-midrash) in his house, where they usually taught traditions and their interpretation. In the school of this rabbi, apparently disposed towards Christianity, who willingly offered his services to Paul, the latter could more safely and more profitably (daily) engage in planting Christian truths among not only Jews, but also Hellenes.

10 All the inhabitants of Asia have heard. A great multitude of both Jews and Greeks, proselytes and pagans constantly flocked to flourishing commercial Ephesus from all the provinces of Asia Minor, so that a great and wide door was indeed opened to Paul ( 1 Cor 16:8-9). If not personally from Paul, then from strangers who personally heard him, indeed, more or less the whole pro-consular Asia could be filled with rumors about Christ Jesus preached from the apostle.

11-12 Many miracles, more precisely Greek and Slavic texts: δυνάμεις ... τὰς τυχούσας, forces are not simple, that is, considerable, extraordinary, extraordinary miracles, not only in quantity, but mainly in quality.

Paul's hands. This expression of the descriptor in itself does not oblige to believe that all the miracles performed by St. Paul, were accomplished by him precisely through his hands. Such a turn is common in the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament to denote the performance of miracles by a famous person. The very possibility of such a metaphor ( διὰ τω̃ν χειρω̃ν Παύλου ) forces, however, to admit that St. the apostle actually worked some of his miracles by means of hands, through the laying on of hands, pronouncing, probably, brief prayer-permissive sayings, with the mention of the name of the Lord Jesus. This reception of the apostle forced others, in imitation of him, to lay on the sick parts of his clothes, which was accompanied, by the grace of God, by the same miraculous power.

13 Some of the wandering Jewish exorcists. Something like the current healers, hypnotists, who used the use of certain secrets and forces of nature, hitherto unknown in the fullness of their significance for man (cf.; Josephus Flavius. Jewish antiquities VIII, 2, §5; Jewish War I, 1, §2; Mt 12:27). Noticing the extraordinary effects of the name of the Lord in the mouth of Paul when healing the sick, some of these exorcists began to use this name in their charlatan formulas and, not knowing and not believing in the Lord Jesus themselves, added: whom Paul preaches”, that is, this particular Jesus, and not another. " So they all did it out of greed. Look: they didn’t want to believe, but they wanted to cast out demons with this Name"(John Chrysostom).

14 Seven sons of Skeva. Who this Skeva was, and in what sense he is called the Jewish high priest, is not known. Perhaps it was one of the chief priests ( Matthew 2:4), whose sons emigrated from Judea and hunted by sorcery.

15 I know Jesus and I know Paul. With these words, the demon recognizes his power and authority over himself of the Lord Jesus Christ and His apostle, and with the expression “who are you?” - expresses contempt and his power over these abusers of the Name of Jesus.

18 They came confessing and revealing their deeds, i.e. sins, under the influence of a sense of fear and greatness of the Name of the Lord Jesus ( 17 art.). This especially had to be done by former exorcists who abandoned their craft and turned to Christ: repentance was a consequence of their belief and determination to join the Christian community, which was then sealed by their baptism.

19 Gathering your books, in which the methods for producing various sorceries and spells were recorded, the spellcasters betrayed them to a public solemn burning. This original bonfire for the crowd was the best sermon about the power of Christ, especially in view of the value of the burnt - 50,000 silver. The descriptor does not indicate what kind of coin this amount was. But, undoubtedly, in the Greek trading city then they considered the drachma = 20-25 k. Consequently, more accurately, this amount was about 10,000-12,500 rubles for our money.

21 Having passed Macedonia and Achaia, go to Jerusalem. From the epistles of the apostle (; 2 Corinthians 8 ch.; ) it is clear that this path of the apostle was accompanied by the gathering of mercy for the Palestinian church, which he pointed out further in his speech ( 24:17 ).

I must see in Rome. This intention of Paul was later approved by the Lord Himself, as being in accordance with His will ( 23:11 ).

22 Sending Timothy and Erast (2 Tim 4:20), probably for the location of the Macedonians to collect alms and for the collection itself.

23 Rebellion against the way of the Lord- against the preaching of the apostle and in general against Christianity (cf. 18:25-26 ).

24 Silver... Demetrius, who made silver temples(i.e., models of them) Artemis, goddess of Ephesus, for sale to travelers and pilgrims of the city. The cult of Artemis was very widespread in Asia Minor. The temple of this goddess in Ephesus, burned by Herostratus on the birthday of Alexander the Great, was restored with such splendor that it was considered one of the seven wonders of the world. Small models of this temple and figurines of Diana were in great use among the worshipers of this goddess: they decorated rooms, they served as amulets during travels, etc. service to artists and artisans who were so easily roused to revolt.

26 Remarkable here is the evidence of the success of Paul's preaching from the lips of his enemies, confirming what was said above ( Art. ten).

Saying that things made by human hands are not gods. A wonderful pagan expression showing that the pagan people identified the statues of the gods with the gods themselves, or imagined that the gods lived in these statues (cf. 17:29 ; 1 Corinthians 8:4; 10:20 and etc.).

27 “Look,” says Chrysostom, “ how idolatry is everywhere supported by self-interest: not because they (revolt) because their worship of God was in danger, but because they were deprived of the possibility of profit ... For this (the words of Demetrius) means almost the same as: “we, in our craft, are in danger die of hunger"».

All Asia and the universe, i.e. the entire Greco-Roman world.

28" They were in such a state, as if with their cry they wanted to restore her veneration and destroy everything that Paul had done."(John Chrysostom).

29 Grasping the Macedonians... Pavlov's companions. Paul, as can be seen both from this and from what follows, was not found by the rebels.

One of these satellites - Gaius, it seems - should be distinguished from Gaius Dervyanin, mentioned below ( 20:4 ); the other - Aristarchus of Thessalonica - is mentioned 20:4 ; 27:2 .

Rushed to the spectacle- in the premises of the city theater, which usually served as a place for large public gatherings.

31 Some of the Asian Chiefs- these were elected from the cities to arrange solemn games in honor of the gods and the emperor. These elected elected from among themselves ten members-managers and leaders of the games. Some of them, being personally disposed towards the apostle, although not yet Christians, begged Paul don't show up, fearing, like his disciples, for his life from the rebellious crowd. The apostle himself showed in this case the great courage and fortitude of a true warrior of Christ, who rushed to the crowd enraged against him.

32 Some shouted one thing, and others another... and most did not know why they gathered is a characteristic depiction of the stupidity of such rebellious crowd gatherings. That something was going on in the theater against Paul and his companions, more or less everyone knew this (unanimously - 29 Art., in one voice - 31 art.); but what exactly and why it was necessary to gather here, most did not even understand.

33 At the suggestion of the Jews, Alexander was summoned from the people. Why at the suggestion of the Jews? for what purpose? Who is this Alexander and what did he mean to say? The explanations are not the same. It is believed that this Alexander, a Jew by origin and religion ( Art. 34), was exposed by the Jews out of fear that, during this popular indignation against Christians, the Jews would not be confused with them and subjected the latter to the same punishment with Christians, especially since the Jews were known as enemies of idols. The trick failed, and only served to the detriment of the Jews: the people did not even want to listen to the speech of the Jew, expressing their complete contempt for the Jews in general. Others believe, however, that this Alexander was a Jewish Christian, intending to speak in defense of Paul and the Christians; but he was summoned at the suggestion of his treacherous and malevolent fellow tribesmen, only to make him a victim of the people's fury. Saint Chrysostom also conjectures that Alexander the Jew wanted to speak in order to kindle even more the fury of the people against the Christians. If so, then here, too, the Jews quite deservedly paid for their treachery with the contempt of the crowd expressed against them.

35-40 peace officer- actually a scribe or scribe - γραμματεύς, - something like a city secretary ( γραμματεὺς ὁ τη̃ς πόλεως ), whose duties were to draw up official papers, promulgate public affairs, read them in public meetings or report, store all kinds of written documents, etc. In his speech to the people, this “secretary” indicates, first of all, that the cult of Artemis stands firmly in Ephesus and the companions of Paul taken by the people cannot be accused of directly insulting him (35-37). In the absence of, so to speak, corpus delicti, it is also necessary to take into account the fact that there are legitimate authorities and a certain procedure for handling legitimate complaints (38-39). Finally, if all these conditions are not observed, the people themselves run the risk of being in the position of defendants for indignation (40). Such reasonable, skillful arguments cooled the ardor of the meeting, and it dispersed without any incident.

35 Diopet, who fell from Zeus. This name means the statue of Artemis in the Ephesian temple, since, according to folk legend, it fell from the sky - from Zeus.

Acts of the Holy Apostles- the next New Testament book of historical content after the holy Gospels, which is quite deserving and in its importance to take the first place after them. "This book," says St. Chrysostom, - can benefit us no less than the Gospel itself: it is so full of wisdom, such purity of dogmas and such an abundance of miracles, especially performed by the Holy Spirit". Here one can see the fulfillment in practice of those prophecies that Christ proclaims in the Gospels - the truth shining in the very events, and the great change in the disciples for the better, accomplished by the Holy Spirit. Christ said to the disciples: He who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also, and greater than these he will do ( John 14:12), and predicted to them that they would be taken to the rulers and kings, that they would be beaten in the synagogues ( Mt 10:17-18), that they will be subjected to the most severe torments and will triumph over everything, and that the gospel will be preached throughout the world ( Matthew 24:14). All this, as well as many other things that He said while addressing the disciples, appears in this book to be fulfilled with all accuracy... ), and revealing the subsequent history of the Church of Christ until the imprisonment of the most laborious of the apostles - Paul. Noting the special nature of the presentation and selection of events, St. Chrysostom calls this book primarily containing evidence of the resurrection of Christ, since it was already easy for those who believed in it to accept everything else. This is what he sees as the main purpose of the book.

Writer Books of Acts - St. Evangelist Luke, on his own instructions about this ( 1:1-2 ; cf. ). This indication, strong enough in itself, is also confirmed by the external testimonies of the ancient Christian church (testimony of St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen and many others. etc.), and internal signs that all together make the full and unconditional authenticity of the legends of the deewriter to the smallest particulars and details - beyond any doubt As the closest companion and collaborator of St. the Apostle Paul, the descriptor was himself an eyewitness to most of the events he describes; about the rest of such events he had the opportunity to hear from the apostle Paul himself (especially regarding what concerned Peter himself), and from other apostles with whom he was in constant lively communication. The influence especially of Paul on the writing of Acts is very significant and obvious. .

Time and place of the book are exactly indeterminate. Since the book ends with an indication of the two-year preaching activity of the Apostle Paul in chains in the city of Rome ( 28:30-31 ), but at the same time neither the death of the apostle nor the liberation is mentioned, then one should think that in any case it was written before the martyrdom of the apostle (in 63-64 A.D.) and precisely in Rome (as the blessed Jerome), although the latter is not indisputable. It is possible that during the journeys themselves with the Apostle Paul, Ev. Luke kept records of all the most remarkable, and only after that he brought these records into order and integrity of a special book - "Acts".

Having set out to set forth the main events of Christ's Church from the ascension of the Lord to the last days of his day, Ev. Luke's book embraces a period of about 30 years. Since in spreading the faith of Christ in Jerusalem and during its initial transition to the Gentiles, the chief apostle Peter worked especially hard, and in spreading the faith in the pagan world, the chief apostle Paul, the book of Acts, accordingly, presents two main parts. In the first ( 1-12 ch.) narrates mainly about the apostolic activity of Peter and about the church from the Jews. In the second - ( 13-28 ch.) about the activities of Paul and about the church from the Gentiles.

Under the name of the Acts of this or that apostle, several more books were known in antiquity, but all of them were rejected by the Church as false, containing unreliable apostolic teaching, and even as unprofitable and harmful.

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20 Another possible translation: Thus, by the power of the Lord, the word grew and was strengthened.

31 Presidents of the people's assembly of the province of Asia, who were replaced annually, retained their title for life.

35 Literally - "secretary". In the Roman era, he was the de facto ruler of the city.

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2 a) Lit.: you received the Holy Spirit.

2 b) Lit.: did not hear,Is there a Holy Spirit.

3 letters: what were you baptized into?

6 Or: prophesy.

9 Some. manuscripts add: from five to ten, i.e. from 11 am to 4 pm.

11 letters: special miracles; or: great things.

13 letters: call.

19 Probably referring to silver drachmas.

20 letters: so with the power of the Lord the word grew and grew stronger; friend. possible trans.: so by the power of the Lord the message spread more widely and more successfully.

21 letters: set out in the spirit; or: in the Spirit.

29 Ephesus had a very large open-air theatre, which was often used for public meetings; the same in Art. 31.

33 Friend. possible trans.: some people from the crowd advised Alexander to speak.

35 Gr. gramatews- secretary, officer In the Roman era, such a secretary was the ruler of the city.

37 In some manuscripts: yours.

39 In some manuscripts: something else.

The Acts of the Apostles is, in a sense, a continuation of the Gospel according to Luke. The second book was written by an evangelist, according to New Testament scholars, in Rome between 63 and 68 AD. according to R.H. Like the Gospel, it was addressed to Theophilus.

In his story about the life of the first Christians, Luke was driven by the desire to show what he considered the main thing: everything that God began to do on Earth through Christ, He will continue to do through His Church. Therefore, fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus, an amazing event occurred: to the twelve disciples and to all those who trusted in Him, God gave His Holy Spirit. And then many people became aware that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and it was these people who created the first Christian community in Jerusalem. Luke describes in detail how the Church has lived and worked since then. Believers lived and acted with the knowledge that the Good News of the dead and risen Jesus must now sound not only in Jerusalem, but in all corners of the Earth.

A special role in spreading the Christian message was entrusted to the Apostle Paul. Much of the Acts of the Apostles is devoted to describing his ministry in the Gentile world. Luke tells of Paul's travels: he passed through the lands where Turkey and Greece are today, and even reached Rome. Everywhere the apostle spoke about what God had done for the salvation of all people. The all-conquering power of this message has led to the emergence of many Christian communities in the world.

The third edition of the "New Testament and Psalter in modern Russian translation" was prepared for publication by the Institute for Bible Translation in Zaoksky at the suggestion of the Ukrainian Bible Society. Recognizing their responsibility for the accuracy of the translation and its literary merits, the staff of the Institute used the opportunity of a new edition of this Book to make clarifications and, where necessary, corrections to their previous long-term work. And although in this work it was necessary to keep the deadlines in mind, maximum efforts were made to achieve the task facing the Institute: to convey to the readers the sacred text, as far as possible in translation, carefully verified, without distortion or loss.

Both in previous editions and in the present, our team of translators has strived to preserve and continue the best that has been achieved by the efforts of the Bible Societies of the world in the translation of Holy Scripture. In an effort to make our translation accessible and understandable, however, we still resisted the temptation to use rude and vulgar words and phrases - the vocabulary that usually appears in times of social upheaval - revolutions and unrest. We tried to convey the Message of the Scriptures in common, settled words and in such expressions that would continue the good traditions of the old (now inaccessible) translations of the Bible into the native language of our compatriots.

In traditional Judaism and Christianity, the Bible is not only a historical document that should be preserved, not only a literary monument that can be admired and admired. This book was and remains a unique message about God's proposed resolution of human problems on earth, about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who opened the way for mankind into an unending life of peace, holiness, goodness and love. The news of this should sound to our contemporaries in words directly addressed to them, in a language that is simple and close to their perception. The translators of this edition of the New Testament and the Psalters have done their work with prayer and the hope that these sacred books in their translation will continue to support the spiritual life of readers of any age, helping them to understand the inspired Word and respond to it by faith.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

Almost two years have passed since the "New Testament in modern Russian translation" was published at the Mozhaisk printing plant by order of the Dialog Educational Foundation. This edition was prepared by the Bible Translation Institute in Zaoksky. It was received warmly and with approval by readers who love the Word of God, readers of various confessions. The translation was met with considerable interest by those who were just getting acquainted with the primary source of Christian doctrine, the most famous part of the Bible, the New Testament. Just a few months after the publication of The New Testament in Modern Russian Translation, the entire circulation was sold out, and orders for publication continued to arrive. Encouraged by this, the Institute for Bible Translation in Zaoksky, whose main goal was and remains to promote the familiarization of compatriots with the Holy Scriptures, began to prepare the second edition of this Book. Of course, at the same time, we could not help but think that the translation of the New Testament prepared by the Institute, like any other translation of the Bible, needed to be checked and discussed with readers, and our preparations for a new edition began with this.

After the first edition, along with numerous positive comments, the Institute received valuable constructive suggestions from attentive readers, including theologians and linguists, who prompted us to make the second edition as popular as possible, naturally, without compromising the accuracy of the translation. At the same time, we tried to solve such problems as: a thorough revision of the translation we had previously made; improvements, where necessary, of the stylistic plan and easy-to-read layout of the text. Therefore, in the new edition, in comparison with the previous one, there are significantly fewer footnotes (footnotes that had not so much practical as theoretical significance were removed). The previous letter designation of footnotes in the text is replaced by an asterisk to the word (expression) to which a note is given at the bottom of the page.

In this edition, in addition to the books of the New Testament, the Institute for Bible Translation publishes its new translation of the Psalms - the very book of the Old Testament that our Lord Jesus Christ so loved to read and often referred to during His life on earth. Over the centuries, thousands and thousands of Christians, as well as Jews, considered the Psalter to be the heart of the Bible, finding for themselves in this Book a source of joy, consolation and spiritual enlightenment.

The translation of the Psalter is taken from the standard scholarly edition Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (Stuttgart, 1990). A.V. took part in the preparation of the translation. Bolotnikov, I.V. Lobanov, M.V. Opiyar, O.V. Pavlova, S.A. Romashko, V.V. Sergeev.

The Institute for Bible Translation brings to the attention of the widest circle of readers "The New Testament and the Psalter in a modern Russian translation" with due humility and at the same time with the confidence that God still has new light and truth, ready to illuminate the reader of His holy words. We pray that, with the blessing of the Lord, this translation will serve as a means to that end.

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

The meeting with any new translation of the books of Holy Scripture gives rise to any serious reader a natural question about its necessity, justification and an equally natural desire to understand what can be expected from new translators. This circumstance dictates the following introductory lines.

The appearance of Christ in our world marked the beginning of a new era in the life of mankind. God entered history and established a deeply personal relationship with each of us, showing with obvious clarity that He is on our side and is doing everything possible to save us from evil and destruction. All this manifested itself in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The world was given in Him the ultimate possible revelation of God about Himself and about man. This revelation is striking in its grandeur: He who was seen by people as a simple carpenter, who ended his days on a shameful cross, created the whole world. His life did not begin in Bethlehem. No, He is "He Who was, Who is, Who is to come." This is hard to imagine.

Yet all sorts of people steadily came to believe this. They were discovering that Jesus is God who lived among them and for them. Soon the people of the new faith began to realize that He lives in themselves and that He has the answer to all their needs and aspirations. This meant that they acquire a new vision of the world, themselves and their future, a new, previously unknown experience of life.

Those who believed in Jesus were eager to share their faith with others, to tell everyone on earth about Him. These first ascetics, among whom were direct witnesses of the events, clothed the biography and teaching of Christ Jesus in a vivid, well-remembered form. They created the Gospels; in addition, they wrote letters (which became “messages” to us), sang songs, prayed, and recorded the divine revelation bestowed upon them. To a superficial observer it might seem that everything written about Christ by His first disciples and followers was by no means specially organized by anyone: it was all born more or less arbitrarily. For some fifty years, these texts amounted to a whole Book, which later received the name "New Testament".

In the process of creating and reading, collecting and organizing recorded materials, the first Christians, who experienced the great saving power of these sacred manuscripts, came to the clear conclusion that all their efforts were led, guided by Someone Mighty and Omniscient - the Holy Spirit of God Himself. They saw that there was nothing accidental in what they recorded, that all the documents that made up the New Testament are in a deep inner relationship. Boldly and resolutely, the first Christians could call and called the existing code "the Word of God."

A remarkable feature of the New Testament was that the entire text was written in simple, colloquial Greek, which at that time spread throughout the Mediterranean and became an international language. However, for the most part, "it was spoken by people who were not accustomed to it from childhood and therefore did not really feel the Greek words." In their practice, "it was a language without soil, a business, commercial, official language." Pointing to this state of affairs, the outstanding Christian thinker and writer of the 20th century K.S. Lewis adds: “Does this shock us?... I hope not; otherwise we should have been shocked by the Incarnation itself. The Lord humbled Himself when He became a baby in the arms of a peasant woman and an arrested preacher, and according to the same Divine plan, the word about Him sounded in the folk, everyday, everyday language. For this very reason, the early followers of Jesus, in their testimony of Him, in their preaching and in their translations of the Holy Scriptures, sought to convey the Good News about Christ in a simple language that was close to the people and understandable to them.

Happy are the peoples who have received the Holy Scripture in a worthy translation from the original languages into their native language that they can understand. They have this Book can be found in every, even the poorest family. Among such peoples, it became not only, in fact, a prayerful and pious, soul-saving reading, but also that family book that illuminated their entire spiritual world. Thus, the stability of society, its moral strength and even material well-being were created.

It pleased Providence that Russia should not be left without the Word of God. With great gratitude we, Russians, honor the memory of Cyril and Methodius, who gave us the Holy Scripture in the Slavic language. We also preserve the reverent memory of the workers who introduced us to the Word of God through the so-called Synodal Translation, which to this day remains our most authoritative and best known. The point here is not so much in his philological or literary characteristics, but in the fact that he remained with Russian Christians in all the difficult times of the 20th century. In many respects, it was thanks to him that the Christian faith was not completely eradicated in Russia.

Synodal translation, however, with all its undoubted merits, is not considered quite satisfactory today due to its well-known (obvious not only for specialists) shortcomings. The natural changes that have taken place in our language over more than a century, and the long absence of religious enlightenment in our country, have made these shortcomings sharply tangible. The vocabulary and syntax of this translation are no longer accessible to direct, so to speak, "spontaneous" perception. The modern reader in many cases cannot do without dictionaries in his efforts to comprehend the meaning of certain formulas of the translation that was published in 1876. This circumstance responds, of course, to the rationalistic "cooling" of the perception of that text, which, being spiritually uplifting by its nature, must not only be understood, but also experienced by the whole being of a pious reader.

Of course, to make a perfect translation of the Bible "for all times", such a translation that would remain equally understandable and close to readers of an endless succession of generations, is impossible, as they say, by definition. And this is not only because the development of the language we speak is unstoppable, but also because over time, the very penetration into the spiritual treasures of the great Book becomes more and more complicated and enriched as more and more new approaches to them are discovered. This was rightly pointed out by Archpriest Alexander Men, who saw the meaning and even the need for an increase in the number of Bible translations. In particular, he wrote: “Today pluralism dominates the world practice of biblical translations. Recognizing that any translation is, to one degree or another, an interpretation of the original, translators use a variety of techniques and language settings ... This allows readers to experience different dimensions and shades of the text.

In line with this understanding of the problem, the staff of the Institute for Bible Translation, established in 1993 in Zaoksky, found it possible to make their own attempt to make a feasible contribution to the cause of familiarizing the Russian reader with the text of the New Testament. Driven by a high sense of responsibility for the cause to which they have devoted their knowledge and energy, the project participants have completed this translation of the New Testament into Russian from the original language, taking as a basis the widely accepted modern critical text of the original (4th revised edition of the United Bible Societies, Stuttgart , 1994). At the same time, on the one hand, the orientation towards Byzantine sources, characteristic of the Russian tradition, was taken into account, on the other hand, the achievements of modern textual criticism were taken into account.

The employees of the Zaoksky Translation Center, naturally, could not but take into account in their work foreign and domestic experience in translating the Bible. In keeping with the principles that govern Bible Societies around the world, the translation was originally conceived as free from confessional bias. In accordance with the philosophy of modern biblical societies, fidelity to the original and preservation of the form of the biblical message wherever possible, while being ready to sacrifice the letter of the text for the sake of an accurate transmission of the living meaning, were recognized as the main requirements for translation. At the same time, it was impossible, of course, not to go through those torments that are completely inevitable for any responsible translator of the Holy Scriptures. For the inspiration of the original obliged us to treat with reverence the very form of it. At the same time, in the course of their work, translators had to constantly convince themselves of the validity of the thought of the great Russian writers that only that translation can be considered adequate, which, first of all, correctly conveys the meaning and dynamics of the original. The desire of the staff of the Institute in Zaoksky to be as close as possible to the original coincided with what V.G. Belinsky: “Closness to the original does not consist in conveying the letter, but the spirit of creation ... The corresponding image, as well as the corresponding phrase, do not always consist in the apparent correspondence of words.” Looking back at other modern translations that convey the biblical text with severe literalness, forced to recall the well-known saying of A.S. Pushkin: "An interlinear translation can never be correct."

The Institute's team of translators at all stages of work was aware that no real translation can equally satisfy all the requirements of different readers, which are diverse in nature. Nevertheless, the translators strove for a result that could, on the one hand, satisfy those who turn to Scripture for the first time, and, on the other hand, satisfy those who, seeing the Word of God in the Bible, are engaged in its in-depth study.

In this translation, addressed to the modern reader, words, phrases and idioms that are in living circulation are mainly used. Obsolete and archaic words and expressions are allowed only to the extent that they are necessary to convey the color of the narrative and to adequately represent the semantic shades of the phrase. At the same time, it was found expedient to refrain from using sharply modern, fleeting vocabulary and the same syntax, so as not to violate that regularity, natural simplicity and organic majesty of presentation that distinguish the metaphysically non-futile text of Scripture.

The Bible message is of decisive importance for the salvation of every person and in general for his entire Christian life. This Message is not a mere report of facts, events, and a straightforward exposition of commandments. It is able to touch the human heart, induce the reader and listener to empathize, arouse in them the need for living and sincere repentance. Zaoksky's translators saw it as their task to convey such power of the biblical narrative.

In those cases when the meaning of individual words or expressions in the lists of books of the Bible that have come down to us does not lend itself, despite all efforts, to a certain reading, the reader is offered the most convincing, in the opinion of the translators, reading.

In striving for clarity and stylistic beauty of the text, translators introduce into it, when it is dictated by the context, words that are not in the original (they are marked in italics).

The footnotes offer the reader alternative meanings for individual words and phrases in the original.

To help the reader, the chapters of the biblical text are divided into separate semantic passages, which are supplied with subheadings typed in italics. While not part of the translated text, subheadings are not intended for oral reading or interpretation of Scripture.

Having completed their first experience of translating the Bible into modern Russian, the staff of the Institute in Zaoksky intend to continue searching for the best approaches and solutions in translating the original text. Therefore, all those involved in the appearance of the completed translation will be grateful to our highly respected readers for any help they can provide with their comments, advice and suggestions aimed at improving the text now proposed for subsequent reprints.

The employees of the Institute are grateful to those who, during all the years of work on the translation of the New Testament, helped them with their prayers and advice. Especially should be noted here V.G. Vozdvizhensky, S.G. Mikushkina, I.A. Orlovskaya, S.A. Romashko and V.V. Sergeev.

The participation in the now implemented project of a number of Western colleagues and friends of the Institute, in particular, W. Ailes, D.R. Spangler and Dr. K.G. Hawkins.

For me personally, it was a great blessing to work on the published translation together with highly qualified employees who devoted themselves entirely to this matter, such as A.V. Bolotnikov, M.V. Boryabina, I.V. Lobanov and some others.

If the work done by the Institute's team helps someone in knowing our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, this will be the highest reward for everyone who was involved in this translation.

January 30, 2000
Director of the Institute for Bible Translation in Zaoksky Doctor of Theology M. P. Kulakov

EXPLANATIONS, SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

This translation of the New Testament is made from the Greek text, mainly according to the 4th edition of the Greek New Testament (The Greek New Testament. 4th revision edition. Stuttgart, 1994). The translation of the Psalter was taken from the edition of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (Stuttgart, 1990).

The Russian text of this translation is divided into semantic passages with subtitles. Subheadings in italics, which are not part of the text, are introduced to make it easier for the reader to find the right place in the proposed translation.

In small capital letters in the Psalms, the word "LORD" is written in those cases when this word conveys the name of God - Yahweh, written in Hebrew with four consonants (tetragrammaton). The word "Lord" in its usual spelling conveys another appeal (Adon or Adonai), used in relation to both God and people in the sense of "Lord", friend. transl.: Vladyka; see Dictionary Lord.

In square brackets words are concluded, the presence of which in the text of modern biblical studies is considered not fully proven.

In double square brackets words are concluded that modern biblical studies consider inserts into the text made in the first centuries.

Bold quotes from the books of the Old Testament are highlighted. At the same time, poetic passages are placed in the text with the necessary indents and breakdown in order to adequately represent the structure of the passage. A note at the bottom of the page indicates the address of the citation.

Words in italics are actually absent in the original text, but the inclusion of which seems justified, since they are implied in the development of the author's thought and help to clarify the meaning of the text.

An asterisk raised above the line after a word (phrase) indicates a note at the bottom of the page.

Individual footnotes are given with the following conventional abbreviations:

Letters.(literally): a formally accurate translation. It is given in those cases when, for the sake of clarity and a more complete disclosure of the meaning in the main text, it is necessary to deviate from a formally accurate transmission. At the same time, the reader is given the opportunity to come closer to the original word or phrase and see conceivable translation options.

In the meaning(in meaning): is given when a word translated literally in the text requires, in the translator's opinion, an indication of its special semantic connotation in this context.

In some manuscripts(in some manuscripts): used when quoting textual variants in Greek manuscripts.

Greek(Greek): used when it is important to show which Greek word is used in the original text. The word is given in Russian transcription.

Ancient per.(ancient translations): used when it is necessary to show how a particular passage of the original was understood by ancient translations, possibly based on a different original text.

Friend. possible per.(another possible translation): is given as another, although possible, but, according to translators, less well-founded translation.

Friend. reading(other reading): is given when, with a different arrangement of signs denoting vowel sounds, or with a different sequence of letters, a reading is possible that is different from the original, but supported by other ancient translations.

Heb.(Hebrew): used when it is important to show which word is used in the original. It is often impossible to convey it adequately, without semantic losses, into Russian, so many modern translations introduce this word in transliteration into their native language.

Or: is used when a note gives a different, well-founded translation.

Some manuscripts are added(some manuscripts add): is given when a number of copies of the New Testament or Psalms, not included in the corpus of the text by modern critical editions, contain an addition to what was written, which, most often, is included in the Synodal translation.

Some manuscripts are omitted(some manuscripts are omitted): it is given when a number of copies of the New Testament or the Psalms, not included in the corpus of the text by modern critical editions, do not contain an addition to what was written, but in some cases this addition is included in the Synodal translation.

Masoretic text: text accepted as the main one for translation; a footnote is given when, for a number of textological reasons: the meaning of the word is unknown, the original text is corrupted - in translation, one has to deviate from the literal transmission.

TR(textus receptus) - an edition of the Greek text of the New Testament, prepared by Erasmus of Rotterdam in 1516, based on lists of the last centuries of the existence of the Byzantine Empire. Until the 19th century this edition served as the basis for a number of well-known translations.

LXX- Septuagint, translation of the Holy Scriptures (Old Testament) into Greek, made in the III-II centuries. BC References to this translation are given according to the 27th edition of Nestle-Aland (Nestle-Aland. Novum Testamentum Graece. 27. revidierte Auflage 1993. Stuttgart).

ABBREVIATIONS USED

OLD TESTAMENT (OT)

Life - Genesis
Exodus - Exodus
Leo - Leviticus
Number - Numbers
Deut - Deuteronomy
Is Nav - Book of Joshua
1 Kings - First Book of Kings
2 Kings - 2 Kings
1 Kings - 1st Book of Kings
2 Kings - Fourth Book of Kings
1 Chron - First Book of Chronicles
2 Chron - Second Book of Chronicles
Job - Book of Job
Ps - Psalter
Proverbs - Book of Proverbs of Solomon
Eccles - The Book of Ecclesiastes, or Preacher (Ecclesiastes)
Isaiah - The Book of the Prophet Isaiah
Jer - The Book of Jeremiah
Lamentations - Book of Lamentations of Jeremiah
Ezek - The Book of Ezekiel
Dan - Book of Daniel
Os - Book of the Prophet Hosea
Joel - The Book of the Prophet Joel
Am - The Book of the Prophet Amos
Jonah - Book of Jonah
Micah - The Book of Micah
Nahum - The Book of the Prophet Nahum
Avv - The book of the prophet Habakkuk
Haggai - The Book of the Prophet Haggai
Zech - The Book of Zechariah
Mal - The Book of the Prophet Malachi

NEW TESTAMENT (NT)

Matthew - Gospel according to Matthew (From Matthew the gospel)
Mk - The gospel according to Mark (From Mark the holy gospel)
Luke - Gospel according to Luke (From Luke the holy gospel)
Jn - Gospel according to John (From John the holy gospel)
Acts - Acts of the Apostles
Rome - Epistle to the Romans
1 Corinthians - First Epistle to the Corinthians
2 Corinthians - Second Epistle to the Corinthians
Galatians - Epistle to the Galatians
Eph - Epistle to the Ephesians
Php - Epistle to the Philippians
Col - Epistle to the Colossians
1 Thess - First Epistle to the Thessalonians
2 Thess - Second Epistle to the Thessalonians
1 Timothy - First Epistle to Timothy
2 Tim - 2 Timothy
Titus - Epistle to Titus
Heb - Epistle to the Hebrews
James - The Epistle of James
1 Peter - First Epistle of Peter
2 Peter - Second Epistle of Peter
1 Jn - First Epistle of John
Revelation - Revelation of John the Evangelist (Apocalypse)

OTHER ABBREVIATIONS

app. - apostle
aram. - Aramaic
in. (centuries) - century (centuries)
g - gram
year(s) - year(s)
ch. - chapter
Greek - Greek language)
others - ancient
heb. - Hebrew (language)
km - kilometer
l - liter
m - meter
note - note
R.H. - Nativity
Rome. - Roman
Syn. per. - Synodal translation
cm - centimeter
see - see
Art. - verse
cf. - compare
those. - that is
t. - so-called
h - hour

. While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul, passing through the upper countries, came to Ephesus, and finding there some students

"Passing the Upper Countries" – upland countries, lying above Ephesus and the low-lying seashore on which it was located; these are obviously the interior provinces of Asia Minor, among other things - Phrygia and Galatia, which Paul visited during this trip (). If during his 2nd journey, Paul was forbidden by the Spirit to preach in proconsular Asia (and so on), and only on the way back he stayed for a short time in Ephesus (Acts 18 etc.), now, straight from Phrygia, having passed proconsular Asia, he arrived in Ephesus and stayed here for a long time ().

"Some students...". It can be seen from the following that these were actually students John's, and not those of Jesus, whom the descriptor mostly calls "disciples". Baptized only in "John's Baptism", these "disciple and" believed in the preached by the Baptist coming Messiah, but did not have a complete understanding of Him, like Apollos, until the time; however, as those sufficiently prepared for faith in Christ, they could be called Christians, or "disciples" of Christ in the broad sense of the word. These disciples were, in all likelihood, from the Jews who had recently settled in Ephesus, where they joined the Christian society, so that Paul himself took them for Christians (v. 2: "having believed").

. He said to them, Have you received the Holy Spirit by believing? And they said to him: We have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.

“Have you heard if there is a Holy Spirit?” The answer is strange and not even entirely clear and polite, if taken literally. Of course, they could not help but know that the Spirit of God spoke through the prophets and through John, but they did not know the foundation of the new economy of God, in which the Holy Spirit is promised and given to all in Jesus Christ, as the only agent of the regeneration of souls. Thus, here we are not talking about whether the Holy Spirit exists, has existence, but whether the Messiah appeared, who was supposed to baptize people with the Holy Spirit, whether the grace-filled gifts of this Holy Spirit appeared and began to dwell on earth among people? It is in this sense that the answer must be understood: “We have not even heard if the Holy Spirit already exists”, i.e., in their gifts on earth, among people? (cf.). Obviously, they simply did not know anything about the events of Jerusalem since the death of the Baptist, living in some corner of the world where rumors of these events had not yet penetrated, and only now, in Ephesus, did they begin to learn more about everything, but until the meeting with the apostle, due to the recentness of their stay in Ephesus, from no one else did they have time to learn about everything more precisely.

. He said to them: What were you baptized into? They answered: in John's baptism.:

The bewildered answer of the “disciples” evokes a new bewildered question from the Apostle: “Into what were you baptized?”. What doctrine and about whom have you received and sealed by your baptism? A simple and short answer to the questioners: in "John's Baptism"- opens the eyes of the apostle, perplexed at the sight of these strange "disciples". They were baptized into that which was the purpose of John's baptism and the confession of which was required at that baptism. This gives the apostle occasion to briefly and concisely, but very meaningfully characterize the essence of the baptism of John and his relationship to Christ.

. Paul said: John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in him who would come after him, that is, in Christ Jesus.

"Baptism of Repentance"(; cf., etc.) as a sign of a good change in the way of thinking and life, as a sign of a firm intention, upon repentance and confession of sins, to abandon the former sinful life and perverse way of thinking and begin a life pleasing to God, in readiness to enter the Kingdom of the Messiah. According to the interpretation of the blessed Theophylact "The Forerunner preached the baptism of repentance so that people, having repented and accepted Christ, would receive the remission of sins." Why was this baptism not enough, and those who were baptized "in John's baptism" again "baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus"? Because the first baptism did not provide positive content for the spiritual life of the person being baptized, while the second, imparting the grace of remission of sins, had the significance of a real and essential regeneration of the spiritual nature of the person being baptized. In relation to the second, Christian, the first, "John's" baptism had the meaning preparatory disposing and preparing for faith in the Lord Jesus, baptism in Whom had, however, a completely independent and final significance.

. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,

"Hearing this," i.e., about the coming of the Messiah preached by John and about the insufficiency of John's baptism, - "they were baptized" Christian baptism (see Acts 2i) and, after the laying on of hands by Paul on them (see to), they received the Holy Spirit, as a result of which they immediately began "to speak with other tongues"(see k) "and prophesy"(see to; cf.;).

It should be noted here the groundlessness of the false teachings of the ancient heretics and the latest sectarians (Anabaptists and Mennonites), who based their second baptism on this place of Acts.

. Arriving at the synagogue, he fearlessly preached for three months, talking and testifying about the Kingdom of God.

"He preached fearlessly". A deaf indication that the preaching of the apostle had significant opponents, who were ready to show their opposition to the great harm of the apostle; however, this did not deter his jealousy.

"On the Kingdom of God". Under the name of the Kingdom of God here is meant the Christian Church with all the blessings that it bestows on its true members, both in the present life and in the future. This kingdom, in contrast to the kingdom of the prince of this world, is the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of holiness and truth, the kingdom of eternal life in union with Christ (see to;).

. But as some became hardened and did not believe, slandering the way of the Lord before the people, he, leaving them, separated the disciples, and daily preached in the school of a certain Tyrannus.

"Slandering the Way of the Lord"- cf. .

"At the school of a certain Tyrannus". Judging by the name, it was some Greek rhetorician or philosopher who had a school for teaching those who wished the philosophical or oratory; it is difficult to say whether he was a pagan or a proselyte. It is also believed that it was a Jewish teacher who had in his house a private synagogue (bet-midrash), where they usually taught traditions and their interpretation. In the school of this rabbi, apparently disposed towards Christianity, who willingly offered his services to Paul, the latter could more safely and more profitably (daily) engage in planting Christian truths among not only Jews, but also Greeks.

. This went on for up to two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia heard the sermon about the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

"All the people of Asia have heard". A great multitude of both Jews and Greeks, proselytes and pagans constantly flocked to flourishing commercial Ephesus from all the provinces of Asia Minor, so that Paul really was open to "great and wide door"(). If not personally from Paul, then from strangers who personally heard him, indeed, more or less the whole pro-consular Asia could be filled with rumors about Christ Jesus preached from the apostle.

. God did many miracles with the hands of Paul,

. so that handkerchiefs and aprons from his body were placed on the sick, and their diseases ceased, and evil spirits went out of them.

"Many miracles" - more precisely, the Greek and Slavic texts: δυνάμεις τας τυκούσας - "forces are not simple", i.e., considerable, extraordinary, extraordinary "miracles", not only in quantity, but mainly in quality.

"Paul's Hands". This expression of the descriptor in itself does not oblige to believe that all the miracles performed by St. Paul, were accomplished by him precisely through his hands. Such a turn is common in the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament to denote the performance of miracles by a famous person. The very possibility of such a metaphor ( διά τῶν χειρῶν Παύλου ) forces, however, to admit that St. The apostle did indeed work some of his miracles with his hands, through the laying on of hands, pronouncing, probably, brief prayerful and permissive sayings, with the mention of the name of the Lord Jesus. This reception of the apostle forced others, in imitation of him, to lay on the sick parts of his clothes, which was accompanied, by the grace of God, by the same miraculous power.

. Even some of the wandering Jewish exorcists began to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying: We conjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches.

"Some of the Wandering Jewish Exorcists". Something like the current healers, hypnotists, who used the use of certain secrets and forces of nature, unknown to this day in the fullness of their significance for man (cf. Acts 13 and d.; Flav. Archeol. VIII, 2, 5; About war;). Noticing the extraordinary effects of the name of the Lord in the mouth of Paul when healing the sick, some of these exorcists began to use this name in their charlatan formulas and, not knowing and not believing in the Lord Jesus themselves, added: "whom Paul preaches", i.e., this particular Jesus, and not another. “So they all did it out of covetousness. Look: they didn’t want to believe, but they wanted to cast out demons with this Name ”(Chrysostom).

. This was done by some seven sons of the Jewish high priest Skeva.:

"Seven Sons of Skeva". Who this Skeva was, and in what sense he is called the Jewish high priest, is not known. Perhaps it was one of the chiefs of the priestly lines (), whose sons moved out of Judea and hunted by sorcery.

. But the evil spirit answered and said: I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?

“I know Jesus, and I know Paul”. With these words, the demon recognizes his power and authority over himself of the Lord Jesus Christ and His apostle, and with the expression - "who are you"? – expresses contempt and his power over these abusers of the Name of Jesus.

. Many of those who believed came, confessing and revealing their deeds.

"They Came, Confessing and Revealing Their Deeds", i.e. sins, under the influence of a sense of fear and greatness of the Name of the Lord Jesus (). This especially had to be done by former exorcists who abandoned their craft and turned to Christ: repentance was the result of their belief and determination to join the Christian community, which was then sealed by their baptism.

. And of those who practiced sorcery, quite a few gathered their books and burned them in front of everyone, and added up their prices, and they turned out to be fifty thousand. drachmas.

"Gathering Your Books", in which the methods for producing various sorceries and spells were recorded, the spellcasters betrayed them to a public solemn burning. This original bonfire for the crowd was the best sermon about the power of Christ, especially in view of the value of the burnt - 50,000 silver. The descriptor does not indicate what kind of coin this amount was. But, undoubtedly, in the Greek trading city then they considered "drachma oh" 20-25 k. Consequently, more accurately, this amount was about 10,000-12,500 rubles for our money.

. When this was done, Paul decided in the spirit, having passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying: Having been there, I must also see Rome.

"Having passed Macedonia and Achaia, go to Jerusalem". From the epistles of the apostle (1 Cor. 16 and d.;; Rom. 15 and d.) it is clear that this path of the apostle was accompanied by the gathering of mercy for the Palestinian Church, which he further pointed out in his speech ().

"I must see Rome too". This intention of Paul the Lord later approved Himself, as consistent with His will ().

. And, having sent to Macedonia two of those who served him, Timothy and Erast, he himself stayed for a while in Asia.

"Sending Timothy and Erast"(), probably for the location of the Macedonians and for the collection of alms and for the collection itself.

. At that time there was no small rebellion against the way of the Lord:

"Rebellion Against the Way of the Lord"- against the preaching of the apostle and generally against Christianity (cf.).

. for a certain silversmith named Demetrius, who made the silver temples of Artemis and brought a considerable profit to the artists,

"Silver... Demetrius, who made silver temples"(i.e. models of them) "Artemis", the goddess of Ephesus, for sale to travelers and pilgrims of the city. The cult of Artemis was very widespread in Asia Minor. The temple of this goddess in Ephesus, burned by Herostratus on the birthday of Alexander the Great, was restored with such splendor that it was considered one of the seven wonders of the world. Small models of this temple and figurines of Diana were in great use among the worshipers of this goddess: they decorated rooms, they served as amulets during travels, etc. service to artists and artisans who were so easily roused to revolt.

. meanwhile, you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul, by his convictions, deceived a considerable number of people, saying that those made by human hands are not gods.

Remarkable here is the evidence of the success of Paul's preaching from the lips of his enemies, confirming what was said above ().

"Saying that things made by human hands are not gods". A wonderful expression of a pagan, showing that the pagan people identified the statues of the gods with the gods themselves or imagined that the gods live in these statues (cf.;, 10 etc.).

. And this threatens us with the fact that not only our craft will come into contempt, but also the temple of the great goddess Artemis will mean nothing, and the greatness of the one that all Asia and the universe honors will be overthrown.

"All Asia and the Universe", - that is, the entire Greco-Roman world.

. When they heard this, they were filled with rage and began to shout, saying: Great is Artemis of Ephesus!

“They were in such a state, as if with their cry they wanted to restore her veneration and destroy everything that Paul had done” (Chrysostom).

. And the whole city was filled with confusion. Grabbing the Macedonians Gaius and Aristarchus, Pavlov's companions, they unanimously rushed to the spectacle.

"Having seized the Macedonians ... Pavlov's companions". Paul, as can be seen both from this and from what follows, was not found by the rebels.

One of these satellites - Gaius, it seems - should be distinguished from Gaius Dervyanin, mentioned below (); the other - Aristarchus from Thessalonica - is mentioned.

"Let's go to the spectacle..."- in the premises of the city theater, which usually served as a place for large public gatherings.

. Likewise, some of the chiefs of Asia, being his friends, sent to him and asked him not to appear at the spectacle.

"Some of the Asian Chiefs"- these were elected from the cities to arrange solemn games in honor of the gods and the emperor. These elected elected from among themselves ten members-managers and leaders of the games. Some of them, being personally disposed towards the apostle, although not yet Christians, begged Paul "don't show up", fearing, like his disciples, for his life from the rebellious crowd. The apostle himself showed in this case the great courage and fortitude of a true warrior of Christ, who rushed to the crowd enraged against him.

. Meanwhile, some shouted one thing, and others another, for the meeting was disorderly, and most gathered didn't know why they were there.

“Some shouted one thing, and others another ... and most did not know why they had gathered”- a characteristic image of the stupidity of such rebellious crowd gatherings. That something was going on in the theater against Paul and his companions, more or less everyone knew it (“unanimously” -, “with one voice” -); but what exactly and for what here it is necessary to gather, "most" did not even understand.

. At the suggestion of the Jews, Alexander was summoned from among the people. Giving a sign with his hand, Alexander wanted to speak to the people.

“At the suggestion of the Jews, Alexander was summoned from the people”. Why - "at the suggestion of the Jews"? for what purpose? Who is this Alexander and what did he mean to say? The explanations are not the same. It is believed that this Alexander, a Jew by origin and religion (), was exposed by the Jews out of fear that, during this popular indignation against Christians, the Jews would not mix with them and subject the latter to the same punishment with Christians, especially since the Jews were known as enemies of idols. The trick failed, and only served to harm the Jews; the people did not even want to listen to the speeches of the Jew, expressing their complete contempt for the Jews in general. Others believe, however, that this Alexander was a Jewish Christian, intending to speak in defense of Paul and the Christians; but he was summoned at the suggestion of his treacherous and malevolent fellow tribesmen, only to make him a victim of the people's fury. Saint Chrysostom also conjectures that Alexander the Jew wanted to speak in order to kindle even more the fury of the people against the Christians. If so, then here, too, the Jews quite deservedly paid for their treachery with the contempt of the crowd expressed against them.

. The guardian of order, having calmed the people, said: men of Ephesus! what person does not know that the city of Ephesus is the servant of the great goddess Artemis and Diopet?

. If there is no dispute about this, then you need to be calm and not act rashly.

. And you brought these men, who neither robbed the temple of Artemidin, nor blasphemed your goddess.

. If Demetrius and other artists with him have a complaint against someone, then there are court meetings and there are proconsuls: let them complain about each other.

. And if you're looking for something else, it'll be decided in the legal assembly.

. For we are in danger - for what has happened now - of being accused of indignation, since there is no reason by which we could justify such a gathering. Having said this, he dismissed the meeting.

"Guardian of Order"- actually a scribe or scribe - γραμματεύς, - something like a city secretary ( γραμματεύς ο τῆς πόλεως ), whose duties were to draw up official papers, promulgate public affairs, read them in public meetings or report, store all kinds of written documents, etc. In his speech to the people, this “secretary” indicates, first of all, that the cult of Artemis stands firmly in Ephesus and the companions of Paul taken by the people cannot be accused of directly insulting him (35-37). In the absence of, so to speak, corpus delicti, it should also be taken into account that there are legitimate authorities and a certain procedure for handling legitimate complaints (38-39). Finally, if all these conditions are not observed, the people themselves run the risk of being in the position of defendants for indignation (40). Such reasonable, skillful arguments cooled the ardor of the meeting, and it dispersed without any incident.

"Diopet" - fallen from Zeus. This name means the statue of Artemis in the Ephesian temple, since, according to folk legend, it fell from the sky - from Zeus.

Listen to the ACTS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES chapter 19 online

1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the upper countries and came to Ephesus, and finding there some disciples,

2 He said to them, Have you received the Holy Spirit by believing? They said to him: We have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.

3 He said to them, What were you baptized into? They answered: in John's baptism.

4 Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in him who would come after him, that is, in Christ Jesus.

5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,

6 And when Paul laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak with other tongues and prophesy.

7 There were about twelve of them in all.

8 Arriving at the synagogue, he preached fearlessly for three months, talking and testifying about the kingdom of God.

9 But as some were hardened and did not believe, slandering the way of the Lord before the people, he left them and separated the disciples, and preached daily in the school of a certain Tyrannus.

10 This went on for up to two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia heard the sermon about the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

11 But God did many miracles through the hands of Paul,

12 so that handkerchiefs and aprons from his body were placed on the sick, and their diseases ceased, and evil spirits went out of them.

13 Even some of the wandering Jewish exorcists began to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, We conjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches.

14 This was done by some seven sons of the Jewish high priest Skeva.

15 But the evil spirit answered and said, I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?

16 And a man in whom there was an evil spirit rushed at them, and overpowering them, took such power over them that they, naked and beaten, ran out of that house.

17 This became known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

18 But many of those who believed came, confessing and revealing their deeds.

19 And of those who practiced sorcery, quite a few gathered their books and burned them before everyone, and added up their prices, and they turned out to be fifty thousand drachmas.

20 With such power did the word of the Lord grow and grow.

Paul in Ephesus. Artist G. Dore

21 When this was done, Paul determined in the spirit, having passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, Having been there, I must also see Rome.

22 And having sent to Macedonia two of those who served him, Timothy and Erast, he himself remained for a time in Asia.

Paul in Ephesus. Painter Eustache Lesueur 1649

23 At that time there was no small rebellion against the way of the Lord,

24 for there was a certain silversmith named Demetrius, who made the silver temples of Artemis and made a great profit for the artists,

25 Gathering them and other similar artisans, he said: Friends! you know that our well-being depends on this craft;

26 meanwhile, you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but almost in all of Asia, this Paul, by his convictions, corrupted a considerable number of people, saying that those made by human hands are not gods.

27 And this threatens us with the fact that not only our craft will come into contempt, but the temple of the great goddess Artemis will mean nothing, and the greatness of the one that honors all of Asia and the universe will be overthrown.

28 When they heard this, they were filled with rage and began to shout, saying: Great is Artemis of Ephesus!

29 And the whole city was filled with confusion. Grabbing the Macedonians Gaius and Aristarchus, Pavlov's companions, they unanimously rushed to the spectacle.

30 But when Paul wanted to enter the people, the disciples would not let him in.

31 Also, some of the leaders of Asia, being his friends, sent to him and asked him not to appear on the spectacle.

32 Meanwhile, some shouted one thing, and others another, for the meeting was disorderly, and most of those assembled did not know why they had gathered.

33 At the suggestion of the Jews, Alexander was called out of the people. Giving a sign with his hand, Alexander wanted to speak to the people.

34 When they learned that he was a Jew, they all shouted with one voice, and for about two hours they shouted: great is Artemis of Ephesus!

35 And the guardian of order, calming the people, said: Men of Ephesus! what person does not know that the city of Ephesus is the servant of the great goddess Artemis and Diopet?

36 But if there is no dispute about this, then you need to be calm and not act rashly.

37 And you brought these men, who neither robbed the temple of Artemidin, nor blasphemed your goddess.

38 But if Demetrius and the other artists with him have a complaint against someone, then there are judicial assemblies and there are proconsuls: let them complain against each other.

39 And if you're looking for something else, it will be decided in the legal assembly.

40 For we are in danger, because of what has now happened, of being accused of indignation, since there is no reason by which we could justify such a gathering. Having said this, he dismissed the meeting.