Acts 19:14

“And there were seven sons of one Sceva a Jew, etc.] Who strolled about the country, and used exorcisms: and chief of the priests; that were at Ephesus; not the high priest of the Jews, for he would have been at Jerusalem, and not at Ephesus; though indeed it does not necessarily follow from the words, that Sceva himself was there, only his seven sons: however, no such name appears in the catalogue of the Jewish high priests, nor is it reasonable to think, that seven sons of an high priest should follow such a vagabond course of life: Beza’s ancient copy only calls him “a priest”; and the Alexandrian copy reads his name, Sceuta, and the Ethiopic version omits it; it is the same with hawks,…”

“seven sons of . . . Sceva . . . chief of the priests--head, possibly, of one of the twenty-four courts.”

“One Sceva - Sceva is a Greek name, but nothing more is known of him. Chief of the priests - This cannot mean that he was high priest among the Jews, as it is wholly improbable that his sons would be wandering exorcists. But it denotes that he was of the sacerdotal order. He was a Jewish chief priest; a priest of distinction, and had held the office of a ruler. The word “chief priest,” in the New Testament, usually refers to men of the sacerdotal order who were also rulers in the Sanhedrin. return to 'Top of Page'”