Acts 19:35

“And when the town clerk had appeased the people, etc.] Caused them to cease their loud outcry, so as that he could be heard. This person seems to have been more than a “town clerk”, as we render it; or a common “scribe”, as the Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions render it; rather as the Syriac version, “a chief man of the city”; the Septuagint interpreters in (<020506>Exodus 5:6) use the word for the Egyptian officers that were over the Israelites; and the Babylonians used to call the priest of f986 Isis by this name; and according to some learned men, this man’s office was to register the conquerors’ names, and their rewards in the theatre; and who was chosen into this office by…”

“when the town-clerk--keeper of the public archives, and a magistrate of great authority. had appeased--"calmed." the people--"the multitude," which the very presence of such an officer would go far to do. he said . . . what man . . . knoweth not that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana--literally, the neocoros or "warden." The word means "temple-sweeper"; then, "temple-guardian." Thirteen cities of Asia had an interest in the temple, but Ephesus was honored with the charge of it. (Various cities have claimed this title with reference to the Virgin or certain saints) [WEBSTER and WILKINSON]. and of the image which fell down from Jupiter--"from the sky" or…”

“And when the town-clerk - ὁ γραμματέυς ho grammateus. The scribe; the secretary. This word is often used in the Bible, and is commonly translated “scribe,” and is applied to “public notaries in the synagogues; to clerks; to those who transcribed books, and hence, to men skilled in the law or in any kind of learning.” Compare 2 Samuel 8:17; 2 Kings 12:11; Ezra 7:6, Ezra 7:11-12; Matthew 5:20; Matthew 12:38; Matthew 13:52; Matthew 15:1; Matthew 23:34; 1 Corinthians 1:20. It is, however, nowhere else applied to a pagan magistrate. It probably denoted “a recorder; or a transcriber of the laws; or a chancellor” (Kuinoel, Doddridge). This officer had a seat in their deliberative assemblies, and…”

“The register - Probably the chief governor of the public games. The image which fell down from Jupiter - They believed that very image of Diana, which stood in her temple, fell down from Jupiter in heaven. Perhaps he designed to insinuate, as if falling down from Jupiter, it was not made with hands, and so was not that sort of idols which Paul had said were no gods. Acts 19:37”

“19:35-41 The demonstration was finally quelled only when the mayor intervened and dismissed the assembly to prevent the city from being charged by the Roman government with rioting. This story demonstrates that Christians in the Roman world were entitled to legal due process. 19:35 The tradition that the image (statue) of Artemis had fallen from heaven might point to its having been carved from a meteor.”

“Ye men: Eph 2:12 a worshipper: Gr. the temple-keeper and of: Act 19:26; Th2 2:10, Th2 2:11; Ti1 4:2 Jupiter: Act 14:12, Act 14:13 Acts 19:36”