Acts 19:37

“For ye have brought hither these men, etc.] The Arabic version reads, “these two men”; that is, Gaius and Aristarchus, whom they had brought by force into the theatre to fight with wild beasts: which are neither robbers of churches; or “temples”; or, as the Arabic version renders it, “robbers of the vessels of the temple”, sacrilegious persons; they have not stolen anything out of the temple of Diana, nor any other: nor yet blasphemers of your goddess; they have not made mention of her name, much less said anything against her, at least this officer did not know that they had; and if he had, he did not stick to tell an officious lie to screen them, as did the Egyptian midwives in favour of…”

“For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches--"temple-plunderers," or sacrilegious persons. nor yet blasphemers of your goddess--This is a remarkable testimony, showing that the apostle had, in preaching against idolatry, studiously avoided (as at Athens) insulting the feelings of those whom he addressed--a lesson this to missionaries and ministers in general.”

“For ye ... - Demetrius and his friends. The blame was to be traced to them. Which are neither robbers of churches - The word “churches” we now apply to edifices reared for purposes of Christian worship. Since no such churches had then been built, this translation is unhappy, and is not at all demanded by the original. The Greek word ἱεροσύλους hierosulous is applied properly to those who commit sacrilege; who plunder temples of their sacred things. The meaning here is that Paul and his companions had not been guilty of robbing the temple of Diana, or any other temple. The charge of sacrilege could not be brought against them. Though they had preached against idols and idol worship, yet…”

“Nor blasphemers of your goddess - They simply declared the one God, and the vanity of idols in general. Acts 19:38”

“which: Act 25:8; Co1 10:32; Co2 6:3 Acts 19:38”