Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. New Living Translation A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars. English Standard Version And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. Berean Standard Bible And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of the books was calculated, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. Berean Literal Bible and many of those having practiced the magic arts, having brought the books, burned them before all. And they counted up the prices of them and found it five myriads of silverlings. King James Bible Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. New King James Version Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. New American Standard Bible And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they added up the prices of the books and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver. NASB 1995 And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. NASB 1977 And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of all; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. Legacy Standard Bible And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and were burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. Amplified Bible And many of those who had practiced magical arts collected their books and [throwing book after book on the pile] began burning them in front of everyone. They calculated their value and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver. Christian Standard Bible while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver. Holman Christian Standard Bible while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver. American Standard Version And not a few of them that practised magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. Aramaic Bible in Plain English Many sorcerers also gathered their books and brought and burned them before everyone and they calculated their price, and it came up to fifty thousand silver pieces. Contemporary English Version Some who had been practicing witchcraft even brought their books and burned them in public. These books were worth about 50,000 silver coins. Douay-Rheims Bible And many of them who had followed curious arts, brought together their books, and burnt them before all; and counting the price of them, they found the money to be fifty thousand pieces of silver. English Revised Version And not a few of them that practised curious arts brought their books together, and burned them in the sight of all: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. GOD'S WORD® Translation Many of those who were involved in the occult gathered their books and burned them in front of everyone. They added up the cost of these books and found that they were worth 50,000 silver coins. Good News Translation Many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in public. They added up the price of the books, and the total came to fifty thousand silver coins. International Standard Version Moreover, many people who had practiced occult arts gathered their books and burned them in front of everybody. They estimated their value and found them to have been worth 50,000 silver coins. Literal Standard Version and many of those who had practiced the superfluous arts, having brought the scrolls together, were burning [them] before all; and they reckoned together the prices of them, and found [it] fifty thousand pieces of silver, Majority Standard Bible And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of the books was calculated, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. New American Bible Moreover, a large number of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in public. They calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand silver pieces. NET Bible Large numbers of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them up in the presence of everyone. When the value of the books was added up, it was found to total fifty thousand silver coins. New Revised Standard Version A number of those who practiced magic collected their books and burned them publicly; when the value of these books was calculated, it was found to come to fifty thousand silver coins. New Heart English Bible Many of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. They counted the price of them, and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver. Webster's Bible Translation Many also of them who used curious arts, brought their books together, and burned them before all men; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. Weymouth New Testament and not a few of those who had practised magical arts brought their books together and burnt them in the presence of all. The total value was reckoned and found to be 50,000 silver coins. World English Bible Many of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. They counted their price, and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver. Young's Literal Translation and many of those who had practised the curious arts, having brought the books together, were burning them before all; and they reckoned together the prices of them, and found it five myriads of silverlings; Additional Translations ... Audio Bible Context The Sons of Sceva…18Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds. 19And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of the books was calculated, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. 20So the word of the Lord powerfully continued to spread and prevail.… Cross References Luke 15:8 Or what woman who has ten silver coins and loses one of them does not light a lamp, sweep her house, and search carefully until she finds it? Acts 8:9 Prior to that time, a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and astounded the people of Samaria. He claimed to be someone great, Acts 19:18 Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds. Treasury of Scripture Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. used. Acts 8:9-11 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: … Acts 13:6,8 And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus: … Exodus 7:11,22 Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments… curious. and burned. Genesis 35:4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. Exodus 32:20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. Deuteronomy 7:25,26 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God… fifty. Jump to Previous Arts Bits Books Burned Burnt Counted Curious Drachmas Experts Few Fifty Fire Found Front Great Magic Pieces Practiced Practised Presence Price Publicly Reckoned Scrolls Sight Silver Sorcery Thousand Together Total Used Value ValuedJump to Next Arts Bits Books Burned Burnt Counted Curious Drachmas Experts Few Fifty Fire Found Front Great Magic Pieces Practiced Practised Presence Price Publicly Reckoned Scrolls Sight Silver Sorcery Thousand Together Total Used Value ValuedActs 19 1. The Holy Spirit is given by Paul's hands.8. The Jews blaspheme his doctrine, which is confirmed by miracles. 13. The Jewish exorcists, 16. are beaten by a man who had an evil spirit. 19. Conjuring books are burnt. 21. Demetrius, for love of gain, raises an uproar against Paul; 35. which is appeased by the town clerk. (19) Many of them also which used curious arts . . .--The Greek word expresses the idea of superstitious arts, overbusy with the supposed secrets of the invisible world. These arts were almost, so to speak, the specialite of Ephesus. Magicians and astrologers swarmed in her streets (comp. the reference to them as analogous to the magicians at the court of Pharaoh in 2Timothy 3:8), and there was a brisk trade in the charms, incantations, books of divination, rules for interpreting dreams, and the like, such as have at all times made up the structure of superstition. The so-called "Ephesian spells" (grammata Ephesia) were small slips of parchment in silk bags, on which were written strange cabalistical words, of little or of lost meaning. The words themselves are given by Clement of Alexandria (Strom. v., c. 46), and he interprets them, though they are so obscure as to baffle the conjectures of philology, as meaning Darkness and Light, the Earth and the Year, the Sun and Truth. They were probably a survival of the old Phrygian cultus of the powers of Nature which had existed prior to the introduction of the Greek name of Artemis. And burned them before all men.--This, then, was the result of the two sets of facts recorded in Acts 19:12; Acts 19:16. The deep-ingrained superstition of the people was treated, as it were, hom?opathically. Charms and names were allowed to be channels of renovation, but were shown to be so by no virtue of their own, but only as being media between the Divine power on the one hand and the faith of the receiver on the other; and so the disease was cured. The student of the history of Florence cannot help recalling the analogous scene in that city, when men and women, artists and musicians, brought the things in which they most delighted--pictures, ornaments, costly dresses--and burnt them in the Piazza of St. Mark at the bidding of Savonarola. The tense of the verb implies that the "burning" was continuous, but leaves it uncertain whether it was an oft-repeated act or one that lasted for some hours. In this complete renunciation of the old evil past we may probably see the secret of the capacity for a higher knowledge which St. Paul recognises as belonging to Ephesus more than to most other churches. (See Note on Acts 20:27.) Fifty thousand pieces of silver.--The coin referred to was the Attic drachma, usually estimated at about 8�d. of English money, and the total amount answers, accordingly, to 1, 770 17s. 6d., as the equivalent in coin. In its purchasing power, as determined by the prevalent rate of wages (a denarius or drachma for a day's work), it was probably equivalent to a much larger sum. Such books fetched what might be called "fancy" prices, according to their supposed rareness, or the secrets to which they professed to introduce. Often, it may be, a book was sold as absolutely unique. Verse 19. - And not a few for many... also, A.V.; that practiced for which used A.V.; in the sight of all for before all men, A.V. That practiced curious arts (τῶν τὰ περίεργα πραξάντων). The adjective περίεργος applied to persons means "a busybody" (1 Timothy 5:13), one who does what it is not his business to do, and pries into matters with which he has no concern (comp. 2 Thessalonians 3:11); applied to things, it means that which it is not anybody's business to attend to, that which is vain and superfluous; and then, by a further extension of meaning, that which is forbidden, and specially magic arts and occult sciences. Fifty thousand pieces of silver. There is a difference of opinion as to what coin or weight is meant. If Greek coinage, which is perhaps natural in a Greek city, fifty thousand drachmae of silver would be meant, equal to £1875, If Jewish shekels are meant, the sum would amount to £7000 ('Speaker's Commentary'). It is in favor of drachmae being meant that, with the exception of Joshua 7:21 and Judges 17:2, the LXX. always express the word "shekel" or "didrachm" after the numeral and before the word "silver." If St. Luke, therefore, had meant shekels, he would have written δίδραχμα ἀργυρίου But it was the Greek usage to omit the word δραχμή before ἀργυρίου when the reckoning was by drachmae (Meyer).Parallel Commentaries ... Greek Andδὲ (de) Conjunction Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc. a number ἱκανοὶ (hikanoi) Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural Strong's 2425: From hiko; competent, i.e. Ample or fit. of those who τῶν (tōn) Article - Genitive Masculine Plural Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the. had practiced πραξάντων (praxantōn) Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Genitive Masculine Plural Strong's 4238: To do, perform, accomplish; be in any condition, i.e. I fare; I exact, require. magic arts περίεργα (perierga) Adjective - Accusative Neuter Plural Strong's 4021: From peri and ergon; working all around, i.e. Officious. brought συνενέγκαντες (synenenkantes) Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural Strong's 4851: From sun and phero; to bear together, i.e. to collect, or to conduce; especially advantage. [their] τὰς (tas) Article - Accusative Feminine Plural Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the. books βίβλους (biblous) Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural Strong's 976: Properly, the inner bark of the papyrus plant, i.e. a sheet or scroll of writing. [and] burned [them] κατέκαιον (katekaion) Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Strong's 2618: To burn up, consume entirely. From kata and kaio; to burn down, i.e. Consume wholly. in front of ἐνώπιον (enōpion) Preposition Strong's 1799: Neuter of a compound of en and a derivative of optanomai; in the face of. everyone. πάντων (pantōn) Adjective - Genitive Masculine Plural Strong's 3956: All, the whole, every kind of. Including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole. [When] καὶ (kai) Conjunction Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely. the τὰς (tas) Article - Accusative Feminine Plural Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the. value τιμὰς (timas) Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural Strong's 5092: A price, honor. From tino; a value, i.e. Money paid, or valuables; by analogy, esteem, or the dignity itself. of [the books] αὐτῶν (autōn) Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Feminine 3rd Person Plural Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons. was calculated, συνεψήφισαν (synepsēphisan) Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Strong's 4860: To compute, reckon up, count together. From sun and psephizo; to compute jointly. [it came to] εὗρον (heuron) Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Strong's 2147: A prolonged form of a primary heuro, which heureo is used for it in all the tenses except the present and imperfect to find. fifty thousand πέντε (pente) Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural Strong's 4002: Five. A primary number; 'five'. drachmas. ἀργυρίου (argyriou) Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular Strong's 694: Neuter of a presumed derivative of arguros; silvery, i.e. cash; specially, a silverling. Links Acts 19:19 NIVActs 19:19 NLT Acts 19:19 ESV Acts 19:19 NASB Acts 19:19 KJV Acts 19:19 BibleApps.com Acts 19:19 Biblia Paralela Acts 19:19 Chinese Bible Acts 19:19 French Bible Acts 19:19 Catholic Bible NT Apostles: Acts 19:19 Many of those who practiced magical arts (Acts of the Apostles Ac) |
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