BIBLE STUDY: OBSERVATION (Acts 19:11-22)

By Moises Alaniz, Health & Wellness Coach

• Read Acts 19:11-22 in both a formal translation (NASB, NRSV, ESV, or CSB)

  and a functional translation (NIV, NLT, or NCV).

• Having read the passage in both formal and functional translation, here are at least 2 similarities and 3 differences between the way both translations cover this story.

  • Similarity – Both translations annotate the God created extraordinary miracles, through Paul, that inanimate objects were used to help heal the sick and drive out evil spirits.

  
  

  • Similarity – Both versions in that the evil spirit know Jesus and recognizes Paul, but do not know who the sons of Sceva were. 

  
  

  • Difference – In the ESV, it simply states that the man with the evil spirit overpowered them and fled, while wounded; however, the NIV expresses that the evil-spirited man beating the seven men so bad the ran off naked and bleeding.

  
  

  • Difference – In both versions, people were converted into believers and made the choice to destroy the old ways.  The ESV described individuals, who practiced magic arts, burn their books for publicly, while the NIV describes magic arts as sorcery (black magic) and they destroyed their scrolls publicly.

  
  

  • Difference - When destroying the scrolls, the ESV valued all the destroyed books at fifty thousand pieces of silver, whereas the NIV was more specific to drachmas (ancient Greek currency).

• Identify the basic elements of the story you are studying.

  
  

  • Main characters:

    • God, Paul, Seven sons of Sceva, Evil Spirit, Residents of Ephesus

  
  

  • Plot:

    •  God displays His miraculous wonders through Paul, to include healing through the items he touched.  Attempting to imitate Paul, the sevens sons of Sceva invoke Jesus’ name without genuine faith and are violently confronted and attacked by an evil spirit. This news spread fear to the people of Ephesus, leading many to turn from their sins, burn their valued magic teachings, and repent.  As a result, the word of the Lord continues to influence and spread across the region.

  
  

  • Story structure:

    • Introduction: In Ephesus, God works through Paul by performing miracles, including healing the sick through items that he touched.

  
  

  • Inciting Incident: The seven sons of Sceva (Jewish exorcists) attempted to replicate Paul’s works by invoking Jesus’ name under false faith.

  
  

  • Rising Action: An evil spirit confronts the Jewish exorcists, acknowledging Jesus and Paul’s authority but rejects theirs.  This led to their violent attack.

  
  

  • Climax: Fear spread amongst the people of Ephesus after the incident.

  
  

  • Falling Action: Many individuals renounce their ways, burn their teachings, and repent.

  
  

  • Resolution: The Lords word continued to spread and grow within the region.

• Basic observations about this passage.

• Who:

  •  Primary Figures

    • God

      • (God used Paul as a vessel of to perform the miracles for the residents of Ephesus)

    • Paul

      
      

  • Secondary Figures

    • Seven sons of Sceva

      • (They were traveling Jewish exorcists)

    • The evil spirit

      • (Possessed a man and the man is unnamed.  The evil spirit worked through the man as a vessel)

        
        

  • Background Figures

    • Luke (author)

      • (Not mention in the passage but is claimed to author the book of Acts (Hinds and Towns, p.395))

    • Residents of Ephesus

      • (The city of Ephesus was a part of Paul’s third missionary trip to spread the Lord’s word and miracles (Hinds and Towns, p.405))

    • Timothy

    • Erastus

• What:

  • Paul is on his third missionary trip and landed in the city of Ephesus where God works miracles through Paul by healing the sick and exorcising demons.  Great wonders included the healing the sick through the items Paul touched.

  
  

  • Seven sons of Sceva were traveling exorcists that arrived in Ephesus and attempted to mimic Paul’s miracles by invoking the name of Jesus.  However, their actions were not genuine in faith and faced the repercussions of their actions by being viciously attacked by a man possessed with an evil spirit.

    
    

  • Fear and awe of God spread to all the people of Ephesus that have herd and witnessed the incident of the seven sons of Sceva.  This caused the people to turn from the unrighteous ways, burn their valued teachings, and repent their sins.

  
  

  • The good word of the Lord spread throughout the capital of Asia Minor and continued to grow in the region.

  
  

• Where:

  • The city of Ephesus

    • (Capital of Asia Minor (Hinds and Towns, p.453))

      
      

  • Home of the possessed man with an evil spirit.

    
    

  • Macedonia, Achaia, and Jerusalem

    • (After the incident in Ephesus, Paul mentions his route of his third missionary, which included the regions of Macedonia and Achaia back to Jerusalem.)

• When:

  • This passage took place about around 60-62 AD

    • (This is an estimate of about thirty years are the death and resurrection of Jesus.)

      
      

  • This passage is estimated to take place prior to Paul’s imprisonment.

    • (In Ephesians 3:1, Paul writes in his letter “For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles -” (ESV))

• Why:

  • Why did God use Paul to perform miracles in Ephesus?

    • This passage emphasizes that Paul is not the main character of the story, but empowered by God to spread the gospel message in the surrounding regions in hopes to redeem the sinful.  Paul is used as an example that one can do heinous acts of violence and can be redeemed by God, only if truth faith is in the heart.  The miracles demonstrated God’s power over the physically ill and spiritually possessed.

  
  

  • Why did the seven sons of Sceva invoke the name of Jesus towards an evil spirit?

    • The action of the seven sons of Sceva corroborates those actions without genuine authority by God means nothing.  These itinerant Jewish exorcists treated the exorcism more as a magical ritual rather than divine intervention.  Words are empty without the authenticity given by God.

  
  

  • Why did the people of Ephesus get so scared?

    • The violent response of the evil spirit toward the unauthorized exorcists exposed the reality of the spiritual warfare and affirmed the authority of Jesus’ name.  This led many non-believers to be an awe of God’s power and repent their sins.  This was a drastic cultural shift from the Greek and Roman beliefs.  Many turned from the practices to follow Christ.

  
  

• How:

  • How did the evil Spirit react to the seven sons of Sceva’s command?

    • The evil spirit’s action did not display fear, yet it confused and malevolent to those that approach it.  However, it conceded to the authority of Jesus and the power through Paul, which afforded it the opportunity to commit violence to those around it – specifically to those that try to imitate God’s authority under false pretenses.

  
  

  • How did the residents of Ephesus react to the incident?

    • In awe of the evil spirit’s recognition of God’s power and to those he gives authority, many feared to fall victim to the evil spirits, as well.  Many were believers of dark magic and signified sacrifice and repentance by destroying their valuable books.

  
  

  • How did affect the spread of the gospel?

    • With the residents’ reaction to the incident and conversions to Christ, the people rejected their occult practices and turned to the truth of God.  Moreover, the word of the Lord spread throughout Asia Minor and along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

Bibliography

Bible Gateway. (2011). Acts 19: New International Version (NIV). Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+19&version=NIV

Crossway. (2008). The Acts of the Apostles. In The ESV Study Bible: The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (Ser. ESV Study Bible, pp. 2126–2127). essay.

Hindson, Ed and Elmer L. Towns. Illustrated Bible Survey: An Introduction. Nashville, TN:

B&H Academic, 2017.