the Second Week after Easter
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Contemporary English Version
Acts 19:19
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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.
Many also of them which vsed curious arts, brought their bookes together and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of siluer.
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.
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.
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.
Some of them who had used magic brought their magic books and burned them before everyone. Those books were worth about fifty thousand silver coins.
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.
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.
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.
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, it came to fifty thousand drachmas.
and a considerable number of those who had engaged in occult practices threw their scrolls in a pile and burned them in public. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, it came to fifty thousand drachmas.
And many of those that practised curious arts brought their books [of charms] and burnt them before all. And they reckoned up the prices of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
Some of them had used magic. These believers brought their magic books and burned them before everyone. These books were worth about 50,000 silver coins.
Many also of them which vsed curious artes, brought their bookes, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fiftie thousand pieces of siluer.
Many magicians also gathered together their books and brought them and burned them before the presence of the people; and they counted the price of them, and it amounted to fifty thousand pieces of silver.
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.
and many of those who practiced magic brought together their books and burned them up in the sight of everyone. And they counted up their value and found it was fifty thousand silver coins.
And many of the ones practicing the curious arts, bringing together the books, burned them before all. And they counted the prices of them, and found it to be fifty thousands of silver.
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.
And a great number of those who were experts in strange arts took their books and put them on the fire in front of everyone: and when the books were valued they came to fifty thousand bits of silver.
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 fifty thousand pieces of silver.
Moreover, many people who had practiced occult arts gathered their books and burned them in front of everybody. They estimated the price of them and found they were worth 50,000 silver coins.
Many also of the magicians collected their writings and brought and burned them before all men; and they reckoned the price of them, and it ascended to silver five myriads.
And also many magicians collected their books, and brought and burned them before every body: and they computed the cost of them, and it amounted to fifty thousand [fn] of silver.
Many also of the whiche vsed curious craftes, brought their bookes, & burned them before all men, and they counted the price of them, & founde it fiftie thousande peeces of syluer.
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.
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 fifty thousand pieces of silver.
Many also of those who had practised curious arts, bringing their books together, burnt them before all men, and they computed the value of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
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.
And manye of them that sueden curiouse thingis, brouyten togidere bookis, and brenneden hem bifor alle men; and whanne the prices of tho weren acountid, thei founden monei of fifti thousynd pens;
And not a few of those that did magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the price of them, and found it was $1 Million.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Many of those who did witchcraft gathered their books together and burned them in front of everyone. These books were worth 50,000 pieces of silver money.
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.
And, a good many of them who had practised the curious arts, bringing together the books, were burning them before all; and they reckoned up the prices of them, and found them fifty thousand pieces of silver.
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.
And a number of those who 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.
Many of the which vsed curious craftes brought their bokes and burned the before all men and they counted the price of the and foude it fifty thousande silverlynges.
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;
But many of them that had vsed curious craftes, broughte the bokes together, and burnte them openly: and they counted the pryce of them, and founde it of money fiftye thousande pens.
many that had practis'd magical arts, brought the books and publickly threw them into the fire: the value by computation amounting to fifty thousand pieces of silver.
Even some people who'd practiced witchcraft came forward and burned all their scrolls and books. The value of all the burned books and scrolls was several million dollars.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
used: Acts 8:9-11, Acts 13:6, Acts 13:8, Exodus 7:11, Exodus 7:22, Deuteronomy 18:10-12, 1 Samuel 28:7-9, 1 Chronicles 10:13, 2 Chronicles 33:6, Isaiah 8:19, Isaiah 47:12, Isaiah 47:13, Daniel 2:2
curious: וסיוסדב [Strong's G4021], curious, that is, magical arts, in which sense the word is used in the Greek writers. The study of magic was prosecuted with such zeal at Ephesus, that צוףיב [Strong's G2180], דסבללבפב [Strong's G1121], the Ephesian letters, certain charms, or words used in incantation, became much celebrated in antiquity.
and burned: Genesis 35:4, Exodus 32:20, Deuteronomy 7:25, Deuteronomy 7:26, Isaiah 2:20, Isaiah 2:21, Isaiah 30:22, Matthew 5:29, Matthew 5:30, Luke 14:33, Hebrews 10:34
fifty: Probably Attic drachms; which at 7, 1/2d. each, would amount to 1, 562£. 10s. or at, 9d. each, to 1, 875£.
Reciprocal: Exodus 7:12 - but Aaron's Exodus 22:18 - General Leviticus 13:52 - burn Leviticus 19:31 - General Acts 27:2 - Aristarchus
Cross-References
Please save my life by saying that you are my sister."
That evening the two angels arrived in Sodom, while Lot was sitting near the city gate. When Lot saw them, he got up, bowed down low,
Then he said, "Friends, please don't do such a terrible thing!
Then they struck everyone in the crowd blind, and none of them could even find the door.
Lot went to the men who were engaged to his daughters and said, "Hurry and get out of here! The Lord is going to destroy this city." But they thought he was joking, and they laughed at him.
At first, Lot just stood there. But the Lord wanted to save him. So the angels took Lot, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand and led them out of the city.
When they were outside, one of the angels said, "Run for your lives! Don't even look back. And don't stop in the valley. Run to the hills, where you will be safe."
Hurry! Run! I can't do anything until you are safely there." The town was later called Zoar because Lot had said it was small.
He destroyed those cities and everyone who lived in them, as well as their land and the trees and grass that grew there.
On the way, Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a block of salt.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Many also of them which used curious arts..... Magic arts, soothsaying, necromancy, conjuration, and the like, being convinced of the folly and wickedness of them:
brought their books together; by which they had learned these arts; Ephesus was famous for this sort of learning; here Apollonius Tyaneus, in the beginning of Nero's reign, opened a school and taught magic, and such like things: frequent mention is made of the Ephesian letters, which were no other than enchantments; and even Diana, the goddess of the Ephesians, is said to be a magician k:
and burned them before all men; to show their detestation of them, and the truth and genuineness of their repentance for their former sins; and that these books might not be a snare to them for the future, nor be made use of by others:
and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver; which is thought to answer to one thousand five hundred sixty two pounds and ten shillings of our money; reckoning a piece of silver, an Attic drachma; for such might be the silver pieces at Ephesus, a city of Greece, and which was of the value of our money seven pence halfpenny; but if Luke meant by pieces of silver, shekels, according to the Jewish way, :- then the sum is much larger, for a shekel was about two shillings and six pence of our money; so that fifty thousand pieces of silver, amount to six thousand two hundred and fifty pounds; a large sum indeed for magic books! some manuscripts read "gold" instead of "silver", which must greatly increase the value.
k Tatian. contr. Graecos, p. 147.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Curious arts - Arts or practices requiring skill, address, cunning. The word used here (περίεργα perierga) denotes properly “those things that require care or skill,” and was thus applied to the arts of “magic, jugglery, and sleight of hand” that were practiced so extensively in Eastern countries. That such arts were practiced at Ephesus is well known. The Ephesian letters, by which incantations and charms were supposed to be produced, were much celebrated. They seem to have consisted of certain combinations of letters or words, which, by being pronounced with certain intonations of voice, were believed to be effectual in expelling diseases, or evil spirits; or which, by being written on parchment and worn, were supposed to operate as amulets, or charms, to guard from evil spirits or from danger. Thus, Plutarch (Sympos., 7) says, “The magicians compel those who are possessed with a demon to recite and pronounce the Ephesian letters, in a certain order, by themselves.” Thus, Clemens Alex. (Strom. ii.) says, “Androcydes, a Pythagorean, says that the letters which are called Ephesian, and which are so celebrated, are symbols, etc.” Erasmus says (Adagg. Cent., 2) that there were certain marks and magical words among the Ephesians, by using which they succeeded in every undertaking. Eustath. a.d. Homer, Odyssey τ, says “that those letters were incantations which Croesus used when on the funeral pile, and which greatly befriended him.” He adds that, in the war between the Milesians and Ephesians, the latter were thirteen times saved from ruin by the use of these letters. See Grotius and Kuinoel.
Brought their books - Books which explained the arts, or which contained the magical forms and incantations - perhaps pieces of parchment, on which were written the letters which were to be used in the incantations and charms.
And burned them before all men - Publicly. Their arts and offences had been public, and they sought now to undo the evil, as much as lay in their power, as extensively as they had done it.
And they counted - The price was estimated. By whom this was done does not appear. Probably it was not done by those who had been engaged in this business, and who had suffered the loss, but by the people, who were amazed at the sacrifice, and who were astonished at their folly in thus destroying their own property.
Fifty thousand pieces of silver - What coin the word ἀργυρίου arguriou here translated “silver” denotes, it is impossible to tell, and consequently the precise value of this sacrifice cannot be ascertained. If it refers to the Jewish shekel, the sum would be 25,000 (about 5,420 British pounds), since the shekel was worth about half a dollar (circa 1880’s). If it refers to Grecian or Roman coin - which is much more probable, as this was a pagan country, where the Jewish coin would not, probably, be much used the value would be much less. Probably, however, it refers to the Attic drachma, which was a silver coin worth about 9d. sterling, or not far from 17 cents, and then the value would be about 8,500 (1,875 British pounds). The precise value is not material. It was a large sum; and it is recorded to show that Christianity had power to induce people to forsake arts that were most lucrative, and to destroy the means of extending and perpetuating those arts, however valuable in a pecuniary point of view they might be. We are to remember, however, that this was not the intrinsic value of these books, but only their value as books of incantation. In themselves they might have been of very little worth. The universal prevalence of Christianity would make much that is now esteemed valuable pro, retry utterly worthless, as, for example, all that is used in gambling, in fraud, in counterfeiting, in distilling ardent spirits for drink, in the slave-trade, and in attempts to impose on and defraud mankind.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Acts 19:19. Which used curious arts — ταπεριεργα. From the use of this word in the Greek writers, we know that it signified magical arts, sorceries, incantations, c. Ephesus abounded with these. Dio Cassius, speaking of the Emperor Adrian, says, Ὁ Αδριανος περιεργοτατος ην και μαντειαις και μαγγανειαις παντοδαπαις εχρητο. "Adrian was exceedingly addicted to curious arts, and practised divination and magic." These practices prevailed in all nations of the earth.
Brought their books together — The Εφεσια γραμματα, or Ephesian characters, are celebrated in antiquity they appear to have been amulets, inscribed with strange characters, which were carried about the body for the purpose of curing diseases, expelling demons, and preserving from evils of different kinds. The books brought together on this occasion were such as taught the science, manner of formation, use, c., of these charms.
Suidas, under Εφεσια γραμματα, Ephesian letters, gives us the following account. "Certain obscure incantations.-When Milesius and Ephesius wrestled at the Olympic games, Milesius could not prevail, because his antagonist had the Ephesian letters bound to his heels when this was discovered, and the letters taken away, it is reported that Milesius threw him thirty times."
The information given by Hesychius is still more curious: Εφεσια γραμματα. ην μεν παλαι Ϛ'· ὑϚερον δε προσεθεσαν τινες απατεωνες και αλλα· φασι δε των πρωτων τα ονοματα, ταδε ΑΣΚΙΟΝ, ΚΑΤΑΣΚΙΟΝ, ΛΙΞ, ΤΕΤΡΑΞ, ΔΑΜΝΑΜΕΝΕΥΣ, ΑΙΣΙΟΝ· Δηλοι δε, το μεν Ασκιον, σκοτος· το δε Κατα σκιον, φως· το δε Λιξ, γη· τετραξ δε, ενιαυτος· Δαμναμενευς δε, ἡλιος· Αισιον δε, αληθες. Ταυτα ουν ἱερα εϚι και ἁγια. "The Ephesian letters or characters were formerly six, but certain deceivers added others afterwards; and their names, according to report, were these: ASKION, KATASKION, LIX, TETRAX, DAMNAMENEUS, and AISlON. It is evident that Askion signifies DARKNESS; Kataskion, LIGHT; Lix, the EARTH; Tetrax, the YEAR; Damnameneus, the SUN; and Aision, TRUTH. These are holy and sacred things." The same account may be seen in Clemens Alexandrinus; Strom. lib. v. cap. 8, where he attempts to give the etymology of these different terms. These words served, no doubt, as the keys to different spells and incantations; and were used in order to the attainment of a great variety of ends. The Abraxas of the Basilidians, in the second century, were formed on the basis of the Ephesian letters; for those instruments of incantation, several of which are now before me, are inscribed with a number of words and characters equally as unintelligible as the above, and in many cases more so.
Then it is said they brought their books together, we are to understand the books which treated of these curious arts; such as the Εφεσια γραμματα, or Ephesian characters.
And burned them before all — These must have been thoroughly convinced of the truth of Christianity, and of the unlawfulness of their own arts.
Fifty thousand pieces of silver. — Some think that the αργυριον, which we translate piece of silver, means a shekel, as that word is used Matthew 26:16, where see the note; 50,000 shekels, at 3s., according to Dean Prideaux's valuation, (which is that followed throughout this work,) would amount to 7,500£.
But, as this was a Roman and not a Jewish country, we may rationally suppose that the Jewish coin was not here current; and that the αργυριον, or silver coin, mentioned by St. Luke, must have been either Greek or Roman; and, it is very likely that the sestertius is meant, which was always a silver coin, about the value, according to Arbuthnot, of two-pence, or 1d. 3q3/4., which answers to the fourth part of a denarius, rated by the same author at 7 3/4d. Allowing this to be the coin intended, the 50,000 sestertii would amount to 403£. 12s. 11d.
The Vulgate reads, denariorum quinquaginta millium, fifty thousand denarii, which, at 7 3/4 d., will amount to 1,614£. 11s. 8d. The reading of the Itala version of the Codex Bezae is very singular, Denariorum sestertia ducenta. "Two hundred sesterces of denarii;" which may signify no more than "two hundred sestertii of Roman money:" for in this sense denarius is certainly used by Cicero, Orat. pro Quint.; where ad denarium solvere, means to pay in Roman money, an expression similar to our word sterling. This sum would amount to no more than 1£. 12s. 3 1/2d. But that which is computed from the sestertius is the most probable amount.
