Acts 19:33 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Acts 19:33
And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people.
Judæan · noun — genitive plural masculine, a people name
putting
προβαλόντωνprobalontōn
G4261
to throw forward · verb — second aorist active participle, genitive plural masculine
him
αὐτὸνauton
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
forward
προβάλλωprobállō
G4261
to throw forward
And
δὲde
G1161
but · conjunction
Alexander
ἈλέξανδροςAlexandros
G223
man-defender · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
beckoned
κατασείσαςkataseisas
G2678
to sway downward · verb — aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
hand
χεῖραcheira
G5495
the hand (literally or figuratively (power) · noun — accusative singular feminine
have
ἤθελενēthelen
G2309
to determine (as an active option from subjective impul… · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular
defence
ἀπολογεῖσθαιapologeisthai
G626
to give an account (legal plea) of oneself · verb — present middle or passive deponent infinitive
people
δήμῳ.dēmō
G1218
the public (as bound together socially) · noun — dative singular masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 12:17 But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he sai…
1 Timothy 1:20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.
2 Timothy 4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
Luke 1:22 And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, a…
Acts 13:16 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.
Acts 21:40-22:1 And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great sil…
Acts 24:10 Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge u…
Acts 26:1-2 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 19:21–end
I. Paul is here brought into some trouble at Ephesus, just when he is forecasting to go thence, and to cut out work for himself elsewhere. See here,
1. How he laid his purpose of going to other places, Act 19:21, Act 19:22. He was a man of vast designs for God, and was for making his influences as widely diffusive as might be. Having spent above two years at Ephesus, (1.) He designed a visit to the churches of Macedonia and Achaia, especially of Philippi and Corinth, the chief cities of those provinces, Act 19:21. There he had planted churches, and now is concerned to visit them. He purposed in the spirit, either in his own spirit, not communicating his purpose as yet, but keeping it to hims…
they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward--rather, "some of the multitude urged forward Alexander, the Jews thrusting him forward." As the blame of such a tumult would naturally be thrown upon the Jews, who were regarded by the Romans as the authors of all religious disturbances, they seem to have put forward this man to clear them of all responsibility for the riot. (BENGEL'S conjecture, that this was Alexander the coppersmith, Ti2 4:14, has little to support it).
beckoned with the hand--compare Act 13:16; Act 21:40.
would have made his defence--"offered to speak in defense."
Adam Clarke on Acts 19:33
They drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward - From this and the following verses it is pretty evident that this Alexander was brought forward on this occasion by the Jews, that he might make an oration to the multitude, in order to exculpate the Jews, who were often by the heathens confounded with the Christians; and cast the whole blame of the uproar upon Paul and his party. And he was probably chosen because he was an able speaker; and when he beckoned with his hand; to gain an audience, the Greeks, knowing that he was a Jew, and consequently as much opposed to the worship of Diana as Paul was, would not hear him; and therefore, to drown his apology, τῳ δημω, fo…
"And they drew Alexander," etc. This Alexander, why did he wish to plead? Was he accused? No, but it was to find an opportunity, and overturn the whole matter, and inflame the anger of the people.
"And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward." It was the Jews that thrust him forward; but as providence ordered it, this man did not speak. "And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people."
"Alexander therefore, beckoning with his hand for silence, would have given the people satisfaction. "Alexander, one of Paul's disciples, having obtained silence by a gesture of his hand, would have given satisfaction to the furious people. As soon as they perceived him to be a Jew, to stop him from saying anything against Diana, they proclaimed with a loud voice for two hours that great was Diana of the Ephesians. The town clerk, fearing that such a great uproar would throw the city into confusion, obtained silence and persuaded the people that, if Demetrius and his craftsmen raised a matter against any people, they should be heard by calm judges. Innocent men, who had not spoken anything against Diana, should not be put in danger of death. This reasoning was accepted and the whole uproar calmed. Then Paul, taking his leave of the disciples, set forward for Macedonia. After teaching numerous people there, he came to Greece. From there, walking through the neighboring countries, he came to Troas with his disciples, where they are known to have abided for seven days.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Alexander — Man-defender. (1.) A relative of Annas the high priest, present when Peter and John were examined before the Sanhedrim (Acts 4:6). (2.) A man whose father, Simon the Cyrenian, bore the cross of…
Diana — So called by the Romans; called Artemis by the Greeks, the “great” goddess worshipped among heathen nations under various modifications. Her most noted temple was that at Ephesus. It was built…
John, Third Epistle of — Is addressed to Caius, or Gaius, but whether to the Christian of that name in Macedonia (Acts 19: 29) or in Corinth (Rom. 16:23) or in Derbe (Acts 20:4) is uncertain. It was written for the purpose…
Alexander · 3. A Jew of Ephesus — 3. A Jew of Ephesus
Demetrius · 1. A silversmith, noted for raising a riot — 1. A silversmith, noted for raising a riot
Mob · At Ephesus — At Ephesus
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on Acts 19:33
And they drew Alexander out of the multitude,.... Or "some of the multitude brought forth Alexander"; into the theatre, in order to kill him, by casting him to the wild beasts. Some think this is the same with Alexander the coppersmith, who apostatized upon this danger he was exposed to, and became a blasphemer, and a great enemy of the apostle, and did him much evil, 1 Timothy 1:20. This man, though his name was a Greek name, yet was a Jew, as is expressed in Acts 19:34 and from the times of Alexander the great, who was at Jerusalem, this name became common among the Jews; See Gill on Acts 4:6.
The Jews putting him forward; being equally enemies to him, as being under a profession of Chris…
Acts 19:29-34
29. And all the city was full of confusion. And they rushed into the commonplace [theater] with one consent, having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions. 30. And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples would not suffer him. 31. And certain also of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, requesting him that he would not enter into the place, [theater]. 32. Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was out of order, and the more part knew not for what cause they came together. 33. And some of the company drew forth Alexander, the Jews thrusting him forward. And when Alexander had requi…
Some of the officials of the province (Greek Asiarchai, “rulers of Asia”): The “Asiarchs” were the appointed leaders in the Roman province of Asia. They served as civic benefactors and usually championed the emperor cult. Some of these officials in high places were friends of Paul—Luke highlights that Christianity was attractive to people of high standing in society.
