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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - Acts 19:33 - 19:33
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
And they brought Alexander out of the crowd (ek de tou ochlou sunebibasan Alexandron). The correct text (Aleph A B) has this verb sunebibasan (from sunbibazō, to put together) instead of proebibasan (from probibazō, to put forward). It is a graphic word, causal of bainō, to go, and occurs in Act 16:10; Col 2:19; Eph 4:16. Evidently some of the Jews grew afraid that the mob would turn on the Jews as well as on the Christians. Paul was a Jew and so was Aristarchus, one of the prisoners. The Jews were as strongly opposed to idolatry as were the Christians.
The Jews putting him forward (probalontōn auton tōn Ioudaiōn). Genitive absolute of the second aorist active participle of proballō, old verb to push forward as leaves in the spring (Luk 21:30). In the N.T. only in these two passages. Alexandria had already disgraceful scenes of Jew-baiting and there was real peril now in Ephesus with this wild mob. So Alexander was pushed forward as the champion to defend the Jews to the excited mob. He may be the same Alexander the coppersmith who did Paul much evil (2Ti 4:14), against whom Paul will warn Timothy then in Ephesus. “The Jews were likely to deal in the copper and silver required for the shrines, so he may have had some trade connexion with the craftsmen which would give him influence” (Furneaux).
Beckoned with the hand (kataseisas tān cheira). Old verb kataseiō, to shake down, here the hand, rapidly waving the hand up and down to get a hearing. In the N.T. elsewhere only in Act 12:17; Act 13:16; Act 21:40 where “with the hand” (tāi cheiri, instrumental case) is used instead of tān cheira (the accusative).
Would have made a defence unto the people (āthelen apologeisthai tōi dēmōi). Imperfect active, wanted to make a defence, tried to, started to, but apparently never got out a word. Apologeisthai (present middle infinitive, direct middle, to defend oneself), regular word for formal apology, but in N.T. only by Luke and Paul (twice in Gospel, six times in Acts, and in Rom 2:15; 2Co 12:19).