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Acts 19:19 |
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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. Note 1 at Ac 19:19: The Greek word used for "curious arts" is "PERIERGOS." It is a compound word of "PERI," meaning "properly, through (all over), i.e. around" and "ERGON," meaning "toil (as an effort or occupation); by implication, an act" (Strong’s Concordance). Therefore, PERIERGOS means "a work about...'busy about trifles'" (Vine's Expository Dictionary). It was a technical term for magic. This word was translated "busybodies" in 1Ti 5:13.
Paul had encountered those who were operating in witchcraft before. Paul spoke judgment on Elymas the sorcerer during his first missionary journey (Ac 13:6-11), and on his second journey, he cast a spirit of divination out of a girl in Philippi (Ac 16:16-18). Neither of these two people are mentioned in Scripture as having repented; however, Philip, the evangelist, did see Simon the sorcerer converted (Ac 8:9-13).
There are numerous examples of witchcraft in the Old Testament among the pagans. The Pharaoh of Egypt, during the Jews' captivity, had his own court magicians (Ex 7:11, 22; 8:7, and 18-19), two of which were named in 2Ti 3:8. The Scriptures also mention the rulers of Babylon as having court magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers (Da 2:2, 4:7, and 5:7).
Witchcraft was also commonplace in the land of Canaan among the people whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. The Lord specifically commanded the Jews not to adopt their practices. In De 18:9-14, He mentioned by name the different curious arts that were forbidden (see also Le 19:26 and 31). King Saul was killed by God because he used a medium to perform a seance (1Ch 10:13-14). In the Old Testament, the Lord commanded that those who practiced such things should be put to death (Le 20:6 and 27).
Note 2 at Ac 19:19: This clearly reveals that the first-century Christians saw witchcraft and Christianity as being incompatible. Those who try to mix the two today are denying the practice of the early church, as well as the teachings of Scripture (see note 1 at this verse).
Note 3 at Ac 19:19: The estimates on exactly how much money this equals today vary greatly from $1,000 (Rienecker/Rogers) to $32,000 (Dake). It is very hard to place an exact amount on some of the Bible's monetary figures. Suffice it to say, this must have been a considerable amount, and it must have made quite an impression on all the inhabitants of Ephesus.
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