Note 7 at Acts 19:33: There is much disagreement about who this Alexander was. Some scholars believe that he was a Christian who was thrust into the mob as a scapegoat to appease the crowd. Others believe that since the Jews are the ones responsible for "putting him forward" that Alexander was not a Christian but a Jew who was trying to make clear to the Ephesians that the Jewish community had nothing to do with these Christians who Demetrius and his companions were persecuting.

Some have also thought that this might be Alexander the coppersmith that Paul spoke of in 2 Tim. 4:14 as having done Paul much evil. If so, it would raise many questions as to why the Jews used him as their spokesman and why a member of the craftsmen who incited the riot would be making a defense before them.

There is also an Alexander that was an apostate Christian who Paul mentioned in 1 Tim. 1:20. Paul turned this man over to Satan (see note 6 at Mt. 18:18, p. 278) that he might learn not to blaspheme.