And when the town-clerk - ὁ γραμματέυς ho grammateus. The scribe; the secretary. This word is often used in the Bible, and is commonly translated “scribe,” and is applied to “public notaries in the synagogues; to clerks; to those who transcribed books, and hence, to men skilled in the law or in any kind of learning.” Compare 2 Samuel 8:17; 2 Kings 12:11; Ezra 7:6, Ezra 7:11-12; Matthew 5:20; Matthew 12:38; Matthew 13:52; Matthew 15:1; Matthew 23:34; 1 Corinthians 1:20. It is, however, nowhere else applied to a pagan magistrate. It probably denoted “a recorder; or a transcriber of the laws; or a chancellor” (Kuinoel, Doddridge). This officer had a seat in their deliberative assemblies, and on him it seems to have devolved to keep the peace. The Syriac, “Prince of the city.” The Vulgate and Arabic, “Scribe.”
Had appeased the people - καταστείλας katasteilas. Having restrained, quieted, tranquillized, so as to be able to address them.
What man is there - Who is there that can deny this? It is universally known and admitted. This is the language of strong confidence, of reproof, and of indignation. It implied that the worship of Diana was so well established that there was no danger that it could be destroyed by a few Jews, and he therefore reproved them for what he deemed their unreasonable fears. But he little knew the power of that religion which had been the innocent cause of all this tumult; nor that, at no very distant period, this despised religion would overturn not only the worship of Diana at Ephesus, but the splendid idolatry of the mighty Roman empire.
Is a worshipper - νεωκόρον neōkoron. Margin, temple-keeper. The word used here does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. It is derived from νεὼς neōs, for ναὸς naos, a temple, and κορέω koreō, to sweep, to cleanse. But among the ancients, the office of keeping their temples was by no means as humble as that of sexton is with us. It was regarded as an office of honor and dignity to have charge of the temples of the gods, and to keep them in order. The term was also given to the cities that were regarded as the special patrons or worshippers of certain gods and goddesses. They esteemed it an honor to be regarded as the special keepers of their temples and images, or as having adopted them as their tutelar divinities. Such was Ephesus in regard to Diana. It was considered to be a high honor that the city was everywhere regarded as being entrusted with the worship of Diana, or with keeping the temple regarded by the whole world as especially her own. See Schleusner on this word.
And of the image - A special guardian of the image, or statue of Diana.
Which fell down ... - Which was reigned or believed to have been sent down from heaven. See the notes on Acts 19:27. It is probable that the image was so ancient that the maker of it was unknown, and it was therefore reigned to have fallen from heaven. It was for the interest of the priest to keep up this impression. Many cities pretended to have been favored in a similar manner with images or statues of the gods, sent directly from heaven. The safety of Troy was supposed to depend on the Palladium, or image of Pallas Minerva, which was believed to have fallen from heaven. Numa pretended that the ancilia, or sacred shields, had descended from heaven. Herodian expressly affirms that “the Phoenicians had no statue of the sun polished by the hand, but only a certain large stone, circular below, and terminated acutely above in the figure of a cone, of a black color, and that they believed it to have fallen from heaven.” The same thing was affirmed of the ancient Minerva of the Athenian Acropolis (Paus., Att. 26); of the Paphian Venus, and the Ceres of Sicily (Cic. in Verr., v. 187). It has been supposed by some that this image at Ephesus was merely a conical or pyramidal stone which fell from the clouds - a meteorite - and that it was regarded with superstitious reverence, as having been sent from heaven. See the Edinburgh Encyclopedia’s article, “Meteorites.”
From Jupiter - See the notes on Acts 14:12.