Bible Strands
Acts 16:19
When the girl’s owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities in the marketplace.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative occurs immediately after Paul commands a spirit of divination to leave a slave girl, stripping her owners of their income. The owners respond by seizing Paul and Silas and dragging them to the city magistrates in the public square.
The words — ἰδόντες (idontes) translates literally to "having seen" or "perceiving," marking the owners' sudden realization. ἐξῆλθεν (exēlthen) means "went out" or "departed," describing the immediate exit of the spirit that triggered their financial loss.
The thread — The motif of seizing and dragging individuals before civic authorities recurs in Acts 17:6, where Jason is brought before city officials. Acts 21:30 and Acts 8:3 also record the seizure and dragging of individuals, though to different destinations.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that economic threat, not theological disagreement, drives the legal accusation. Readers must observe how financial loss directly precipitates the formal charges against the apostles.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,
Cross-references
- Acts 17:6 But when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have now come here,
- Acts 21:30 The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.
- Acts 8:3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
- Acts 16:16 One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl with a spirit of divination, who earned a large income for her masters by fortune-telling.
- Acts 18:12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews coordinated an attack on Paul and brought him before the judgment seat.
- 2 Corinthians 6:5 in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in labor, sleepless nights, and hunger;
- Matthew 24:9 Then they will deliver you over to be persecuted and killed, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.
- Mark 13:9 So be on your guard. You will be delivered over to the councils and beaten in the synagogues. On My account you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.
- Acts 9:16 I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.”
- Acts 14:5 But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them,