Bible Strands
Acts 19:26
And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, this Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Demetrius addresses fellow craftsmen and workmen during a convened assembly in Ephesus. He speaks at a moment of economic panic, warning that Paul’s preaching threatens their trade and the worship of Artemis.
The words — The Greek term θεωρεῖτε (theōreite) means "you see" or "you observe," emphasizing visible proof alongside the auditory report ἀκούετε (akouete), "you hear." These verbs frame the argument as an observable reality rather than mere rumor.
The thread — The claim that idols are not gods runs through Acts 17:29, 1 Corinthians 8:4, and Isaiah 44:10, which all reject the divinity of crafted images. Each passage contrasts human fabrication with the reality of the true God.
Why it lands — The verse demands acknowledgment that religious claims must withstand public scrutiny and logical examination. It requires readers to evaluate whether worship targets possess actual power or exist only as human constructs.
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
Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:
Cross-references
- Acts 17:29 Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
- 1 Corinthians 8:4 So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.
- Isaiah 44:10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol which profits him nothing?
- Deuteronomy 4:28 And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.
- Acts 14:15 “Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.
- Acts 19:10 This continued for two years, so that everyone who lived in the province of Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord.
- Revelation 9:20 Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.
- Jeremiah 10:11 Thus you are to tell them: “These gods, who have made neither the heavens nor the earth, will perish from this earth and from under these heavens.”
- Jeremiah 10:14 Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
- 1 Corinthians 10:19 Am I suggesting, then, that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?