Page:Lives of the apostles of Jesus Christ (1836).djvu/585

 world. Many who had also, at great expense of time and money, acquired the arts of imposition, brought the costly books in which were contained all the mysterious details of their magical mummery, and burned them publicly, without regard to their immense estimated pecuniary value, which was not less than nine thousand dollars. In short, the results of this apparently trifling occurrence, followed up by the zealous preaching of Paul, effected a vast amount of good, so that the word of God mightily grew and prevailed.

"In Acts xx. 31, the apostle says, that for the space of three years he preached at Ephesus. Grotius and Whitby hold that these three years are to be reckoned from his first coming to Ephesus, xviii. 19; that he does not specify his being in any other city; and that when it is said here, 'So that all Asia heard the word,' xix. 40, it arose from the concourse that, on a religious account, continually assembled in that city. The Jews also, from different parts of Asia, were induced by commerce, or obliged by the courts of judicature, to frequent it. Other commentators contend that, as only two years, with three months in the synagogue, are here mentioned, the remaining three-quarters of a year were partly engaged in a progress through the neighboring provinces. (Elsley, from Lightfoot and Doddridge.)

"While he was at Ephesus, 'God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul; so that from his body were brought unto the sick, handkerchiefs or aprons,' &c. &c. Acts xix. v. 11, 12. [Greek: Simikinthion], aprons, is slightly changed from the Latin semicinctum, which workmen put before them when employed at their occupations, to keep their clothes from soiling. The difference which Theophylact and Oecumenius make between these and [Greek: sedaria], is, that the latter are applied to the head, as a cap or veil, and the former to the hands as a handkerchief. 'They carry them,' says Oecumenius, 'in their hands, to wipe off moisture from their face, as tears,'" &c. &c. (Calmet's Comment.)

"'And they counted the price of them, [the books,] and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver,' v. 19—[Greek: argyrion] is used generally in the Old Testament, LXX. for the shekel, in value about 2s. 6d., or the total 6250l. as Num. vii. 85. Deut. xxii. 19. 2 Kings xv. 20. Grotius. If it means the drachma, as more frequently used by the Greeks at 9d. each, the sum will be 1875l." [$9000.] Doddridge. Elsley's Annot. (Williams on Pearson, pp. 53-55.)

THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS.

There is hardly one of the writings of Paul, about the date of which there has been so much discussion, or so many opinions as this; but the results of all the elaborate investigations and argumentations of the learned, still leave this interesting chronological point in such doubt, that this must be pronounced about the most uncertain in date, of all the Pauline epistles. It may however, without any inconsistency with the historical narrative of the Acts, or with any passages in the other epistles, be safely referred to the period of this residence in Ephesus, probably to the later part of it. The epistle itself contains no reference whatever, direct or indirect, to the place in which he was occupied at the time of writing, and only bare probabilities can therefore be stated on it,—nor can any decisive objection be made to any one of six opinions which have been strongly urged. Some pronounce it