Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, July 17th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
Attention!
Tired of seeing ads while studying? Now you can enjoy an "Ads Free" version of the site for as little as 10¢ a day and support a great cause!
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

Bible in Basic English

Acts 19:14

And there were seven sons of a man named Sceva, a Jew and a chief priest, who did this.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Demons;   Ephesus;   Miracles;   Paul;   Presumption;   Sceva;   Sorcery;   Superstition;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Presumption;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Exorcists;   Sceva;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Asia;   Ephesus;   Magic;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit;   Prayer;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Ordination;   Relics;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Sceva;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Exorcism;   Magi;   Sceva;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Acts;   Church;   Exorcism;   Sceva;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Bible;   Corinthians, Second Epistle to;   Ephesus;   Exorcism;   Sceva;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Chief Priests ;   Demon;   Exorcism;   Numbers;   Sacraments;   Simon Magus;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Ephesians, Epistle to the;   Exorcists;   Sceva ;   42 Evil Wicked;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Ephesians;   Ephesus;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Sce'va,;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Sceva;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Saul of Tarsus;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Charm;   Essenes, the;   Number;   Sceva;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Exorcism;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.
King James Version (1611)
And there were seuen sonnes of one Sceua a Iewe, and chiefe of the Priests, which did so.
King James Version
And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
English Standard Version
Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.
New American Standard Bible
Now there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, doing this.
New Century Version
Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this.
Amplified Bible
Seven sons of one [named] Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
Legacy Standard Bible
Now seven sons of one named Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
Berean Standard Bible
Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
Contemporary English Version
Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this,
Complete Jewish Bible
One time, seven sons of a Jewish cohen gadol named Skeva were doing this;
Darby Translation
And there were certain [men], seven sons of Sceva, Jewish high priest, who were doing this.
Geneva Bible (1587)
(And there were certaine sonnes of Sceua a Iewe, the Priest, about seuen which did this)
George Lamsa Translation
And there were seven sons of one Sce''va, a Jew, and chief of the priests, who did this.
Good News Translation
Seven brothers, who were the sons of a Jewish High Priest named Sceva, were doing this.
Lexham English Bible
(Now seven sons of a certain Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.)
Literal Translation
And there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, doing this.
American Standard Version
And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, who did this.
Hebrew Names Version
There were seven sons of one Skeva, a Yehudi chief Kohen, who did this.
International Standard Version
Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.
Etheridge Translation
There were seven sons of a man, a certain Jihudoya, chief of the priests, whose name was Skeva, who did this.
Murdock Translation
And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, who did this.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And there were seuen sonnes of one Sceua a Iewe, and chiefe of ye priestes, which dyd so.
English Revised Version
And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, which did this.
World English Bible
There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did this.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And there were seven sons of one Sceva a Jewish chief priest, who did this.
Weymouth's New Testament
There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew of high-priestly family, who were doing this.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And ther weren seuene sones of a Jewe, Steuen, a prince of preestis, that diden this thing.
Update Bible Version
And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, who did this.
Webster's Bible Translation
And there were seven sons of [one] Sceva a Jew, [and] chief of the priests, who did so.
New English Translation
(Now seven sons of a man named Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.)
New King James Version
Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.
New Living Translation
Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this.
New Life Bible
A Jewish leader of the people by the name of Sceva had seven sons. These sons were trying to do this.
New Revised Standard
Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a High-priest, who, this thing, were doing.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And there were certain men, seven sons of Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, that did this.
Revised Standard Version
Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And ther were seven sonnes of one Sceva a Iewe and chefe of the prestes which dyd so.
Young's Literal Translation
and there were certain -- seven sons of Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest -- who are doing this thing;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
They were seuen sonnes of one Sceua a Iewe the hye prest, which dyd so.
Mace New Testament (1729)
these practitioners were seven in number, the sons of Sceva a Jew, one of the chief priests.
Simplified Cowboy Version
These gypsies were the seven sons of a Jewish preacher named Sceva.

Contextual Overview

13 But some of the Jews who went from place to place driving out evil spirits, took it on themselves to make use of the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, I give you orders, by Jesus, whom Paul is preaching. 14 And there were seven sons of a man named Sceva, a Jew and a chief priest, who did this. 15 And the evil spirit, answering, said to them, I have knowledge of Jesus, and of Paul, but who are you? 16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was, jumping on them, was stronger than the two of them, and overcame them, so that they went running from that house, wounded and without their clothing. 17 And this came to the ears of all those, Jews and Greeks, who were living at Ephesus; and fear came on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was made great. 18 And a number of those who had faith came and made a public statement of their sins and all their acts. 19 And a great number of those who were experts in strange arts took their books and put them on the fire in front of everyone: and when the books were valued they came to fifty thousand bits of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord was increased very greatly and was full of power.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Cross-References

Genesis 19:4
But before they had gone to bed, the men of the town, all the men of Sodom, came round the house, young and old, from every part of the town;
Genesis 19:8
See now, I have two unmarried daughters; I will send them out to you so that you may do to them whatever seems good to you: only do nothing to these men, for this is why they have come under the shade of my roof.
Genesis 19:12
Then the men said to Lot, Are there any others of your family here? sons-in-law or sons or daughters, take them all out of this place;
Genesis 19:14
And Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were married to his daughters, Come, let us go out of this place, for the Lord is about to send destruction on the town. But his sons-in-law did not take him seriously.
Genesis 19:17
And when they had put them out, he said, Go for your life, without looking back or waiting in the lowland; go quickly to the mountain or you will come to destruction.
Genesis 19:22
Go there quickly, for I am not able to do anything till you have come there. For this reason, the town was named Zoar.
Genesis 19:28
And looking in the direction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the lowland, he saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of an oven.
Genesis 19:30
Then Lot went up out of Zoar to the mountain, and was living there with his two daughters, for fear kept him from living in Zoar: and he and his daughters made their living-place in a hole in the rock.
Exodus 9:21
And he who gave no attention to the word of the Lord, kept his servants and his cattle in the field.
Exodus 12:31
And he sent for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Get up and go out from among my people, you and the children of Israel; go and give worship to the Lord as you have said.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And there were seven sons of one Sceva a Jew,.... Who strolled about the country, and used exorcisms: and

chief of the priests; that were at Ephesus; not the high priest of the Jews, for he would have been at Jerusalem, and not at Ephesus; though indeed it does not necessarily follow from the words, that Sceva himself was there, only his seven sons: however, no such name appears in the catalogue of the Jewish high priests, nor is it reasonable to think, that seven sons of an high priest should follow such a vagabond course of life: Beza's ancient copy only calls him "a priest"; and the Alexandrian copy reads his name, Sceuta, and the Ethiopic version omits it; it is the same with סכואה, and signifies a spectator, or observer; see the Targum on 2 Samuel 13:34.

which did so; adjured the devils in the name of Jesus, to come out; at least they did so in one case, as follows.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

One Sceva - Sceva is a Greek name, but nothing more is known of him.

Chief of the priests - This cannot mean that he was high priest among the Jews, as it is wholly improbable that his sons would be wandering exorcists. But it denotes that he was of the sacerdotal order. He was a Jewish chief priest; a priest of distinction, and had held the office of a ruler. The word “chief priest,” in the New Testament, usually refers to men of the sacerdotal order who were also rulers in the Sanhedrin.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Acts 19:14. Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests — The original Ιουδαιου αρχιερεως, dignifies a Jewish high priest; but it is not probable that any sons, much less seven sons of a Jewish high priest, should be strolling exorcists: it is therefore likely that υιοισκευατινοςιερεως, the sons of Skeva, a certain priest, as it stands in the Codex Bezae, is the true reading. The whole verse in that MS. reads thus: Among them there also the sons of Skeva, a priest, who wished to do the same: for they were accustomed to exorcise such persons. And entering in to the demoniac, they began to invoke that Name, saying, We command thee by Jesus, whom Paul preacheth, to go out. And the evil spirit angered, and said unto them, Jesus I know, c. It has been often remarked that in our Lord's time there were many of the Jews that professed to cast out demons and perhaps to this our Lord alludes, Matthew 12:27. See Clark's note there; "Matthew 12:27".

Josephus, in speaking of the wisdom of Solomon, says that he had that skill by which demons are expelled; and that he left behind him the manner of using exorcisms, by which they are cast out; and that those arts were known among his countrymen down to his own time; and then gives us the following relation: "I have seen a certain man of my own country whose name was Eleazar, releasing people that were demoniacs, in the presence of Vespasian, his sons, his captains, and the whole multitude of his soldiers. The manner of the cure was this: He put a ring, that had a root of one of those sorts mentioned by Solomon, to the nostrils of the demoniac, after which he drew out the demon through his nostrils; and, when the man fell down, immediately he adjured him to return into him no more, making still mention of Solomon, and reciting the incantations that he had composed. And when Eleazar would persuade the spectators that he had such power, he set at a little distance a cup of water, and commanded the demon, as he went out of the man, to overturn it; and, when this was done, the skill and wisdom of Solomon were showed very manifestly." Joseph. ANTIQ. book viii. cap. 2, sect. 5. Whiston's edition.

That there were such incantations among the Jews we know well, and that there are still such found, and that they are attributed to Solomon; but that they are his remains to be proved; and could this even be done, a point remains which can never be proved, viz. that those curious arts were a part of that wisdom which he received from God, as Josephus intimates. Indeed, the whole of the above account gives the strongest suspicion of its being a trick by the Jewish juggler, which neither Josephus nor the emperor could detect; but the ring, the root, the cup of water, the spell, c. all indicate imposture. Magicians among the Jews were termed בעלי שם baaley shem, Masters of the Name, that is, the name of Jehovah יהוה by a certain pronunciation of which they believed the most wonderful miracles could be wrought. There were several among them who pretended to this knowledge; and, when they could not deny the miracles of our Lord, they attributed them to his knowledge of the true pronunciation of this most sacred name.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile