Local Details: The Riot in Ephesus
'Testing Luke' #20
What's in the series? Previous: Demetrius the Silversmith Next: Festus
The book of Acts, in the Bible, records that when Paul the apostle was in Ephesus, the silversmiths lost a lot of business because of his teaching. As a result, one of them, who was called Demetrius, stirred up a riot.
The crowd dragged Paul's traveling companions Gaius and Aristarchus into the theatre. Paul wanted to go in, too, but the believers would not let him. Some provincial officials, who were friends of Paul, also sent a message, begging him not to risk his life by going in to the theatre. Luke calls these officials 'Asiarchs', and this is the right title.
At last the mayor quietened the crowd down enough to speak. Luke calls the mayor a 'grammateus,' and once again, this is the right title for this official.
In Luke's account of Paul's time in Ephesus, he gets the theatre right, and he gets the titles of local officials right – the asiarchs, and the grammateus. We have also seen previously that he gets right the practice of magic at Ephesus, the temple of Artemis, the making of shrines, and maybe even the name Demetrius.
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