Albert Barnes Commentary Acts 17:5

"But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble, and gathering a crowd, set the city on an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people." — Acts 17:5 (ASV)

Moved with envy. This refers to the fact that they made so many converts and met with such success.

Certain lewd fellows of the baser sort. This is an unfortunate translation. The word lewd is not in the original. The Greek is, And having taken certain wicked men of those who were about the forum, or market-place.

The forum, or market-place, was the place where the idle assembled and where those who wished to be employed gathered (Matthew 20:3).

Many of these individuals would have been of corrupt character—the idle, the dissipated, and the worthless—and therefore, the ideal material for a mob. It does not appear that they felt any particular interest in the matter; but, like other mobs, they were easily stirred up and incited to any acts of violence.

The pretext on which the mob was roused was that Paul and Silas had caused disturbances everywhere and had violated the laws of the Roman emperor (Acts 17:6–7).

It may be observed, however, that a mob usually cares very little about the cause in which it is engaged. Mobs can be roused either for or against religion, becoming as full of zeal for the insulted honour of religion as against it.

Thus, the profane, the worthless, and the corrupt often become violently enraged for the honour of religion, and full of indignation and tumult against those accused of violating public peace and order.

The house of Jason. This was where Paul and Silas were staying (Acts 17:7). Jason appears to have been a relative of Paul, and it was probably for this reason that Paul lodged with him (Romans 16:21).