Albert Barnes Commentary Acts 19:27

"and not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana be made of no account, and that she should even be deposed from her magnificence whom all Asia and the world worshippeth." — Acts 19:27 (ASV)

So that not only, etc. The grounds of the charge which Demetrius made against Paul were two: first, that the business of the craftsmen would be destroyed—usually the first thing that strikes the mind of a sinner who is influenced by self-interest alone; and second, that the worship of Diana would cease if Paul and his fellow-laborers were allowed to continue their efforts.

This our craft. This business in which we are engaged, and on which we are dependent. Greek, This part to merov which pertains to us.

To be set at nought. To be brought into contempt. It will become so much an object of ridicule and contempt that we will have no further employment. Greek, "Is in danger of coming into refutation" eiv apelegmon. As that which is refuted by argument is considered useless, so the word comes also to signify that which is useless, or which is an object of contempt or ridicule. We may here remark:

1. That the extensive prevalence of the Christian religion would destroy many kinds of business in which men now engage. It would put an end to all that now serves the pride, vanity, luxury, vice, and ambition of men. Let religion prevail, and wars would cease, and all the preparations for war which now employ so many hearts and hands would be useless.

   Let religion prevail, and temperance would prevail also; and consequently all the capital and labor now employed in distilling and selling alcoholic spirits would be withdrawn, and the business be broken up. Let religion prevail, and luxury ceases, and the arts which serve licentiousness would be useless. Let Christianity prevail, and all that goes now to serve idolatry, and the corrupt passions of men, would be destroyed.

   No small part of the talent, also, that is now worse than wasted in corrupting others by ballads and songs, by fiction and licentious tales, would be withdrawn. A vast amount of capital and talent would thus be at once freed, to be employed in nobler and better purposes.

2. The effect of religion is often to bring the employments of men into shame and contempt. A revival of religion often makes the business of distilling an object of abhorrence. It pours shame on those who are engaged in serving the vices and luxuries of the world. Religion reveals the evil of such a course of life, and those vices are banished by the mere prevalence of better principles.

3. Yet, the talent and capital thus disengaged is not made useless. It may be directed to other channels and other employments. Religion does not make men idle. It devotes talents to useful employments and opens fields in which all may toil usefully to themselves and to their fellow men.

   If all the capital, genius, and learning which are now wasted, and worse than wasted, were to be at once withdrawn from their present pursuits, they might be profitably employed. There is not now a useless man who might not be useful; there is not a farthing wasted which might not be employed to advantage in the great work of making the world better and happier.

But also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised. This temple, so celebrated, was regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world. It was two hundred and twenty years in building before it was completed. It was built at the expense of all Asia Minor.

The original object of worship among the Ephesians was a small statue of Diana, made of elm or ebony by a certain Canitias, though commonly believed in those days to have been sent down from heaven by Jupiter. It was merely an Egyptian hieroglyphic with many breasts, representing the goddess of Nature—under which idea Diana was probably worshiped at Ephesus. As the original figure decayed with age, it was propped up by two iron rods, like spits, which were carefully copied in the image that was afterward made in imitation of the first.

A temple, most magnificent in structure, was built to contain the image of Diana, which appears to have been built and rebuilt several times. The first is said to have been completed in the reign of Servius Tullius, at least 570 years before Christ. Another temple is mentioned as having been designed by Ctesiphon, 540 years before the Christian era, and which was completed by Daphnis of Miletus and a citizen of Ephesus.

This temple was partially destroyed by fire on the very day on which Socrates was poisoned, 400 B.C., and again in 356 B.C. by the philosopher Herostratus, on the day on which Alexander the Great was born. He confessed, under torture, that his only motive was to immortalize his name.

Only the four walls and a few columns escaped the flames. The temple was repaired and restored to more than its former magnificence, for which, says Pliny (Lib. xxxvi, c. 14), 220 years were required to bring it to completion. It was 425 feet in length, 220 in breadth, and was supported by 127 pillars of Parian marble, each of which was sixty feet high.

These pillars were furnished by as many princes; thirty-six of them were intricately carved, and the rest were finely polished. Each pillar, it is supposed, with its base, contained 150 tons of marble. The doors and paneling were made of cypress wood, the roof of cedar, and the interior was made splendid by decorations of gold and by the finest productions of ancient artists.

This celebrated edifice, after suffering various partial demolitions, was finally burned by the Goths in their third naval invasion, A.D. 260. Travelers are now left to conjecture where its site was. Amidst the confused ruins of ancient Ephesus, it is now impossible to tell where this celebrated temple, once one of the wonders of the world, was located. "So passes away the glory of this world." See Edinburgh Encyclopedia, article Ephesus; also Anacharsis' Travels, vol. vi, p. 188; Ancient Universal History, vol. vii, p. 416; and Pococke's Travels.

And her magnificence. Her majesty and glory; that is, the splendor of her temple and her worship.

Whom all Asia. All Asia Minor.

And the world. Other parts of the world. The temple had been built by contributions from a great number of princes; and doubtless multitudes from all parts of the earth came to Ephesus to pay their homage to Diana.