Charles Ellicott 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)

Not only this our craft.—The English word "craft" perhaps conveys too much the idea of art. Our business or our interests would be a somewhat better equivalent. The Greek word for "craft" in this passage is not the same as the one translated as "craft" in Acts 19:25.

The temple of the great goddess Diana.—The adjective "great" was one specially associated with the Artemis of Ephesus and appears on many of the coins and medals of the city.

Should be despised.—Literally, should come to an exposure—that is, should become a laughing-stock and a byword. Panic is sometimes clear-sighted in its foresight, and the coppersmith of Ephesus becomes an unconscious prophet of the future.

And her magnificence should be destroyed.—The connection between the word for "magnificence" and the adjective "great" (her usual title) is closer in the Greek than in the English. The great goddess was in danger of being robbed of her attribute of greatness.

Whom all Asia and the world worships.—Asia is, of course, the proconsular province, and the "world" is used conventionally, as in Luke 2:1, for the Roman Empire. Apuleius uses language almost identical with that of Demetrius: "Diana Ephesia cujus nomen unicum . . . totus veneratur orbis."