Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 20:8

"And there were many lights in the upper chamber where we were gathered together." — Acts 20:8 (ASV)

“As Paul talked on and on,” Eutychus went to sleep and fell to his death. He may simply have been bored by Paul’s long discussion, though Luke’s reference to the many torch lamps in the room suggests that lack of oxygen and the hypnotic effect of flickering flames caused Eutychus’s drowsiness. But whatever its cause, his fall brought the meeting to a sudden and shocking halt. They dashed down and found him dead.