Acts Chapter 16 verse 19 Holy Bible

ASV Acts 16:19

But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they laid hold on Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers,
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BBE Acts 16:19

But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they took Paul and Silas, pulling them into the market-place before the rulers;
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DARBY Acts 16:19

And her masters, seeing that the hope of their gains was gone, having seized Paul and Silas, dragged [them] into the market before the magistrates;
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KJV Acts 16:19

And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,
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WBT Acts 16:19


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WEB Acts 16:19

But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.
read chapter 16 in WEB

YLT Acts 16:19

And her masters having seen that the hope of their employment was gone, having caught Paul and Silas, drew `them' to the market-place, unto the rulers,
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 19. - But for and, A.V.; gain for gains, A.V. (ἐργασία, as ver. 16); bald hold on for caught, A.V.; dragged for drew, A.V.; before for unto, A.V. The rulers (οἱ ἄρχοντες); the archons. Meyer thinks these were the city judges, or magistrates (who always had their court in the ἀγορά, or forum), by whom Paul and Silas were sent to the praetors (στρατηγοί) for judgment. So in Luke 12:58, the litigants go to the ἀρχών, first, and he sends them on to the κριτής, or judge, who orders them for punishment. This seems a more probable explanation than that commonly adopted (Howson, Alford, Renan, Lewin, etc.), that the ἄρχοντες and the στρατηγοί mean the same officers. No reason can be conceived for Luke's calling them ἄρχοντες if he meant στρατηγοί, or for naming the office's twice over when once was sufficient. Nor is it likely that officers of such high rank as the duumviri, or proctors, as they had come to be called, should be always in the forum, to try every petty case (see articles "Colonia, Duumviri," and "Praetor," in 'Dict. of Greek and Roman Antiquities'). It seems, therefore, that Meyer's explanation is right. At Athens the general term ἄρχοντες was applied to inferior magistrates, as well as to the nine archons ('Dict. of Greek and Roman Antiquities' "Archon"). Ver. 20. - When they had brought for brought, A.V.; unto for to, A.V.; they said for saying, A.V. The magistrates; στρατηγοί, i.e. the praetors. Philippi, being a colony, was governed by Roman magistrates called duumviri, corresponding to the two consuls at Rome. But we learn from Cicero that in his time the duuraviri in the colonies were beginning to be called praetors, a little previously used only at Rome ('De Leg. Agrar.,' 34), and to be preceded by lictors (ῤάβδουχαοι of ver. 35). Two inscriptions have been found in which the duumviri of Philippi are mentioned (Lewin, p. 26).

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(19) That the hope of their gains was gone.--Better, of their occupation. The word for "gains" is the same as that translated "gain" and "craft" in Acts 19:24-25. There is something like a prophetic significance in the use, at this stage, of the word which was the key to nearly all the persecutions to which the early believers were exposed. Men could tolerate varieties of worship or the speculations of philosophers: they were roused to madness by that which threatened their business. The use in the Greek of the same verb for "was gone," as had been used in the previous verse for "come out," gives an emphasis which the English does not reproduce. Their business and the spirit of divination "passed away" together.Paul and Silas.--Luke and Timotheus escaped, probably, as less conspicuous.Drew them into the marketplace.--The marketplace, or Agora, was, in all Greek cities, the centre of social life. In Philippi, as a colonia, reproducing the arrangements of Rome, it would answer to the Forum, where the magistrates habitually sat. What had taken place would naturally cause excitement and attract a crowd.