Acts Chapter 19 verse 13 Holy Bible
But certain also of the strolling Jews, exorcists, took upon them to name over them that had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
read chapter 19 in ASV
But some of the Jews who went from place to place driving out evil spirits, took it on themselves to make use of the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, I give you orders, by Jesus, whom Paul is preaching.
read chapter 19 in BBE
And certain of the Jewish exorcists also, who went about, took in hand to call upon those who had wicked spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, I adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches.
read chapter 19 in DARBY
Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the LORD Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
read chapter 19 in KJV
read chapter 19 in WBT
But some of the itinerant Jews, exorcists, took on themselves to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches."
read chapter 19 in WEB
And certain of the wandering exorcist Jews, took upon `them' to name over those having the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, `We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul doth preach;'
read chapter 19 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 13. - But certain also for then certain, A.V.; strolling for vagabond, A.V.; name for call, A.V.; the evil for evil, A.V.; I for we, A.V. and T.R. Strolling (περιερχομένων); going their rounds from place to place, like strolling players or like peddlers. The words should be construed together, "strolling Jewish exorcists." That certain Jews in our Savior's time exorcised evil spirits appears from Matthew 12:27; Luke 9:49. We learn also from Josephus, 'Ant. Jud.,' 8:2, 5, that forms of exorcism, said to have been invented by King Solomon, so efficacious that the devils cast out by them could never come back, were used with great effect in his days. He adds that he himself knew of an instance in which one of his own countrymen, Eleazar by name, had cast out devils in the presence of Vespasian and his sons and officers and a number of his soldiers. The method used was this: The exorcist applied to the nose of the possessed the bezil of a ring, under which was a certain root prescribed by Solomon, and so drew out the evil spirit through the man's nostrils. The possessed then fell to the ground, and the exorcist commanded the evil spirit in the name of Solomon never to return, and then recited one of Solomon's incantations. To give full assurance to the bystanders that the evil spirit had really left the man, the exorcist placed a vessel full of water at some distance off, and then commanded the ejected spirit to overturn it, which he did. Thus far Josephus. Lightfoot, on Acts 13. (vol. 3:215), quotes the book Juchasin as speaking of certain Jews as "skilled in miracles," and the Jerusalem Talmud as speaking of their enchantments and magical tricks and charms" in the name of Jesus" (see, further, Alford on Matthew 12:27).
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(13) Certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists.--The men belonged to a lower section of the class of which we have already seen representatives in Simon of Samaria or Elymas of Cyprus. (See Notes on Acts 8:9; Acts 13:6.) They practised exorcisms as a profession, and went from city to city, pretending with charms and spells to cure those who were looked on as possessed with demons. Many of these were said to have come down from Solomon. In Layard's Nineveh and Babylon (c. 22) there is an interesting account of several bronze bowls containing such formulae. To them "the name of the Lord Jesus," which was so often in St. Paul's lips, was just another formula, mightier than the name of the Most High God, or that of the archangels Raphael or Michael, which were used by others.
