Acts 19:33-34

The crowd’s reaction to Alexander showed distinct hostility toward him. Apparently Alexander was a leading unbelieving Jew who wanted the crowd to understand that even though Paul was a Jew the local Jewish community did not approve of him (cf. Acts 18:12-17). However, like Gallio in Corinth, this crowd did not distinguish between Christianity and Judaism. Both faiths stood against idolatry. Perhaps the crowd assumed Alexander wanted to defend Paul who was also a Jew. This Alexander may be the one Paul warned Timothy about (1 Timothy 1:19-20; 2 Timothy 4:14), but he may have been someone different since Alexander was a common name among both Jews and Gentiles. [Note: See Josephus, Antiquities of . . ., 4:8:10.]