Acts 19:39 - Exposition

Seek for inquire, A.V.; about for concerning, A.V.; settled for determined, A.V.; the regular for a lawful, A.V. If ye seek , etc ( ἐπιζητεῖτε ). ἐπιζητεῖν means either "to make inquiry" or" to desire earnestly." The verb in the next clause, ἐπιλυθήσεται , it shall be "settled," or "solved," favors the first sense: "If you wish to inquire further into the spread of Paul's doctrine, and the best way of dealing with it, the question should be decided in an assembly of the δῆμος , legally convened." For περὶἑτέρων , about other matters, some manuscripts read περαιτέρω , further. The regular assembly. That summoned by a magistrate in the constitutional way. The Greek cities under the Roman government preserved their rights and liberties, and the privilege of popular assemblies. The town clerk, therefore, gave them their choice of either having the case tried before the proconsuls or having it laid before the ecclesia of the demos, if they wished it to be gone into on wider and deeper grounds.