Acts 19:40-41

Fourth, the mayor reminded the citizens that if the provincial authorities concluded that there was no good reason for their rioting they could impose penalties on the city. Furthermore this riot was unjustified. This line of argument proved effective and the crowd disbursed.

This may have been the time Priscilla and Aquila risked their lives for Paul (Romans 16:4). This event may have been in Paul’s mind when he wrote of fighting wild beasts at Ephesus (1 Corinthians 15:32) and of despairing of life as he faced a deadly foe (2 Corinthians 1:8-11).

One wonders if the cooling of the Ephesian Christians’ love for Jesus Christ that took place in later years connects to the zeal for Artemis that characterized this community (cf. Revelation 2:1-7).

"The story [of the riot in Ephesus, Acts 19:23-41] is in effect a statement that Christians do not constitute a danger to the state and a plea that they be treated with toleration in a pluralistic society; only when properly defined criminal charges can he preferred against them should they be summoned before the courts." [Note: Marshall, The Acts . . ., p. 314.]