Acts 19:14 - Exposition

A chief priest for and chief of the priests, A.V.; this for so, A.V. A chief priest ( ἀρχιερεύς ); not, of course, in the sense of high priest, but in that wider sense of the word which comprised the chiefs of the twenty-four courses and the members of the Sanhedrim and all who had ever been high priests or who were of the kindred of the high priest (see Matthew 2:4 ; Matthew 16:21 ; Matthew 21:15 ; Matthew 23:1-39 . 45, etc.; Luke 9:22 ; Luke 19:47 , etc.; Acts 4:23 ; Acts 5:24 ; Acts 9:14 , Acts 9:21 , etc.). It is probable that the Eleazar mentioned in the preceding note was a priest, both from his name and because Josephus calls him one of his ὁμοφύλων , which may mean "fellow-tribesmen." The name Sceva occurs nowhere else, nor is its meaning or etymology at all certain. Some identify it with the Latin Scaeva (Horace, 'Ep.,' 1. 17.1), "left-handed," l . q. Scaevola; or the Greek Sceuas, a proper name in Appian. Simonis gives it an Aramean etymology.