{"id":50334,"date":"2021-10-11T11:11:16","date_gmt":"2021-10-11T18:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/?p=50334"},"modified":"2023-04-12T14:49:53","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T21:49:53","slug":"the-sons-of-sceva-christian-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/the-sons-of-sceva-christian-magic\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sons of Sceva: Christian Magic?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In the book of Acts, many challenged the authority of God in different ways. While Paul was in Ephesus, the seven sons of Sceva, a group of magicians, mistakenly believed that if they emulated what Paul <em>said<\/em>, they could do what Paul <em>did<\/em>. In a world where there were too many gods to count, what role did magic have in daily life? How does magic compare to the power of God? Can Christians do magic?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-background\" style=\"background-color:#f1f1f1\">To give us a better cultural understanding of this passage, we&#8217;ll be consulting the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/store\/product.php?productid=44950\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">IVP Bible Background Commentary<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Acts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Acts+19%3A13-20&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">19:13-20<\/a><\/strong> | The Inadequacy of Magic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Although some Ephesians who knew no better may have regarded Paul as a magician, God seems to have healed them anyway to draw their attention to his message (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Acts+19%3A11-12&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">19:11-12<\/a>); but God did not bless unauthorized use of Jesus\u2019 name. Ephesus was widely reputed for its trade in magic and the need for exorcisms and protection against evil spirits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-sons-of-sceva\">The Sons of Sceva<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><sup>13<\/sup>Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, \u201cI adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.\u201d<\/p><p><sup>14<\/sup>Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>19:13.<\/strong> Magic was widespread, but Ephesus had a reputation as one of its centers. Magical exorcists often invoked the names of higher spirits to cast out lower ones. According to magical theory, exorcists could coerce a deity or spirit to do their will by invoking its name. Exorcists sometimes \u201cadjured\u201d spirits (cf. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Mark+5%3A7&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mk 5:7<\/a>). Ancient magical texts show that many exorcists were Jewish or drew on some knowledge of Judaism, and these texts include every possible permutation of vowels as guesses for pronouncing the unpronounced name of God (cf. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Acts+2%3A20-21&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2:20-21<\/a>). Others invoked Solomon\u2019s name in expelling <em>demons (<\/em>Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 8.47). Some later ancient magical texts invoked the name of Jesus alongside other formulas, recognizing, as do the exorcists in this narrative, its efficacy when employed by Christians to expel demons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>19:14.<\/strong> \u201cSceva\u201d is a Latin name; although Judeans used \u201chigh priest\u201d loosely for the highest members of the priestly aristocracy, it is possible that Sceva simply appropriated the title for himself, since few in the Diaspora could have easily checked. Inscriptions and texts testify to other irregularities in Jewish priestly claims outside Jewish Palestine. Because Jewish chief priests would be thought to have access to the sacred name (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Acts+19%3A13&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">v. 13<\/a>) and hidden names, especially of the supreme god, were thought to wield great power in magical circles, Sceva is probably highly reputed in those circles. \u201cSons\u201d could mean they were part of Sceva\u2019s guild, although it is probably meant literally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-evil-spirit-replies\">The Evil Spirit Replies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><sup>15<\/sup>But the evil spirit answered them, \u201cJesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?\u201d<\/p><p><sup>16<\/sup>And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. <sup>17<\/sup>And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>19:15.<\/strong> Spirits behind oracles could grant recognition to inquirers (cf. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Acts+16%3A17&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">16:17<\/a>); these spirits instead insult the exorcists. Ancient literature reports that demons were typically unimpressed with orders from those who had no power over them, although they feared God and could be controlled by the manipulation of spirits more powerful than themselves (who may have appreciated the influence this gave them with the magicians).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>19:16-17.<\/strong> Paul has more power than the magicians (cf. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Gen+41%3A8&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gen 41:8<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Gen+41%3A39&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">39<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Ex+7%3A11&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ex 7:11<\/a>). Both in antiquity and today, some of those thought to be spirit-possessed can act violently, sometimes demonstrating feats of pain immunity or unnatural strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-people-s-response\">The People&#8217;s Response<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><sup>18<\/sup>Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices.<\/p><p><sup>19<\/sup>And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. <sup>20<\/sup>So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>19:18.<\/strong> When people recognize that Paul\u2019s Jesus cannot be manipulated like lower spirits, they understand that he is a servant of God and not a mere magician. Some translate \u201cconfessing practices\u201d (NASB, NRSV) as \u201cdivulging spells,\u201d a possible meaning; divulging secret spells was believed to deprive them of their power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>19:19-20.<\/strong> Magical papyri contained spells; Luke\u2019s term \u201cbooks\u201d or \u201cscrolls\u201d (NIV) may refer to such papyri. Briefer charms were rolled up in small cylinders or lockets used as amulets around the neck. These magical incantations were so common in Ephesus that some concise magical terms used in charms and amulets were apparently called Ephesia grammata, or Ephesian writings. Books were commonly burned in antiquity to repudiate their contents (in the Old Testament, cf. analogously the destruction of idols in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Deut+7%3A5&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Deut 7:5<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Deut+7%3A25&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">25<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=1+Chron+14%3A12&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1 Chron 14:12<\/a>). The total price of what is burned comes out to about fifty thousand days\u2019 wages for an average worker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>In the above verses, we saw what happens when the power of God, the work of the devil, and the vanity of man interact. The sons of Sceva thought they could cast out demons for their own honor just by invoking the name of Jesus. What they failed to realize is that, without God-given authority (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Matt+28%3A18-20&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Matt 28:18-20<\/a>), they are just weak humans. The devil, also known as the &#8220;god of this age&#8221; (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=2+Cor+4%3A4&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2 Cor 4:4<\/a>), is not to be taken lightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The onlookers in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Acts+19%3A17-20&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Acts 19:17-20<\/a> modeled a response that we too should have regarding magic, spells, and spirits. We should want nothing to do with cultic practices. As Christians, we must take verses like these as a warning not to get wrapped up in something over our heads. It&#8217;s not enough to simply <em>say<\/em> the name of Jesus &#8211; <strong>we must walk in his authority as well<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-ivp-bible-background-commentary\">IVP Bible Background Commentary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.olivetree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/IVPBibleBackgroundCommentary2Vol44950Social-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-53257\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/IVPBibleBackgroundCommentary2Vol44950Social-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/IVPBibleBackgroundCommentary2Vol44950Social-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/IVPBibleBackgroundCommentary2Vol44950Social-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/IVPBibleBackgroundCommentary2Vol44950Social-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bible is like a beautiful painting. It doesn&#8217;t take much to see the beauty, intricacy, and story, but the more you delve into it, the more meaningful it becomes. With the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/store\/product.php?productid=44950\">IVP Bible Background Commentary<\/a>, you&#8217;ll learn how to read the Bible through the eyes of the original audience. Get your copy today and start reading the Bible with new eyes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-499968f5 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-text-color has-background\" href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/store\/product.php?productid=44950\" style=\"background-color:#77aa3c\">IVP BIBLE BACKGROUND COMMENTARY<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the book of Acts, many challenged the authority of God in different ways. While Paul was in Ephesus, the seven sons of Sceva, a group of magicians, mistakenly believed that if they emulated what Paul said, they could do what Paul did. In a world where there were too many gods to count, what<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":50339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5338,5341],"tags":[5946],"class_list":{"0":"post-50334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-testament-articles","8":"category-topical","9":"tag-ivp-bible-background-commentary"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Sons of Sceva: Christian Magic? - Olive Tree Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While Paul was in Ephesus, the seven sons of Sceva, a group of magicians, mistakenly believed that they could do what Paul did.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-sons-of-sceva-christian-magic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Sons of Sceva: Christian Magic?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the book of Acts, many challenged the authority of God in different ways. While Paul was in Ephesus, the seven sons of Sceva, a group of magicians,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-sons-of-sceva-christian-magic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Olive Tree Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OliveTreeBible\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-11T18:11:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-12T21:49:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SonsOfSceva.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"515\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Olive Tree Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OliveTreeBible\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OliveTreeBible\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Olive Tree Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-sons-of-sceva-christian-magic\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-sons-of-sceva-christian-magic\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Olive Tree Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/351be84fe6adb14e452e170d896a5bf9\"},\"headline\":\"The Sons of Sceva: Christian Magic?\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-11T18:11:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-12T21:49:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-sons-of-sceva-christian-magic\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1066,\"commentCount\":2,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-sons-of-sceva-christian-magic\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.olivetree.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/SonsOfSceva.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"IVP Bible Background Commentary\"],\"articleSection\":[\"New Testament\",\"Topical\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-sons-of-sceva-christian-magic\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-sons-of-sceva-christian-magic\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-sons-of-sceva-christian-magic\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Sons of Sceva: Christian Magic? 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