The Meaning of Acts 19:18 Explained

Acts 19:18

KJV: And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.

YLT: many also of those who did believe were coming, confessing and declaring their acts,

Darby: And many of those that believed came confessing and declaring their deeds.

ASV: Many also of them that had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  many  that believed  came,  and confessed,  and  shewed  their  deeds. 

What does Acts 19:18 Mean?

Context Summary

Acts 19:13-29 - The Power Of Jesus' Name
Where God's spirit is mightily at work, Satan is not far away. Here the enemy's emissaries were mean enough to use the name of Jesus to get themselves a few more shekels. But the name is useless apart from the living power of the Spirit. It is terrible when the very demons flout those who profess religion. Who are ye? meant, "You do not count." The demons knew Christ as the Holy One of God and Paul as His representative, but these exorcist Jews were hollow as sounding brass. Cast into the balances, they were altogether lighter than vanity, Psalms 62:9.
The outcome of all this was a mighty revival. The name of the Lord Jesus was magnified, and a searching work of grace led to the confession of sin and the cleansing of heart and life in many who had followed vain superstitions.
So deep was the work of God in that great city of Ephesus that the trade in charms and amulets, sold in the neighborhood of the temple, began to fall off. The crowd of worshippers in Diana's temple was also perceptibly less. People who came in from the seaboard would find their way to the Apostle, who preached the gospel with a power that could not be withstood. Regenerated souls therefore, in turn, carried the gospel throughout the whole region. [source]

Chapter Summary: Acts 19

1  The Holy Spirit is given by Paul's hands
8  The Jews blaspheme his doctrine, which is confirmed by miracles
13  The Jewish exorcists,
16  are beaten by a man who had an evil spirit
19  Conjuring books are burnt
21  Demetrius, for love of gain, raises an uproar against Paul;
35  which is appeased by the town clerk

Greek Commentary for Acts 19:18

Came [ηρχοντο]
Imperfect middle, kept coming, one after another. Even some of the believers were secretly under the spell of these false spiritualists just as some Christians today cherish private contacts with so-called occult powers through mediums, seances, of which they are ashamed. [source]
Confessing [εχομολογουμενοι]
It was time to make a clean breast of it all, to turn on the light, to unbosom their secret habits. Declaring their deeds (αναγγελλοντες τας πραχεις αυτων — anaggellontes tas praxeis autōn). Judgment was beginning at the house of God. The dupes (professing believers, alas) of these jugglers or exorcists now had their eyes opened when they saw the utter defeat of the tricksters who had tried to use the name of Jesus without his power. The boomerang was tremendous. The black arts were now laid bare in their real character. Gentile converts had a struggle to shake off their corrupt environment. [source]
Declaring their deeds [αναγγελλοντες τας πραχεις αυτων]
Judgment was beginning at the house of God. The dupes (professing believers, alas) of these jugglers or exorcists now had their eyes opened when they saw the utter defeat of the tricksters who had tried to use the name of Jesus without his power. The boomerang was tremendous. The black arts were now laid bare in their real character. Gentile converts had a struggle to shake off their corrupt environment. [source]
Confessed and shewed [ἐξομολογούμενοι καὶ ἀναγγέλλοντες]
The two words denote the fullest and most open confession. They openly ( ἐξ ) confessed, and declared thoroughly ( ἀνά , from top to bottom) their deeds. See on Matthew 3:6. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Acts 19:18

Matthew 3:6 Confessing their sins [ἐξομολογούμενοι τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν]
The words imply: 1. That confession was connected with baptism. They were baptized while in the act of confessing. 2. An open confession, not a private one to John ( ἐξ , compare Acts 19:18; James 5:16). 3. An individual confession; possibly a specific one. (See Luke 3:10-15.) [source]
John 3:21 Doeth the truth [ποιῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν]
The phrase occurs only here and in 1 John 1:6. Note the contrasted phrase, doeth evil (John 3:20). There the plural is used: doeth evil things; evil being represented by a number of bad works. Here the singular, the truth, or truth; truth being regarded as one, and “including in a supreme unity all right deeds.” There is also to be noted the different words for doing in these two verses: doeth evil ( πράσσων ); doeth truth ( ποιῶν ). The latter verb contemplates the object and end of action; the former the means, with the idea of continuity and repetition. Πράσσων is the practice, while ποιῶν may be the doing once for all. Thus ποιεῖν is to conclude a peace: πράσσειν , to negotiate a peace. So Demosthenes: “He will do ( πράξει ) these things, and will accomplish them ( ποιήσει ).” In the New Testament a tendency is observable to use ποιεῖν in a good sense, and πράσσωιν in an evil sense. Compare the kindred word πρᾶξις , deed or work, which occurs six times, and in four out of the six of evil doing (Matthew 16:27; Luke 23:51; Acts 19:18; Romans 8:13; Romans 12:14; Colossians 3:9). With this passage compare especially John 5:29, where the two verbs are used with the two nouns as here. Also, Romans 7:15, Romans 7:19. Bengel says: “Evil is restless: it is busier than truth.” In Romans 1:32; Romans 2:3, both verbs are used of doing evil, but still with a distinction in that πράσσω is the more comprehensive term, designating the pursuit of evil as the aim of the activity. [source]
John 3:21 Doeth the truth [ποιῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν]
The phrase occurs only here and in 1 John 1:6. Note the contrasted phrase, doeth evil (John 3:20). There the plural is used: doeth evil things; evil being represented by a number of bad works. Here the singular, the truth, or truth; truth being regarded as one, and “including in a supreme unity all right deeds.” There is also to be noted the different words for doing in these two verses: doeth evil ( πράσσων ); doeth truth ( ποιῶν ). The latter verb contemplates the object and end of action; the former the means, with the idea of continuity and repetition. Πράσσων is the practice, while ποιῶν may be the doing once for all. Thus ποιεῖν is to conclude a peace: πράσσειν , to negotiate a peace. So Demosthenes: “He will do ( πράξει ) these things, and will accomplish them ( ποιήσει ).” In the New Testament a tendency is observable to use ποιεῖν in a good sense, and πράσσωιν in an evil sense. Compare the kindred word πρᾶξις , deed or work, which occurs six times, and in four out of the six of evil doing (Matthew 16:27; Luke 23:51; Acts 19:18; Romans 8:13; Romans 12:14; Colossians 3:9). With this passage compare especially John 5:29, where the two verbs are used with the two nouns as here. Also, Romans 7:15, Romans 7:19. Bengel says: “Evil is restless: it is busier than truth.” In Romans 1:32; Romans 2:3, both verbs are used of doing evil, but still with a distinction in that πράσσω is the more comprehensive term, designating the pursuit of evil as the aim of the activity. [source]
John 16:13 Will shew [ἀναγγελεῖ]
Better, as Rev., declare. Compare Mark 5:14, Mark 5:19; Acts 20:27; 2 Corinthians 7:7. Also to rehearse; Acts 14:27. Used of the formal proclamation of the Christian religion (Acts 20:20; 1 Peter 1:12; 1 John 1:5). See on Acts 19:18. [source]
Romans 12:4 The same office [την αυτην πραχιν]
Mode of acting or function. Cf. Acts 19:18; Romans 8:13. [source]
1 John 1:9 Confess [ὁμολογῶμεν]
From ὁμός , one and the same, and λέγω , to say. Hence, primarily, to say the same thing as another, and, therefore, to admit the truth of an accusation. Compare Psalm 51:4. The exact phrase, ὁμολογεῖν τὰς ἁμαρτίας confessthe sins, does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. Compare ἐξομολογεῖσθαι ἁμαρτίας ( παραπτώματα ) Matthew 3:6; Mark 1:5; James 5:16. See on Matthew 3:6; see on Matthew 11:25; see on Luke 22:6; see on Acts 19:18; see on James 5:16. [source]
Revelation 3:5 I will confess [ἐξομλογήσομαι]
Openly confess ( ἐξ ). See on Matthew 11:25; see on Acts 19:18; see on James 5:16. [source]

What do the individual words in Acts 19:18 mean?

Many then of those having believed were coming confessing and declaring the deeds of them
πολλοί τε τῶν πεπιστευκότων ἤρχοντο ἐξομολογούμενοι καὶ ἀναγγέλλοντες τὰς πράξεις αὐτῶν

πολλοί  Many 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: πολύς  
Sense: many, much, large.
τῶν  of  those 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
πεπιστευκότων  having  believed 
Parse: Verb, Perfect Participle Active, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root: πιστεύω  
Sense: to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in.
ἤρχοντο  were  coming 
Parse: Verb, Imperfect Indicative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἔρχομαι  
Sense: to come.
ἐξομολογούμενοι  confessing 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Middle, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἐξομολογέω  
Sense: to confess.
ἀναγγέλλοντες  declaring 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἀναγγέλλω  
Sense: to announce, make known.
πράξεις  deeds 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Plural
Root: πρᾶξις  
Sense: a doing, a mode of acting, a deal, a transaction.
αὐτῶν  of  them 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.