19:8 Paul followed his standard procedure of preaching to the Jews in the synagogue at Ephesus as long as possible. Here the Jews were more tolerant than they had been in some other towns that Paul had evangelized, and he was able to continue speaking there for three months. As usual, Paul reasoned and persuaded (Gr. dialegomenos kai peithon) there, meaning he reasoned persuasively.774His general subject was the kingdom of God (cf. 1:3, 6; 8:12; 14:22; 20:25; 28:23, 31).
"Three months in a synagogue without a riot was something of a record for Paul. Perhaps the cosmopolitan nature of Ephesus caused the Jews there to be more tolerant."775
19:9 Eventually the Jews grew unresponsive and tried to discredit Paul's preaching of the way of salvation. Paul, therefore, withdrew from the synagogue to a neutral site. In Corinth, this had been the home of Titius Justice (18:7). In Ephesus, it proved to be a school owned and or operated by Tyrannus. Tyrannus (lit. Tyrant, probably a nickname of this teacher and or landlord) made his classroom facilities available to Paul during the afternoons. The Western text (i.e., Codex Beza), one of the ancient copies of Acts, added that this was from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Normally this was siesta time when people rested before resuming work after the heat of the day had subsided.
"The old sequence of events unfolded, monotonously true to form. It was not lack of sad experience which led Paul in chapters ix--xi of the Epistle to the Romans to speak of the national rejection of Christ by the people privileged first to hear of Him. It was an essential part of Luke's theme to underline that fact. Hence the careful record of Paul's method, his scrupulous regard for the synagogue, his programme of patient teaching and persuasion, the crystallizing of opposition, and the altogether justifiable turning to the Gentiles'."776
19:10 Evidently Paul taught in Tyrannus' school for two more years. Later Paul said that he had labored in Ephesus for a total of three years (cf. 20:31). As a result of this work, the local Christians preached the gospel and established churches all over the province of Asia. Among these were the churches of Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis in the Lycus Valley (Col. 4:13), though evidently Paul did not personally plant them (cf. Col. 2:1; 4:13). Perhaps the other churches mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3 (i.e., Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, and Philadelphia) got their start at this time too.
"We may think of the hall of Tyrannus' as the centre of Paul's activity, attracting many Gentile enquirers from the province generally, who in due course became themselves, like Epaphras, faithful ministers of Christ on Paul's behalf (Col. 1:7)."777
"The province was intensively evangelized, and became one of the leading centres of Christianity for centuries afterwards."778
Many students of Acts do not adequately appreciate the significance of Ephesus as a center for the spread of the gospel. One must carefully note the clues in Acts and the epistles as well as later church history to understand what took place during the years Paul lived there. God had opened a wide door of opportunity for Paul, but there were many adversaries (1 Cor. 16:8-9). Timothy and later the Apostle John followed Paul in ministry there. The church at Ephesus became the recipient of at least three New Testament epistles (Ephesians, 1 and 2 Timothy) and possible as many as seven (1, 2, and 3 John, and Revelation).
19:11-12 Jesus continued to work the same supernatural miracles through Paul that He had demonstrated during His own earthly ministry (cf. Mark 5:27; 6:56) and that he had manifested through Peter (Acts 5:15). Note that Luke recorded Paul doing the same types of miracles as Peter. Both healed a lame man early in their ministries (14:8; cf. 3:2). Both exorcised demons (16:18; cf. 5:16), defeated sorcerers (13:6; cf. 8:18), raised the dead (20:9; cf. 9:36), and escaped from prison (16:25; cf. 12:7). Evidently it was because of the multitudes of magicians and religious charlatans that worked Ephesus that God demonstrated His power in these supernatural ways.
"The atmosphere of the city was electric with sorcery and incantations, with exorcists, with all kinds of magical impostors."779
". . . the phrase Ephesian writings' (Ephesia grammata) was common in antiquity for documents containing spells and magical formulae (cf. Athenaeus Deipnosophistae12.548; Clement of Alexandria Stromata5.242)."780
God healed indirectly through Paul's garments in Ephesus too. The fact that God used Paul's handkerchiefs (Gr. soudarion, or sweat-cloths) and aprons (simikinthion, lit. workman's aprons) is unusual, but not without precedent. God had previously healed people who touched Jesus' cloak (Luke 8:44). The fact that some modern charlatans have abused this form of healing should not lead us to conclude that God never used it.
"Paul is not said to have recommended the use of cloths from his own body as instruments of healing, but God was pleased to honor the faith of these people by granting these miracles."781
