Ephesus

Ephesus in the Bible

Ephesus appears in greatest detail in Acts. At the end of his second missionary journey, Paul stopped there briefly and left Priscilla and Aquila behind (Acts 18:19-21). There Apollos learned the way of God more accurately from the couple, who "expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly" (Acts 18:24-26). During his third missionary journey, Paul baptized about twelve disciples who had known only the baptism of John the Baptist (Acts 19:1-7). He then taught in the synagogue for three months and daily for two years in "the school of one Tyrannus" (Acts 19:8-10).

The same chapter goes on to record the following events:

• The sons of Sceva: They used the name of Jesus like an incantation and came to grief.
• The burning of magic books: People burned books of magic worth fifty thousand pieces of silver.
• The riot of Demetrius the silversmith: Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Diana, stirred up the craftsmen, and a crowd gathered in the theater crying, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians" (Acts 19:23-41).

Later, bidding farewell to the Ephesian elders at Miletus, Paul recalled that he had taught them "by the space of three years" (Acts 20:17-38). Ephesus also appears in the following passages:

• Paul's confession "I have fought with beasts at Ephesus" in 1 Corinthians 15:30-32
• The destination of Ephesians
• Paul's instruction that Timothy remain at Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3)
• The sending of Tychicus (2 Timothy 4:12)
• The letter in Revelation 2:1-7

Background

Ephesus was a port city near the mouth of the Cayster River. In the Roman period it was one of the leading cities of the province of Asia. It was famous for the temple of the goddess Artemis (called "Diana" in the KJV), which is counted among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Because commerce connected with pilgrimage to the temple made up a large share of the city's economy, the riot of Demetrius is read as an instance of the spread of the gospel colliding with local economic interests. The ruins survive today near Selçuk, Turkey.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

Ephesus was the city where Paul ministered the longest, and the teaching given there spread so widely that "all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 19:10). In Revelation it appears first among the seven churches of Asia. The church was commended for its labor and patience and for discerning false apostles, but it was rebuked "because thou hast left thy first love" (Revelation 2:4). The letter closes by promising to him that overcometh the fruit of the tree of life (Revelation 2:7).

Interpretations and Debates

• The recipients of Ephesians: The phrase "at Ephesus" in Ephesians 1:1 is absent from some early manuscripts. For this reason, some regard the letter as a circular epistle read in turn by several churches. Others hold that the phrase was original.
• The question of authorship: Church tradition and conservative scholars hold that Paul wrote the letter. Some critical scholars hold that it was written by a disciple of Paul.
• Extra-biblical traditions: The accounts that the apostle John lived in Ephesus in his later years and that Mary, the mother of Jesus, stayed there are church traditions and do not appear in the biblical text. The condemnation of the teachings of Nestorius by the Council of Ephesus in 431 is likewise an event of church history rather than of Scripture.

In the Korean Church

The "first love" of Revelation 2 is a frequent sermon theme calling believers to recover the initial fervor of their faith. The "whole armour of God" passage in Ephesians 6:10-18 is also widely preached. The ruins of Ephesus are a principal destination on Bible-lands pilgrimages to Turkey. The name of the Christian publisher Duranno is said to derive from the Korean rendering of "the school of Tyrannus" in Acts 19:9.