Acts 19:14

14 One time, seven sons of a Jewish cohen gadol named Skeva were doing this;

Acts 19:14 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 19:14

And there were seven sons of one Sceva a Jew
Who strolled about the country, and used exorcisms: and

chief of the priests;
that were at Ephesus; not the high priest of the Jews, for he would have been at Jerusalem, and not at Ephesus; though indeed it does not necessarily follow from the words, that Sceva himself was there, only his seven sons: however, no such name appears in the catalogue of the Jewish high priests, nor is it reasonable to think, that seven sons of an high priest should follow such a vagabond course of life: Beza's ancient copy only calls him "a priest"; and the Alexandrian copy reads his name, Sceuta, and the Ethiopic version omits it; it is the same with (hawko) , and signifies a spectator, or observer; see the Targum on ( 2 Samuel 13:34 ) ( Isaiah 21:6 ) .

which did so;
adjured the devils in the name of Jesus, to come out; at least they did so in one case, as follows.

Acts 19:14 In-Context

12 For instance, handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were brought to sick people; they would recover from their ailments; and the evil spirits would leave them.

13 Then some of the Jewish exorcists who traveled from place to place tried to make use of the name of the Lord Yeshua in connection with people who had evil spirits. They would say, "I exorcise you by the Yeshua that Sha'ul is proclaiming!"

14 One time, seven sons of a Jewish cohen gadol named Skeva were doing this;

15 and the evil spirit answered them. It said, "Yeshua I know. And Sha'ul I recognize. But you? Who are you?"

16 Then the man with the evil spirit fell upon them, overpowered them and gave them such a beating that they ran from the house, naked and bleeding.