Acts 24:19

19 It was some Jews from around Ephesus who started all this trouble. And you'll notice they're not here today. They're cowards, too cowardly to accuse me in front of you.

Acts 24:19 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 24:19

Who ought to have been here before thee
For they were the only persons who saw him in the temple, and what he was doing; and who by an hideous outcry raised a mob upon him, who took things upon hearsay from them:

and object, if they had ought against me;
either with respect to sedition, or blasphemy, error or heresy, if they were capable of proving anything.

Acts 24:19 In-Context

17 I've been out of the country for a number of years and now I'm back. While I was away, I took up a collection for the poor and brought that with me, along with offerings for the Temple.
18 It was while making those offerings that they found me quietly at my prayers in the Temple. There was no crowd, there was no disturbance.
19 It was some Jews from around Ephesus who started all this trouble. And you'll notice they're not here today. They're cowards, too cowardly to accuse me in front of you.
20 "So ask these others what crime they've caught me in. Don't let them hide behind this smooth-talking Tertullus.
21 The only thing they have on me is that one sentence I shouted out in the council: 'It's because I believe in the resurrection that I've been hauled into this court!' Does that sound to you like grounds for a criminal case?"
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.