Acts 19:34

But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice, about the space of two hours, cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians!

If Demetrius intended to kindle a fire, he certainly was successful beyond his design. No sooner had he closed his speech than some member of the guild or some other person in the audience coined a catchy phrase which struck the popular fancy: Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! And, full of anger as they were, the others took up the cry and carried it out to the street. In less time than it takes to tell about it, the disturbance had spread to all quarters; it filled the city, and surged back and forth like various liquids that have been poured together and cannot become settled. The streets being far too narrow for a proper show of mob violence, agitators and rabble alike were struck by the idea at the same time and rushed into the large theater, probably the largest in the world, its diameter being 495 feet and its capacity 24,500 people. But on their way, in their mad rush, they managed to seize and to carry along with them two fellow-lodgers of Paul, the Macedonians Gaius and Aristarchus. The latter is mentioned also in other passages as a native of Macedonia, of the city of Thessalonica, chap. 20:4; 27:2. It is probable that these two men, here mentioned as attendants of Paul, were delegates of the Thessalonian congregation who were with Paul carrying the contribution to the congregation at Jerusalem. These faithful men being in danger of their lives, Paul firmly intended to go out and face the angry mob, in order to shield them with his own life; but this the members of the congregation would not permit. To the infuriated mob his appearance at that time would have been like a red rag, and, according to all possibility, could have accomplished nothing. And the disciples were seconded in their endeavors by some of the leading men of the city, the Asiarchs, the chief priests of the Roman Empire in the provinces, whose duties included also the providing of games for the people. Some of these influential men were decidedly friendly to Paul, as this act of kindness shows, since they took the trouble of sending to him and earnestly begging him not to venture forth into the theater. In the meantime, the members of the mob were working themselves into a fine frenzy, for they continued to shout, someone thing and some another. There was no unity of thought and of leadership: it was an unlawful, tumultuous assembly, poured together like liquids that will not mix properly. And, as usual, when a rabble, a mob, springs from the ground upon such occasions, the majority of the people had no idea why they had really come together. At this point the Jews of the city, fearing that the fury of the mob might turn against them also, since Paul was a Jew, and since they themselves were opposed to idolatry, made the attempt to have one of their own number, a man by the name of Alexander, explain the situation to the surging multitude. The man tried to follow the instructions which he had received as the Jews pushed him to the front. But no sooner did he raise his hand, indicating to the people that he wanted to speak, and, in this case, to hold a speech of defense, than the intelligence went the rounds that he was a Jew. Whether they could all see plainly enough to distinguish his dress and features, or whether those nearest to the arena or stage passed the word along, the entire multitude, the infuriated mob, with one voice from them all, like the bellowing of some enraged monster, took up the phrase which had caught their fancy as one of the silversmiths had shouted it: Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! It was a wild demonstration of a lawless mob, but a comparatively harmless enjoyment, at that: it satisfied their idea of worship without hurting anyone. The city authorities therefore did not interfere at this point, since any opposition would have inflamed the mob to acts of violence. They were evidently well versed in the psychology of the mob and bided their time.