Acts 19:7

And all the men were about twelve The Revised Version"And they were in all about twelve men," is a more strict rendering of the Greek, but it does not give a different sense, and "men" in that position receives an undue accent.

The verse has been the cause of much remark. Why the inspired historian should speak with an "about," has been asked by some. With that we are not concerned, only to observe that the Spirit has not prompted him to speak otherwise. Some have seen in the number and the circumstances a resemblance to the Apostles and their supernatural endowment; others have looked back as far as the Patriarchs and have made of these men the beginning of another Israel. May it not be that the "about" was written to admonish us of the unprofitableness of such speculations? Cp. Joshua 7:5.